Battery Brooke.
Halfway between the
Confederate Fort Darling at
Drewry's Bluff and the
Dutch Gap Canal, which
General Butler was busily constructing, the
Confederates had dug this powerful work.
Its establishment rendered the construction of the
Dutch Gap Canal a futile military operation.
After 140 days spent in excavating it,
Butler, on New Year's Day, 1865, exploded 12,000 pounds of powder under the bulkhead; but it fell back into the opening.
Under the fire from the guns of Battery Brooke the obstruction could not be removed nor could the canal be dredged sufficiently to admit of the passage of vessels.
The picture looks south along the main ramparts, fronting east on the river.
While the Army of the Potomac was fully occupied at
Petersburg, this battery bellowed out hearty defiance to the fleet by night and day. The strong Confederate fortifications on the
James between the
Appomattox and
Richmond were effective in keeping
General Butler bottled up in
Bermuda Hundred.
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Battery Brooke-guns that bothered Butler |
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Bomb-proof in battery Brooke |
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