Good afternoon. I get the privilege of introducing a good friend. Drew and i have been arguing over the past two days, what i should do in this introduction. I will just read what you sent me. It is best it is kind of funny, actually. Drew gruber as the executive director of civil war trails, lives in williamsburg with his wife kate, their two cats, he enjoys reading, oysters, brown liquor and peace and quiet. Drew gruber. I am going to introduce my coauthor, doug crenshaw, who is going to lecture about williamsburg today. I sat down last night to review notes, and i couldnt think couldnt help but think about how ryan ended his presentation yesterday. It caused me to rewrite the whole thing. Thanks, ryan. Forgotten battles is a cool thing and i was going to open with a quote and then i thought about it, we have a morbid fascination with body count, only big, bloody battles are important. Then Richard Lewis said last night, the guy who falls from dysentery, that is his forgotten battle and certainly his familys forgotten battle. At the one guy on picket one night by himself on a cold day who is shot down, that is probably his most important battle. So i am going to open with a quote from not a historian, just a guy who fought at the battle of williamsburg. This guy gets hit in the shoulder with a sixpound ball. His friend says, it is just a flashe just day fle just a flesher, and he gets up and goes on fighting. And in his diary years after, he says this. The battle of williamsburg has received less importance and history than it has merited. And that is not just the case with edwin brown. The men who fought it williamsburg did not forget, so why have we . That is one of the things i intend to go over today, but what a miserable honor, an awful accolade, a forgotten battle. It is almost like, all of you who fought that day, you are not near as cool as chancellorsville. Why have we forgotten about williamsburg . What is the first thing that comes to mind . Rockefeller. I have forgotten this is an academic room. The jax does position the juxtaposition of the British Empire and the transatlantic marketplaceyou guys are awake. George washington breaches the American Revolution. Nobody things about civil war at williamsburg. But think about williamsburgs colonial history in 1781, on washingtons way to yorktown, there is just one single business open in williamsburg, not a bustling town. But our public memory commands colonial we hims berg Colonial Williamsburg, jamestown. And it is also forgotten during that time because in a few short weeks after williamsburg, a massive clash around richmond. And newspapers that were just getting ready to write about williamsburg switch, ok, we will write about seven days instead. The failures of scholarship over the last 150 years, only within last few years have we gotten decent books about the battle of williamsburg, the importance of the peninsula campaign, so why not write about williamsburg . Some of the best books from our favorite historians, one in particular, has six pages about the battle of williamsburg. Six pages, thats it. Maybe it is not a sexy topic . Maybe it is not nearly as interesting . Maybe the publisher said no. So it is my goal in the next three and a half hours of my lecture to make you realize that civil war williamsburg is the historic triangles most important period. How many of you have been to the battlefield . Let me back up. How many have been to Busch Gardens . Yes, you have been to the battlefield, the robert e lee log flume. How many have been to fort mcgruder . I dont mean the hotel, i mean the actual fort . How many have been to Colonial Williamsburg . Lovely. And they say history is dying. You were on the Civil War Battlefield there too. So our goal here is to make you realize this is an exciting, sexy topic, and you will want to buy the book doug and i are working on, and you will want to bid on the walking tour that is in the back. But i am also going to do it through the lens of personal stories. Because for the guys who fought there, this battle was immensely confusing. And since we are not on the battlefield today where i can point and say, there is where first massachusetts was, im not going to talk about heavy battlefield maneuvers. It doesnt pair well with a heavy lunch either. One thing i have not heard yet, so you are on point the next couple of speakers, is that these are forgotten battles, but we have not asked ourselves as a community, what can we do to fix it . So off we go. Why here . When i arrived in williamsburg to work at Colonial Williamsburg, articles said it was illconceived, the battle, poorly planned. And you have people who will bench their careers on backseat generaling 150 years after the fact, he was slow, he didnt know the terrain, he shouldve gone to the right. You werent there. Lets think about this. The battle of williamsburg happens because williamsburg is at the narrowest point of the peninsula, and these are smart people, and they studied history to predict their future. Chief powhatan of the algonquin confederacy at the time, before white folks arrived on the peninsula, has already determined this is a strategic place. They moved