Fort Brown at Gloucester Point

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Remains of Confederate Fort Brown, a bastioned star-shaped earthwork at Gloucester Point designed for 19 heavy guns.

As Virginia joined the Confederacy in April, 1861, its leaders were soon defending the Chesapeake tidewater. Within days, the first shots of the war in Virginia were fired at Gloucester Point by Union gunboats.

General Robert E. Lee sent naval Captain William S. Whittle and Gloucester native Commander Thomas Jefferson Page to secure the entrances to both the York and James Rivers. Engineer Captain Charles H. Dimmock was set to work shoring up the defenses on Gloucester Point.

By early 1862, Captain Dimmock, using slave labor, had thrown up this enormous earthwork to protect the land side from attack. Nearby, right at the Point, a 100 yard long and 75 yardwide earthen water battery had twelve large guns pointed at passing ships. A covered way linked the two forts.

The fort was abandoned as Union forces moved into the area at the start of the Peninsular Campaign.