Magruder, Virginia
Encyclopedia
Magruder was a small unincorporated town in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

 near Williamsburg
Williamsburg, Virginia
Williamsburg is an independent city located on the Virginia Peninsula in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia, USA. As of the 2010 Census, the city had an estimated population of 14,068. It is bordered by James City County and York County, and is an independent city...

 in York County
York County, Virginia
York County is a county located on the north side of the Virginia Peninsula in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of the Commonwealth of Virginia, a state of the United States. Situated on the York River and many tributaries, the county seat is the unincorporated town of Yorktown...

. Now extinct, it once had its own church, post office, cemetery, lodge, and homes. Magruder is considered one of the many lost towns of Virginia. The land on which it stood is now part of the US military reservation known as Camp Peary
Camp Peary
Camp Peary is a military reservation in York County near Williamsburg, Virginia. Officially it is referred to as the Armed Forces Experimental Training Activity under the auspices of the Department of Defense, but it is widely believed to be the location of a covert CIA training facility known...

.

History

Magruder was located in York County
York County, Virginia
York County is a county located on the north side of the Virginia Peninsula in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of the Commonwealth of Virginia, a state of the United States. Situated on the York River and many tributaries, the county seat is the unincorporated town of Yorktown...

. The site was north of the old colonial-era capital of Williamsburg
Williamsburg, Virginia
Williamsburg is an independent city located on the Virginia Peninsula in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia, USA. As of the 2010 Census, the city had an estimated population of 14,068. It is bordered by James City County and York County, and is an independent city...

 and just west of Queen's Creek
Queen's Creek
Queen's Creek is located in York County in the Virginia Peninsula area of the Hampton Roads region of southeastern Virginia in the United States...

, which flows into the York River
York River (Virginia)
The York River is a navigable estuary, approximately long, in eastern Virginia in the United States. It ranges in width from at its head to near its mouth on the west side of Chesapeake Bay. Its watershed drains an area including portions of 17 counties of the coastal plain of Virginia north...

.

The small settlement which became Magruder was named for American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

 Confederate
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...

 General John B. "Prince John" Magruder
John B. Magruder
John Bankhead Magruder was a career military officer who served in the armies of three nations. He was a U.S. Army officer in the Mexican-American War, a Confederate general during the American Civil War, and a postbellum general in the Imperial Mexican Army...

. During the Peninsula Campaign
Peninsula Campaign
The Peninsula Campaign of the American Civil War was a major Union operation launched in southeastern Virginia from March through July 1862, the first large-scale offensive in the Eastern Theater. The operation, commanded by Maj. Gen. George B...

 of the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

 in 1862, a large federal force under General George B. McClellan
George B. McClellan
George Brinton McClellan was a major general during the American Civil War. He organized the famous Army of the Potomac and served briefly as the general-in-chief of the Union Army. Early in the war, McClellan played an important role in raising a well-trained and organized army for the Union...

 began at Fort Monroe
Fort Monroe
Fort Monroe was a military installation in Hampton, Virginia—at Old Point Comfort, the southern tip of the Virginia Peninsula...

 at the entrance to Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...

 and moved west to attempt to capture the Confederate capital city of Richmond
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...

.

General Magruder headed a small force known as the Army of the Peninsula. His mission was to delay the federal advance, and he became well known for his deceptive and successful tactics in doing so. The carefully orchestrated demonstrations of illusion of the "Prince John Players" fooled Union leaders into thinking his troops behind the Warwick Line
Warwick Line
The Warwick Line was a defensive works across the Virginia Peninsula maintained along the Warwick River by Confederate General John B. Magruder against much larger Union forces under General George B...

 were far greater in number than they really were. The ruse delayed McClellan's movements, causing the cautious leader to plan and deploy an elaborate siege of Yorktown
Yorktown, Virginia
Yorktown is a census-designated place in York County, Virginia, United States. The population was 220 in the 2000 census. It is the county seat of York County, one of the eight original shires formed in colonial Virginia in 1634....