the capital from williamsburg to richmond during the American Revolution because this is a strategic place. Washington will go past williamsburg on his way to yorktown because it is a strategic place. And the british in 18131814 during the Chesapeake Campaign will come to William Bomer welcome to williamsburg because it is an important place and when the confederacy is born, they will look to williamsburg to build a defensive line because it is a offensive place because it is a strategic place. Two regiments of soldiers constructed earthworks at the highest point of the peninsula. Benjamin newells soldiers are not necessarily excited about digging earthworks. So they go to big plantation owners and say, lend us your slaves to dig your earthworks. Plantation owners say no, and they get very few slaves to help dig the earthworks at williamsburg. So robert he leesons engineers to williamsburg with this order. The civil officers will notify abelbodied friedman that they are to ablebodied freeney grows that they are able to participate. So these earthworks at williamsburg is dog mostly by free africanamerican men pressed into confederate service. The earthworks, and a variety of shapes. There are 200 are 200 yards apart. Between them are swamps, creeks, everything you could possibly think of or imagine that you would see in the petersburg front is seen here at the small line at williamsburg. The central work, fort mcgruder, oversees the intersection of two roads, the road from hampton, virginia and the road from yorktown, virginia. So lets say you have 130 thousand men, blue uniforms, your objective is uniform, you might land your boats at fortress monro. There is one road you must go down, known todays the duke of gloucester street, which is why earthworks show up at williamsburg of those show up at williamsburg. One earthworks was removed for the widening of interstate 64. I had an opportunity to go there and that earthwork told me more about the American Civil War at williamsburg then i could have imagined. It was intact. Every article large every archaeological layer was there. It was beautiful. You could write a report on it today. But there are seven left today. So in the spring of 1862, this premonition of Union Soldiers getting to the peninsula comes to fruition. They begin marching to yorktown. Many of you know what then happens at yorktown, he prepares for acs, both armies critically aware that once lines at yorktown break, it will be a race to richmond because you have two, deep rivers on either side of the virginia peninsula. Both sides hedge their bets, and confederate artillery will open may 3, 1860 two to distract the union army as Confederate Forces pull out of yorktown almost silently. This befuddles george b, but he doesnt wait. About 2 00 a. M. On the fourth, firing ceased in between that our troops entered the works and a message was received announcing our flag flies over yorktown. By sunrise, to and a half hours after they realized the confederates are gone, George Mcclellans flying column is chasing confederates on the two roads that will lead to fort mcgruder. So we set the stage. Why here . The third corps and the fourth corps will take those two roads headed toward williamsburg, and the First Division of the first core of the union army will be put on transport boats and flyby both armies on the york river on their way to elfhams landing, truly forgotten battle. While the battle of williamsburg is happening, the Confederate Army is trying to outrace Union Transport boats on the york river, and it is a race. Stoneman, the general in command of this line column, runs up against the confederate rearguard and for 12 miles on may 4th, there is constant rearguard action. One of the most incredible places is that whitakers mill. They make a stubborn defense. Confederate mounted troops under jeb stuart and wade hampton occupy a gun battery and for 15 minutes they hold. The stoneman column will crack this within a few short minutes and will drive confederate troops back earthworks at williamsburg, and then they will start to notice confederate infantry fondling infantry fondling into the earthworks exactly as planned. Noticing Union Troopers back off the earthworks may 4, steward and weight had been stuart and wade hampton dont wait around, they pitch right in. A nasty fight on may 4, on roads just like this, in a drizzle, for mounted troopers to fight in terrain like this it meets it means the battle is being made in columns, so troopers will ride atop the road and drop horses down on top of the opposite force. Several troopers commented woods comment it was the only time in the war they used their sabers to a fact. It is a race to see who can push who back into the road, drop on top of them and keep pushing them back. It is a mess of a fight. William payne will lose his jaw to shot from the fourth virginia cavalry, and they will lose their colors. Union artillery will lose one iron gun. And by the end of the day, one of the two brothers on the top right will be dead and buried in the road somewhere near water country, usa today. The brothers are stephen and mosys william from the hampton legion. Stephen is killed. He