The Civil War At Kittiewan Plantation
The War Comes To Kittiewan In 1864
Kittiewan Plantation is located in Tidewater Charles City County, VA, off Rt. 5 midway between Richmond and Williamsburg. It was not on the main road, nor was it on the James River. That didn't stop one of the War's significant events from happening at Kittiewan of which traces still remain.
Prior to a few days in 1864 and through the remainder of the Civil War, Kittiewan existed as it had since it began. It was a working farm. Wartime hardships existed and were a shared burden throughout Virginia and no doubt at Kittiewan.
President Lincoln's re-election enabled him to break some of the political bonds that had held him from decisive action. He appointed General U. S. Grant to command the Army of the Potomac. Grant had started near Fredericksburg in 1864 with a mandate from President Lincoln to end the war. Grant hammered at General R. E. Lee in a series of battles in which Lee deflected Grant from Richmond, always moving south and east.
After the Battle of Cold Harbor in Hanover County, in a brilliant strategic and tactical move, Grant disengaged his entire army of about 100,000 and moved it much farther south and east to the Weyanoke peninsula upon which Kittiewan sits. Pontoon bridges were built across the James River and the entire Army of the Potomac crossed, all without Lee having any idea where Grant was or what he was doing. Grant's objective was to attack either Richmond as the CSA Capital and/or the railroad supply hub at Petersburg to end the war by cutting off supplies to Richmond.
Part of U.S. Grant's Army of the Potomac encamped at Kittiewan and erected defensive earthworks across the property to secure the crossing of the James River by the army at Weyanoke Point and at Wilcox Landing to the west over to Windmill Point in Prince George County via pontoon bridges. Grant's Army had disengaged from Lee's Army of Northern Virginia after the Battle of Cold Harbor, crossed the James River, and moved west to begin the Siege of Petersburg. By this move Grant achieved complete tactical surprise, but which was nullified by the incompetence of some of his politically appointed generals resulting in the year-long Siege of Petersburg.
The earthworks at Kittiewan were built in order to protect the vulnerable right flank and rear of Grants army while the crossing took place. These earthworks spanned from Mapsico Creek on the East to Queen's Creek on the west and are mentioned in the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion (OR).
The trenchworks survive north of the house as do gun emplacements farther northwest on the second terrace.