, which was abandoned by the Confederates retreating towards Williamsburg and Richmond only a short time before McClellan intended to launch his siege. The federal pursuit was delayed partially because of ruse, and the only substantial combat between the forces was against a Confederate rear guard just east of Williamsburg, where the earthen Fort Magruder
Fort Magruder
Fort Magruder was an high earthen fortification straddling the road between Yorktown and Williamsburg, Virginia, just outside the latter city during the American Civil War...

 stood at the junction of the only two roads leading from the east. The Battle of Williamsburg
Battle of Williamsburg
The Battle of Williamsburg, also known as the Battle of Fort Magruder, took place on May 5, 1862, in York County, James City County, and Williamsburg, Virginia, as part of the Peninsula Campaign of the American Civil War...

 resulted, the only major skirmish between the large armies before the Confederates reached the outer defenses of Richmond. There, Magruder's delaying tactics had helped provide Confederate leaders important time needed to build a system of defensive works outside Richmond. The federal campaign culminated in failure after the series of battles known as the Seven Days Battles
Seven Days Battles
The Seven Days Battles was a series of six major battles over the seven days from June 25 to July 1, 1862, near Richmond, Virginia during the American Civil War. Confederate General Robert E. Lee drove the invading Union Army of the Potomac, commanded by Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan, away from...

 just east of Richmond.

After the Civil War and Emancipation, the area in which Magruder was located became settled by African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

 families, mostly composed of former slaves (freedmen). Nearby, the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway
The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was a Class I railroad formed in 1869 in Virginia from several smaller Virginia railroads begun in the 19th century. Led by industrialist Collis P...

 (C&O) built through the area in 1881 to reach the coal pier
Coal pier
A coal pier is a transloading facility designed for the transfer of coal between rail and ship.The typical facility for loading ships consists of a holding area and a system of conveyors for transferring the coal to dockside and loading it into the ship's cargo holds...

s and the new city of Newport News
Newport News, Virginia
Newport News is an independent city located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia. It is at the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula, on the north shore of the James River extending southeast from Skiffe's Creek along many miles of waterfront to the river's mouth at Newport News...

 on the ice-free harbor of Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...

. The C&O later built a spur line which extended to Magruder Station.

During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, in 1942-43, the U.S. Navy took over a large area in the north western portion of York County to train Seabees and hold special German prisoners-of-war which became known as Camp Peary. All residents of the entire towns of Magruder and Bigler's Mill
Bigler's Mill, Virginia
Bigler's Mill was a small town in Virginia near Williamsburg in York County which is now extinct. It is now considered one of the many lost towns of Virginia....

 were removed. Many of the black
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

 residents of Magruder and at least one church were relocated to the community of Grove
Grove, Virginia
Grove is an unincorporated community in the southeastern portion of James City County in the Peninsula subregion of Virginia in the United States. It is located in the center of the Historic Triangle of Colonial Virginia, communities linked by the Colonial Parkway; the area is one of the busiest...

 in nearby James City County
James City County, Virginia
James City County is a county located on the Virginia Peninsula in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of the Commonwealth of Virginia, a state of the United States. Its population was 67,009 , and it is often associated with Williamsburg, an independent city, and Jamestown which is within the...

. Grove had been sparsely populated until another large influx of displaced families had moved there during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, when their land was taken to create a military reservation which became the Naval Weapons Station Yorktown
Naval Weapons Station Yorktown
Naval Weapons Station Yorktown is a United States Navy base in York County, James City County, and Newport News in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia...

.

After World War II, the area was turned over by the Navy to the Commonwealth of Virginia and was used as a state game preserve. Then, in 1951, the Navy reclaimed the land and closed the base to the public. Despite efforts at secrecy, Camp Peary eventually became well-known as "The Farm," a training facility for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...

 (CIA). Although the roads and structures are still there and occupied, access to the base is still restricted.

See also

  • Bigler's Mill, Virginia
    Bigler's Mill, Virginia
    Bigler's Mill was a small town in Virginia near Williamsburg in York County which is now extinct. It is now considered one of the many lost towns of Virginia....

  • Penniman, Virginia
    Penniman, Virginia
    Penniman was an unincorporated town in northwestern York County, on the south bank of the York River six miles northeast of Williamsburg in the Virginia Peninsula area of the Hampton Roads region of southeastern Virginia in the United States...

  • Lost counties, cities and towns of Virginia

Publications

  • McCartney, Martha W. (1977) James City County: Keystone of the Commonwealth; James City County, Virginia; Donning and Company; ISBN 0-8986599-9-X

Websites


External links

  • Geographical coordinates: 37°19′20"N 76°40′31"W (click for maps and satellite photos of Magruder, Virginia)
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