Fort Powhatan is a former river defense fort located at Windmill Hill (also called Hood's Bluff) near

Garysville, Virginia Garysville is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community in Prince George County, Virginia, Prince George County, Virginia, United States. It is located on State Route 10 (Virginia), State Route 10, approximately 12 miles east of Petersburg ...

, southeast of

Flowerdew Hundred Plantation Flowerdew Hundred Plantation dates to 1618/19 with the patent by Sir George Yeardley, the Governor and Captain General of Virginia, of on the south side of the James River (Virginia), James River. Yeardley probably named the plantations in the ...

Prince George County Prince George County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 43,010. Its county seat is Prince George. Prince George County is located within the Greater Richmond Region of the U.S. sta ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. The fort was named for the area's

Powhatan Powhatan people () are Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands who belong to member tribes of the Powhatan Confederacy, or Tsenacommacah. They are Algonquian peoples whose historic territories were in eastern Virginia. Their Powh ...

tribe of

indigenous people There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

; the name is also an English term for their leader. It is on the south bank of the

James River The James River is a river in Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows from the confluence of the Cowpasture and Jackson Rivers in Botetourt County U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowli ...

, sited to prevent enemy vessels proceeding upriver to

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

. The first fort on the site was a two-gun battery called Hood's Battery, built in 1779 during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

and named after the owner of the plantation it was on. In January 1781, British forces under

Benedict Arnold Benedict Arnold (#Brandt, Brandt (1994), p. 4June 14, 1801) was an American-born British military officer who served during the American Revolutionary War. He fought with distinction for the American Continental Army and rose to the rank of ...

attacked and dismantled the battery and went on to burn Richmond. Later that year a larger fort was built, named Fort Hood (or Fort at Hood's Bluff). In 1808 this was replaced by the federal government with Fort Powhatan, part of what was later called the second system of US fortifications. The fort was not attacked in the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

. In 1862, during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

Confederate A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

forces added a new earthwork battery on the site; the fort area was abandoned by Confederates, and subsequently captured by Union forces in July 1863. The fort was abandoned at the end of the war in 1865.Fort Powhatan at American Forts Network
/ref>Fort Powhatan at FortWiki.com
/ref>

American Revolution

As part of the

, in May 1779 the British

Chesapeake raid The Chesapeake Raid was an American Revolutionary War campaign by British naval forces under the command of Commodore Sir George Collier and land forces led by Major General Edward Mathew. Between 10 May and 24 May 1779 these forces raided eco ...

under Commodore Sir

George Collier Vice-Admiral Sir George Collier (11 May 1732 – 6 April 1795) was a Royal Navy officer and politician who saw service during the Seven Years' War, the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary Wars. As commander of the fourth-r ...

caused Virginia's Revolutionary government to strengthen its defenses. Among these efforts was Hood's Battery, a two-gun earthwork on the south bank of the

at John Hood's plantation, at Windmill Hill (also called Hood's Bluff) in

. This battery was inadequate to prevent the burning of

by British forces under

in January 1781; the British successfully attacked the battery on their way upriver on 3 January, and captured and dismantled it on their way back on 10 January, despite being ambushed by a force under

George Rogers Clark George Rogers Clark (November 19, 1752 – February 13, 1818) was an American military officer and surveyor from Virginia who became the highest-ranking Patriot (American Revolution), Patriot military officer on the American frontier, nort ...

.Historic markers at vcris.dhr.virginia.gov
/ref> A larger fortification named Fort Hood (or Fort at Hood's Bluff) was built on the site beginning later that year. It was an earthwork, possibly reinforced with brick, and had eight heavy guns facing the river, a

redoubt A redoubt (historically redout) is a Fortification, fort or fort system usually consisting of an enclosed defensive emplacement outside a larger fort, usually relying on Earthworks (engineering), earthworks, although some are constructed of ston ...

with at least two field guns for land defense, and a garrison of 60 men. The fort was not begun until late 1781, two months after British general

Cornwallis Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis (31 December 1738 – 5 October 1805) was a British Army officer, Whig politician and colonial administrator. In the United States and United Kingdom, he is best known as one of the leading Britis ...

surrendered at Yorktown, and was never attacked.

1783 through War of 1812

In 1808 a new

masonry Masonry is the craft of building a structure with brick, stone, or similar material, including mortar plastering which are often laid in, bound, and pasted together by mortar (masonry), mortar. The term ''masonry'' can also refer to the buildin ...

fort was built by the federal government on the site of Fort Hood, as part of what was later termed the second system of US fortifications. It was named Fort Powhatan, and was designed for 13 guns with a

blockhouse A blockhouse is a small fortification, usually consisting of one or more rooms with loopholes, allowing its defenders to fire in various directions. It is usually an isolated fort in the form of a single building, serving as a defensive stro ...

and a detached water battery (a battery near the river). The engineer in charge was Captain Walker K. Armistead. In the Army report on fortifications for December 1808, the water battery is described as "a strong battery of mason work has been erected", and the "regular enclosed work" was "in considerable forwardness...". Although incomplete, the fort was used as a district headquarters for coastal forts in Virginia by Colonel Edward Pasteur in 1809. The

star fort A bastion fort or ''trace italienne'' (a phrase derived from non-standard French, meaning 'Italian outline') is a fortification in a style developed during the early modern period in response to the ascendancy of gunpowder weapons such as c ...

(with a semi-circular water battery) was still incomplete in 1811 (though barracks for one company were complete), and was not armed until the

broke out. By 1814 the fort had 22 artillery pieces. It was not attacked in the war, and by 1830 was no longer reported to be in use.

American Civil War

During the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, the

government built a new battery on the bluff above the fort in 1862. The Union captured the battery in 1863, and in 1864 a garrison of

U.S. Colored Troops United States Colored Troops (USCT) were Union Army regiments during the American Civil War that primarily comprised African Americans, with soldiers from other ethnic groups also serving in USCT units. Established in response to a demand fo ...

repulsed a Confederate cavalry attack led by

Fitzhugh Lee Fitzhugh "Fitz" Lee (November 19, 1835 – April 28, 1905) was a Confederate cavalry general in the American Civil War, the 40th Governor of Virginia, diplomat, and United States Army general in the Spanish–American War. He was the son of S ...

. The fort was abandoned after the war.

Present

The fort is now the private property of a gun club. The brick magazines, water battery, and Civil War battery still exist. Virginia Historical Marker K-215 (Hood's) (on

Virginia State Route 10 State Route 10 (SR 10) is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of Virginia. The state highway runs from U.S. Route 360 (US 360) in Richmond, Virginia, Richmond east to Virginia State Route 337, SR 337 in Suffolk, Virginia, Suffolk. SR 1 ...

east of County Route 614) mentions the Revolutionary War actions and the existence of Fort Powhatan.

References

{{Reflist

External links

American Forts Network, lists US, Canadian, some Latin American, and US overseas forts

FortWiki, lists most US and Canadian forts