Drewry’s Bluff is 90 feet above a bend in the James River, and Fort Darling was constructed there in 1862 as the key defense point for water access to Richmond. The Confederate Capitol was just seven miles north of the fort.
The Union Army of the James commanded by Benjamin Butler landed at the Bermuda Hundred on May 5, 1864 and advanced to Drewry’s Bluff on the 9th and captured the outer defenses of Fort Darling. Failure to follow up on the initial success due to delays of Union Generals resulted in the initiative being lost. General Beauregard commanded the Confederate forces that launched a counterattack at 4:30 A. M. on May 16, 1864 under the cover of thick fog.
The surprise attack on Heckman’s brigade overwhelmed them, quickly resulting in the capture of the General and over a thousand of his men. Another column assaulted an artillery battery of twenty pound parrot guns. In an effort to blunt the attack, Union reserve regiments entered the battle. The Confederates sent in their reserves and slowly folded back the Union right. The 21st Connecticut was the last regiment on the right, and they were flanked by the enemy in one of their charges. In response, they realigned the regiment in the shape of an “L”, fighting the enemy both in front and on the flank at close quarters. There was nothing before them or on the right except for the attacking rebels. They could see no one on their left in the smoke and fog and Colonel Burpee received no orders from Union Headquarters. The Colonel remained calm as he walked through the regimental ranks and his orders resulted in repeated charges of the enemy being turned back. After more than three hours of heavy fighting, the men had fired more than a hundred rounds and some of the muskets were fouled. Colonel Burpee ordered the regiment to fall back to the Petersburg Road as he believed that the enemy would flank his line and they could not hold it after the casualties that they had taken. In the battle, the 21st Connecticut had 14 men killed, 69 wounded and 21 missing.
Drewry’s Bluff References
LETTER FROM AN OFFICER OF HIGH RANK
IN ANOTHER STATE
When I have seen the gallant Twenty-first in battle, I have as an American felt proud of them … Never shall I forget their splendid behavior on that terrible 16th of May, when the field of Drewry’s Bluff was covered with from 8,000 to 10,000 dead and wounded of both armies, and the Twenty-first stood firm and fearless amid the terrible shock of that fearful charge and repulsed it on their front. Many times, in the heat of that conflict, I looked towards the Twenty-first, fearful that I should see them overwhelmed. They did their noble State immortal honor that day, as they have done in every battle in which they have been engaged.