FORT EUSTIS, Va –
A drive along Fort Eustis' Harrison Road privileges visitors to a variety of sights, including picturesque picnic areas along the James River providing clear views of the eerily-anchored James River Reserve Fleet to the west, and Army training areas shrouded amongst beautiful forest land blanketing the terrain to the east.
However, there is more than meets the eye residing deep in those forests. Nestled along the river in Training Area #28, lies the remains of one of the Civil War's Confederate bastions, known as Fort Crafford.
The Crafford farm house
Long before the Civil War, Mulberry Island, like much of tidewater Virginia, was home to planters. They were primarily tobacco farmers seeking a quick profit from the area's fertile lands. Among the families settled on the island was the Crafford family.
According to Christopher McDaid, 733rd Civil Engineer Division cultural resources manager, little is known of the origins of the family and of their financial dealings. Unfortunately the county records for the area, then known as Warwick County, were burned during military action in the Civil War.
McDaid said archaeological research indicates that the Crafford family built the farm house between 1730 and 1750, and used the home as the origin point on the Mulberry Island ferry. The Craffords operated a tavern and inn at the home, giving travelers a chance to rest before crossing the James River to Isle of Wight.
"This house was probably similar in scale and mass to the Matthew Jones House. The Craffords and the Jones were contemporaries and likely peers," McDaid said. "The home was occupied until 1918, when the land was sold to the government for the establishment of Camp Eustis."
The foundation was excavated in the 1970s by the Fort Eustis Historical and Archaeological Association, and today the brick and oyster-shell mortar foundation remains, surrounded by a protective fence.
The Warwick Line
During the Civil War, the Confederate States Army held headquarters in Richmond, Va., 50 miles northwest of Mulberry Island. Maj. Gen. John B. Magruder commanded the CSA's small Army of the Peninsula, postured to defend the capital from Union forces threatening to besiege the peninsula from the south, at Fort Monroe in Hampton.
To prevent the Union from taking the area by land or sea, the CSA developed the Warwick Line, a series of fortifications bisecting the peninsula from Mulberry Island eastward to Yorktown. On the west end at the James River, the Confederates established the Mulberry Island Point Battery, a four-gun outpost. The battery, when paired with Fort Huger immediately across the river, would allow the CSA to oppose Union naval forces from sailing up the James directly to Richmond.
However, the battery only provided defense against a naval invasion.
To protect the battery and give Magruder's forces a defensive position against a Union drive through the heart of the peninsula, he ordered his troops to occupy the land around the Crawford family farm adjacent to the battery Sept. 5, 1861. The fort was abandoned in May 1862 when the CSA withdrew to Richmond in the beginning of the Peninsula Campaign.
The star fort amongst the marshes
The eight-acre tract of land offered Confederate troops advantageous firing positions overlooking the James River and inland. The CSA built a "star fort," a pentagon-shaped defensive position around the family farm house, whose foundations remain today.
McDaid said the star fort design prevented "dead zones," or areas beneath battlements where advancing enemies could take shelter from fire and potentially breach the walls.
"The earth works here include a moat that was filled by tidal ebbs and flows, and sally ports, which allowed troops to advance out into the surrounding land to mount counter-offenses," McDaid explained. "Additionally, the high works feature gun emplacements where troops would roll cannons up onto."
The size and positioning of the earth works indicates the architects were familiar with the terrain. Some of the remaining mounds run for hundreds of yards, only to stop suddenly. A few more yards in the same direction will lead hikers into swampy marshes.
"The architects realized enemies could not outflank them through the marshes, and designed the fort to take advantage of the landscape," said McDaid.
Another surviving element of the fort is two earthen hollows that were once "bombproofs," which served as a sort of shelter from attacks. Soldiers would dig a hole, build a wooden superstructure over it, and install dirt and hay bales to create a shelter. If enemies fired shells on the fort, Soldiers could take cover in the bombproof.
The hidden battery
From the aging firing positions on the western shore, marshlands creeps around the area where Fort Crafford once stood, providing a clear line of sight to a small, swampy peninsula covered in trees. McDaid said the point is the believed location of the Mulberry Island Point Battery, which has yet to be located by historians or archaeologists.
"We have not had a reason to do an archaeological survey out there, as our work is driven by construction projects and training requirements.
Because this is a protected area, construction is prohibited, and no units want to train in that area," McDaid explained. "At some point hopefully in the next year, we hope to get out there and find it."
Preserving the fort
When the War Department purchased the land in 1918, the Fort Crafford area was used for training. The Crafford house was repaired and used for plotting artillery fire landing from nearby Camp Wallace. Towers were erected for observation, and the stone platforms can still be seen today.
Outside of the towers, the War Department deemed the land as having historic value, and was to be left untouched and off-limits to building and most other forms of military training. As a result, the earth works there are extremely well preserved.
"Our collection of earth works are some of the best preserved in eastern Virginia, because the War Department in 1918 left them alone," McDaid said. "Many of the regions earth works were destroyed through transitions in farming equipment in the 1920s, featuring deeper, chiseled plows. These are remarkable examples of original earth works."
In 1971, the Fort Eustis post historian joined FEHAA in requesting permission from the Secretary of the Army to perform archaeological digging around the foundation of the house. They received the license in April 1971, permitting three years of work. Artifacts discovered were placed in the U.S. Army Transportation Museum on post, but has since been moved to the Virgina Department of Archaeology in Richmond.
Fort Crafford was placed on the Virginia Landmarks Register Oct. 16, 1973, and on the National Register of Historic Places May 17, 1974.
While no future construction is allowed, McDaid said the CED hopes to preserve the area through a combination of volunteerism and "benign neglect," allowing the land to remain mostly undisturbed. During the post's Earth Week events in 2011, volunteers installed a gravel walking trail lined with landscaping timbers to allow easier access through the site.
Like the Matthew Jones House, McDaid said tours are available, so long as mission requirements allow access to the ranges. Interested parties should contact McDaid to schedule a tour of the area by emailing him at
christopher.l.mcdaid.civ@mail.mil.