is 22. His body will remain there until 1866 when it is picked up and brought back to south carolina. That night, a peculiar thing happens. The union army is stacked up on both of these roads, and hancocks brigade will sleep within snoring distance of the confederate earthworks. The comment about walking into they comment about walking into and out of each others fires that night as they try to stay warm from the rain. The mcgruder regiment who knew the terrain is pulled out, and sent west toward richmond. The long street division, who didnt know much about terrain here, is a division sent into this line of 14 earthworks to stall the union army for the following day. Then it begins to rain. So the battle of williamsburg begins may 4th, late in the afternoon, and all night long there is maneuvering of armies as they prepare. Today this area, whitakers mail, is set to be a new sams club and mixeduse housing. If any of you are scholars on the American Revolution, you know about joseph plumb martin, this is where martin loses his wallet to the pennsylvanians as washington marches to yorktown. There is little interest in these sites. Now we get to the main show. At dawn on may 5, cinco demaio you would, grovers union gate is the one closest to fort mcgruder, the central earthwork that commands this road network, and edwin brown with the first and 11th will deploy against jenkins, whose manner and the earthworks trying to hold off the union army. Grovermeant grovers men from new england realize you cant take the earthworks and fort mcgruder, it is too heavily defended. They had been meticulously engineered to cover the intersection of this road. So, begins a trend for the battle of williamsburg. Each side, all day will slowly funnel in, one regimen at a time, one brigade at a time as the front is cleared. This is where the confusion sets in for those on the field. Hooker, to support grover, boss and in a guy named major Charles Wayne right. The first reasons in arguments regulars, some of the only on the field, regular army men, deployed are sections of cannons and flee their guns within ten minutes. When right says it is one of the most embarrassing episodes of the war, and he gets in new york volunteers to demand regular guns. He brings in another section of artillery, as he starts to notice that group first left its being turned. Team gray has not sat idly by either. He and his three regiments, some of those will not wait in these nicely prepared earthworks, they head into a place called the ravine. So, the confederate is beginning to shove them back from these earthworks. Occurs is waiting on line, they can see them down and the regime, they can see them down, but cannot see it. They can see to the top of the ravine and see the entire army waiting to go down. Its a mirror image for both sides of the field. You can see who will be into it. So the new jersey brigade, off to the brigade and the slowly descend down into the ravine. I always say richard prior, but roger priors brigade besides that, despite their orders to hold the earthworks there was no fighting. So, down they go. French is is now stacked up against six. The rain gets worse, the smoke gets heavier. Its the only area that you can ever get around the central work, and flanked them and come up to either side. There are briers and ordered by slashing. There is no semblance of regular compact, so ignore that, its not the brigadiers, its not the colonels, its not the company commanders, we are talking about a battle bodies. Sections of four or six men working by themselves to take some advantage of this advantage down and this morass that would be the ravine. Within the hour, they have turned around and called for reinforcements because they are out of ammunition. So, i wake you up with this question. Do we have any mathematicians, anybody that its good . Try this on for size, no, seriously, is someone good in the room with matt . All humanities people . Lovely. Think about this. Pattersons brigade has issued 60 rounds of ammunition that morning. There are 350 guys, they are engaged for one hour, at 60 rounds of ammunition per piece, one of the six brigades that will fight in this space of the ravine, not much larger than the space behind us will fire. Thats 350 rounds of ammunition per minute. That is six rounds per second. And that is one sixth of the force fighting in an area that is 300 yards. Think about this. And then think about the mechanics behind it, as hes our volunteer soldiers fighting with black powder rifles. The math will become important in a moment. They call for reinforcements, because ap hill, and we know it is hill, because very clearly this man a bright red shirt hat descended with his brigade behind him, and patterson sees the brigade at the earthworks. Do they wait . Down into the ravine they go, and you can see this pattern happening that both armies get it. They are not waiting. Patterson calls a third time for reinforcements, the next on line, waiting to go to the battle is under colonel nelsons, one man who has so beside himself, waiting to go into combat, sits down in a driving rainstorm and makes himself a cup of tea. The ex elsewhere brigade is so