Engineers at the Williams House
In September,1864, the U.S.Engineers worked on aspects of the front line west of the Jerusalem Plank Road and east of Fort Wadsworth on the Halifax Rd/Weldon Railroad and also on the Federal rear or secondary line in the same sector. Their camp was at the Williams house.
"September 5. Companies A and B returned to the main camp, following the line as far as Fort Davis. Company D, in marching order, left the main camp at 1 p.m. and went into camp at the Williams house, near the Jerusalem Plank Rd. During the night, the company went out on fatigue duty.
September 6. Company C left camp, in marching order, and joined Company D, in camp at the Williams house. Details from Company D laid out six batteries and a long line of rifle pits. This included the rear line selected September 1, and Batteries 26, 27, and 28. New: Evolution of the Federal line east of Fort Wadsworth
September 8-9. Companies A and B were engaged in putting the main camp in order. Companies C and D continued in camp at the Williams house, superintending the construction of fortifications in that vicinity."
Gilbert Thompson, “The Engineer Battalion in the Civil War: A Contribution to the History of the United States Engineers”. Number 44, Occasional Papers, Engineer School, U.S. Army. Press of the Engineer School 1910:84-85.
Gilbert Thompson
"September 5. Companies A and B returned to the main camp, following the line as far as Fort Davis. Company D, in marching order, left the main camp at 1 p.m. and went into camp at the Williams house, near the Jerusalem Plank Rd. During the night, the company went out on fatigue duty.
September 6. Company C left camp, in marching order, and joined Company D, in camp at the Williams house. Details from Company D laid out six batteries and a long line of rifle pits. This included the rear line selected September 1, and Batteries 26, 27, and 28. New: Evolution of the Federal line east of Fort Wadsworth
September 8-9. Companies A and B were engaged in putting the main camp in order. Companies C and D continued in camp at the Williams house, superintending the construction of fortifications in that vicinity."
Gilbert Thompson, “The Engineer Battalion in the Civil War: A Contribution to the History of the United States Engineers”. Number 44, Occasional Papers, Engineer School, U.S. Army. Press of the Engineer School 1910:84-85.
Gilbert Thompson
Cropped version of LC 32998. Headquarters U.S. Engineer Battalion in front of Petersburg, Va., September, 1864. Although this structure is not identified as the Williams house on the negative, Thompson's diary states the U.S. Engineers were quartered there in September 1864. The chimneys, roof style and trees match the McCallum drawing below.
Detail from LC 32998 shows engineers working on and transporting gabions for earthwork constructions.
Detail of schematic plan of locations and dates where the U.S. Engineers camped and laid out works and lines. NARA, College Park, RG 79.
An engineer's notes on the map above, indicates the site for Fort Stevenson was chosen on September 1, 1864, it was profiled on September 11 by Company D, U.S. Engineers, and they worked on the fort until the16th. The undated Andrew McCallum drawing below must have been done on or shortly after September 11.
Detail from Andrew McCallum sketch View of the Near [sic, should be "Rear"] Line on the Weldon Railroad Near the Williams House. Becker Collection, Boston College.
Key: 1 Preparations for building large fort to command the lines// 2 Williams House// 3 Batteries// View of the near [sic, should be "rear"] line on Weldon Railroad near Wiiliams House.
There are many interesting details in this drawing. Although the house still stands, the outbuildings have been stripped of wood and are denoted by chimneys. In the left foreground, the frames for constructing Fort Stevenson are prominent. Note the gabions in the gun embrasures in the right foreground. The guard on the parapet stands in approximately the location of the red X on the map below.
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On June 21, 1864, Theodore Lyman, of Meade's staff, wrote about the Williams house, which was involved in what is known as the Battle of Jerusalem Plank Road: "Before us, to the left, was a big cornfield and a white wooden house, of good size, and with several outbuildings ….The house was deserted, but belonged to one Williams--“Massa dun gone ter Petersburg; but kirry mos all um furniture with him.”—but he left the ice which was the essential; also were there several milch cows and numerous astonished negroes" (p 218)....
On October 14, 1864, Theodore Lyman "Rode with the General [Meade] to Fort Stevenson, which is now not far from done, a work of large relief, capable of sheltering near 1,000 men, and with a bastion front. The Williams house has disappeared and the country is hardly to be recognized, so much timber has been felled and slashed” (p. 280).... Meade’s Army: The Private Notebooks of Lt. Col. Theodore Lyman. Edited by David Lowe, The Kent State University Press: 2007. |
Detail from undated manuscript map (late June 1864?) from the Engineers Dept. Army of the Potomac, showing the "R. Williams" house. The resident appears to have been one Richard "Dick" Williams.
