Fort Huger
One mile northeast, at Hardy’s Bluff on Lawne’s Neck, existed Fort Huger, a Civil War earthen fortification. Virginia State Engineer Col. Andrew Talcott authorized this and other forts to block any Union naval advance up the James River to Richmond. Beginning in July 1861, enslaved and freed blacks assisted in the construction of Fort Huger. It formed the right riverine flank of Confederate Gen. John B. Magruder’s Peninsula defenses in 1862. Union gunboats engaged Fort Huger on 8 May 1862 and USS Monitor shelled it on the 12th. After several bombardments, Confederate forces abandoned it by 19 May.
Marker is at the intersection of Fort Huger Drive (Virginia Route 676) and Old Stage Highway (Virginia Route 10), on the left when traveling north on Fort Huger Drive.
Courtesy hmdb.org