large that it takes it regimen about an hour to come from column into line. Think about that. So we are setting a scene for you, three confederate brigades squaring off against a space not larger than this shooting, six rounds per second at each other. So these are the men that squared off with each other. Thomas rebel on the top its from the eighth new jersey, hes killed where the 7 11 is, the best i can figure. Hes 24, shot dead, and they say this. They were battle on the battlefield into rows, noted as being in the first row. The man who likely saw him fall is this guy here, lucia squint is cincinnatis, the second. If you think he has a cool name, if you study williamsburg history, not only do you have this, we have. Loose is the colonel commanding the second, after the battle of limburg becomes the judge advocate for a long straight to staff, probably because he married the knees. He becomes the confederate diplomat to russia, where investigating collusion. And an 1872, he is the first confederate brought back into the house of representatives, and that nobody has written a biography about him. Things are confused, there are white flags that go up, people who claim you are shooting at your friends, only to arrive up and be shut down. Pandemonium broke loose. Jerseys along the side of the regime, and grovers still patching holes in the line, the rest of team gray are down in the ravine trying to force them out, and here comes george, who can see over the ravine, but not into it. So he brings his brigade on to the line, and does he wait there . No. Here comes picket, and at this point he says the battle has fallen into one of, several of them are with field glasses watching them back. As they retire and the new york brigade comes into place, the confederate since the shift. They capture the moment, saying as we go up out of the ravine a tremendous cheer was sent up into the woods. Think about this, and now we have almost 6000 confederates cheering their rebel, amplified in this regime, and the man at the top of the ravine are the xl sarah brigade. Of the ex elsewhere brigade only two had fired their arms before this battle. The 72nd is on the right, supported by a machine gun. The 77th new york, all 700 of them come up into line and split their regimental front into two battalions. They are too big to go into line, so as to new jersey brigade forces them back, the second in the second is on the right, and the whole of the 78 will fit where the new jersey brigade was. And lieutenant meme, the rest of the confederate force will be stopped dead in their tracks. The 78 new york. Dwight refuses has left flank, sending the second battalion off to cover his left as the confederate delay down into the regime, they start trickling up to the lefthand side. The 78 goes into fight or flight mode, there is no other way to describe that. Joseph hooker, back at headquarters, can discern the only succinct textbook volleys that morning. And every time they fire, booker is in the back, and well start clapping, exclaiming that is white, that is white, and they hold for about 30 minutes against almost two dozen confederate regimen. We will all die here are hold our position. They hold. When right commanding the Union Artillery notices how close they get, he orders the whole battery to left and load canister. A dozen regiment are too much. They get a second wind, and they start screaming, oh run, oh run as they come up out of the regime. The 78 breaks, the new jersey brigade was left, growers guys start to fall back, little by little shoving the union army back over the road, and you can see when rights guns there, and wayne wright says this. I held fire until the head of the column, three rounds to a gun blew the whole thing away. Hes talking about triple canister. Now, as we talked about before, some of these guys like to embellish their report, at one point i gave that couldnt everybody went it was powerful. However, the virginians have a different opinion of what happened. This is what we call a pucker factor. Salem docker says, quote, and this should show you how close the combat was. A terrific roar and a jar as a hot breath of a fairness warmed me of the uncomfortable proximity of the cannon. They are so close to those union guns that when the seventh, they feel they can go over there back. Pucker factor. I could not have done it at all. He comments later that there are thrown, they are told to rise up, fire, leap out of the muzzle and the gray wave swept over the guns so wayne writes guns are captured, they were not blown away at all. This is what we see happening here on the map, they have not come through this confusing, has smashed them back, and what was supposed to be a defensive maneuver to by sometime now becomes a confederate offensive. The union line will collapse. He will cobble together a band along the route. The first people he put together are some drummers, and if you ever hear the aids near jump late in the rain, it is the most uninspiring sound you will ever hear in your life. And, finally, he grabs some brass and gathers this man, and says play, play. Thats all you are good for. Play some marching tune. Play any doodle you