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June 14th, 1864 11:10 A.M. Hancock's Corps of about 28,000 men began boarding ferries several miles upriver at Wilcox Wharf. They landed at Windmill Point, the tip of Flowerdew Hundred, near the site of the original settlement in 1618. While waiting for all of the Corps to cross, Hancock's men swam in the river, harvested "...early vegetables...", and tore down a barn for firewood. Two warships guarded the bridge... Meanwhile, the pontoons had arrived. These wooden boats, 31 feet long, were lashed together into rafts and swung into place. It took 101 pontoons, set about 20 feet apart, to cross the river. Finished in 9 hours, the bridge was 2,000 feet long and carried a plank roadbed 11 feet wide. For strength, the bridge was tied to 6 schooners anchored in the channel. Between these ships was a removable section which could be open to allow ships to pass. Two warships guarded the bridge, the Mackinaw above and the Atlanta, a captured Confederate ironclad, below, off Flowerdew Creek. Finished about 1:00 A.M. on June 15th, the bridge was in almost constant use for the next 70 hours. |
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Exhibit |
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Grant's Crossing
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Interpretations |