Drewry's Bluff: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Richmond National Battlefield
Sams C and Brown NJ. 2026. Drewry's Bluff: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Richmond National Battlefield. Cultural Landscapes Inventory Report. 300098. National Park Service. NPS Northeast Regional Office, Boston, Massachusetts / CRIS-CL Database
Drewry’s Bluff is one of twelve units of Richmond National Battlefield Park (NBP) in Virginia. The park preserves, protects, interprets, and commemorates Richmond Civil War battlefield landscapes, struggles for the capital of the Confederacy associated with the 1862 Seven Days’ Battles, the 1864 Overland Campaign, and the 1884-1865 Richmond and Petersburg Campaigns, including the American military, social, and political history as exemplified by the New Market Heights Battlefield. The site became part of the park in 1929 and was expanded in 1955 and 1960. The fort and associated earthworks on Drewry’s Bluff were critical for the defense of Richmond from Federal naval attacks. The battle fought here on May 15, 1862, proved to the Federal navy that the Confederate defense of the James River would be very difficult to breach. After defeating the Federals in 1862, the Confederates improved the fortification and added more guns and a permanent garrison. The site also was the headquarters for the Confederate Marine Corps and the Confederate Naval Academy. The fort saw action again in May 1864. The 39-acre property is located 8 miles down the James River from Richmond, Virginia, between the river and Interstate Route 95. The site includes the earthen fieldworks remains of Fort Drewry, an original cannon mounted on a reproduction carriage, a bombproof, a pedestrian interpretive trail with waysides, an overlook, and visitor parking. Maintained lawns edge the entrance road, while woodlands dominate the majority of the site, including the earthwork remnants. In 1927 the Richmond Battlefield Association acquired the land to preserve the site from development, and placed a Freeman Marker on the site to commemorate its role in the war.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Sams, Cheryl; Brown, Nancy
- Date of Issue
- 2026
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- NER , RICH
- Keywords
- Archeological Preservation, Archeology, Battery, Battlefield Preservation, Battles In The North And South, Civilian Conservation Corps, Confederate Marine Corps, Confederate Naval Academy, Conservation, defense, Earthwords, Engineering, Fieldworks, For Drewry, Fort Darling, Fortification, historic site, James River, Leisure, Military, Military Facility, NAVY, Peninsula Campaign, The Civil War, The New Deal, Ward's Bluff