can think of. The drums did not give forth cheerful sounds. However both sides comment what happens next. A hush falls over the fields. We are now in our sixth hour of combat, and the band strikes up the star spangled banner. Like out of a movie, with the rain and the smoke, with the star spangled banner, one gentleman says this. Back across the dismal road, to our rear comes a kindred response from 10,000 eager throats. Out of the mist, beneath the acrid smoke, he appears, flourishing a sword in his only arm. Philip carney had arrived. Thats how insulin. What a moment, how has this not been written about . These are the things that paintings are made of. Philip carney emerging with the sword and his only good arm, these are the sexy dreams of historians, are they not . And yet the battle of williamsburg is forgotten. Would you buy that painting . Both sides comment on this. Lets pause and think about these two things. William king. Hes in the company, 20 years old, killed. His colonel commanding the 74th new york says that he had 140 man killed. Are you convinced that the most important battles deal with body count, try this on. It is the 11th on the list of regiment that take the heaviest casualties, and where . Williamsburg. The 72nd, 77 men killed, wounded and missing. They lose more here than any other contact. The seventh and eighth new jersey should i go on . Yes. Thank you. Well played. In the foxes book williamsburg is the seventh highest battle for the proportion of wounded men killed. Seventh. So for those of you that are morbidly fascinated by body count and that is for your legitimacy, try this on. In the 11th virginia, one of the men that gave that rebel yell would say this. They should take note, during the charge we have not learned that portions of washingtons lines of entrenchment were yet discernible there about, so what is possible that we were actually defending the same works, where once stood the continental wraps, as we were now some 80 years later sold off history repeat itself. Follow me, shouts carney, and pitches right into the confederate line. They have turned the confederate now intent on catching their rights. He has marched his division around the rest of the union army, he catches at the same, and on the road. Theyre left guide with a 93rd pennsylvania, they are going to slam headlong the confederate, and drives this team right out of the confederate column. Its about this time that some slaves from local plantations go into Union Headquarters and tell the union high command that the confederate left had been abandoned. They will go with him, and they will investigate the confederate left. The confederate counterattack has had all the steam punched out of it, and another union corps standing in front of them. Here are some combatants. Jack, walked in to the pittsburgh fire house. He apparently understood music calls, he apparently was captured during the seven days campaign, was wounded at that time. Apparently, according to memory, he was exchanged with the p. O. W. System. Peter, they fight to get that. Peter, his father are discharged, joining and captured in 1863, confined that anderson ville, and Juan Anderson bill is liberated he weighs 68 pounds. Alex will pick him up and carry him home. Carney captures the confederate light with him will go that armed man in the man we all know and love, and well show up on the confederate left which sent them into a downward spiral because he did not know the earthworks were there. He dispatches under the guise of a name, the hancock brigade set them up for, he has five, and opposite of them is a wheat field. Before regiment get lost, and two of them pop out on the sweet field. They do not wait for anybody, and wait at this, they get so jude up, the fifth carolina ways and, they will be wounded in the shoulder, and he is brought out onto the field. From the fifth with johnson tells us to take aim at the flag, and he is referring to the fifth flag of the fifth carolina. Every man at shoulder arms leads them forward, while our fire was thinning and knowing them down like grass. Before they pressed on, the canister opened, someone heard hancocks a gentleman charge, and thus ended the battle of williamsburg. Hancock will comment this. The entire field was strong, and 450 million in 20 minutes. The flak will be captured by the fifth when swanson, a comrade of mine found the flag and returned it back to north carolina. Robert links and, you see there, 18 likely still buried on the field today. And, of course, you see this beautiful painting. So, that brings me to the conclusion, the aftermath. In 14 hours, in a driving rainstorm, you have 70,000 young men trying to kill each other. This produces 4000 killed, wounded, and missing, and 14 hours in a driving rainstorm. George washington, in his continental army, through the entire duration of the American Revolution, will lose 4000, 500 men killed in action, and yet one day, here at williamsburg, 80 years later volunteer shoulders will do that. Thats morbidly impressive. The first battle flag is captured, here seven medals of honor are issued here for marriages actions, including robert brody, 26yearold from the 48 north carolina. Others will carry with him, will be wounded in the right leg, will return to action where he would lose an arm, and he still argued to go back into the fight. Mcclelland with telegraph lincoln, and cox was birth today. So this brings us to kerfuffles, and i have five minutes left to do it. For. Why is the battle of land park forgotten . We already addressed memory. You dont go to civil war wounds work, you go to Colonial Williamsburg. Their memory is a tough one, when the president of the United States opens, there is one woman who steps on the steps, saying that there will be no naked president in my town. We have no maps, so i cannot tell you where it took place, because he is an artist not a cartography. We can say we are standing on the xl shoreline, because this battle sets into motion several weeks, if not several months of continued combat, so when you flip open the official records, you only find a few. We have no maps, we have no intact landscape, we have no photographs to argue about, we know what they take pictures of, but they do not survive. This is one of the most confusing they will ever be and, but one of the ones that will set the pace for them to understand what the rest of the world is about. Today, the biggest reason we have not reserved the things is because the physical evidence of it is gone. We have no official reports, as we said, so we must rely on one thing and one thing only to tell you where the battle took place. And that is archeology. Archeology is mandated, thats my battlefield, please dont. They find nothing. So the 21,000 rounds of ammunition, extended by one brigade in one hour has been picked up by other people, and there is one more reason why blames work is forgotten, and that is because all of you have not asked for it. You have not called William Burke and say tell me your civil war story, you have not said please preserve the williamsburg battlefield. Get involved, the one thing that i have seen today, and yesterday about all of the forgotten battles is there has yet to be a call to action. So i put you on notice, lets make sure there are no longer forgotten. Thank you. Just a couple of questions. Remember to stand and introduce yourself. A quick question, you made a brief reference to a machine gun. Could you explain that . No. All we know there are two gunned, possibly deployed, thats what i have for you. Apparently they are not effective, thats what i got here. So for our folks watching at home, im going to recreate the answer. No, thats all i have for you, so im going to make you stand behind the mic,. Ive already warned that i will stop giving him the microphone if he does not remember to stand and introduce himself. You mentioned also briefly in your presentation free knee grows, how many of them were they, and were they loyal to the southern cause . Loyal as much as robert aly told them when he saw them into the institution of slavery. They dont have a choice, there either going to be paid for their work as freemen, or if they do not show up, severe penalty, i. E. Sold. Because the local plantation owners will not give up their own property to build earthworks to defend their new country. That is why they are put in a situation to impress the freemen. Did i answer your question . Was this a Large Community . Great question that i cannot answer. But there are one or two pockets of three communities in the williamsburg area. Those are going to grow in the coming years, once they show up, but documentation is scant. The census taker for that area its not very thorough when it has come to different communities, but you said youre from williamsburg . Originally from baltimore. Lets find something. And if you dont show up laughs do you have time for one more question . So, doctor drew, if i were to show up at williamsburg, i know youve said that for the most point it has vanished, but there are a couple of places i can see remnants down, there correct . New quarter park, you can play for speak golf there, no fighting took place there because we dont like to charge earthworks. You have a quarter path road, which are too earthwork that were not also fought over, because nobody wanted to charge earthworks, but you can visit those. A great example of topography there. The line was clearly documented by archaeologists, up until about three weeks ago when it was paved over for a path site. There was one, left and that is went up for public sale about three months ago. So, time is of the essence, friends. So to answer your question, there are a couple areas where there are earthworks, but theyre not within the core battlefield boundaries, simply because the guys, even though this is early in the war, are not fond of charging intrenchments. Nor will look at the Confederate Army use them. They go down into the ravine to try to fight that day. But the center earthwork is gated so, im happy to show you around what is left, but there are only a few left and time is taking. If any of you i still do on the access youre line, and that is no longer. Every day it happens. Sorry to be a debbie downer, chris. Thats an uplifting note to end on. So what are we all doing sitting around . Thank you