When night fell, 2,283 Union and 1,682 Confederate casualties lay on the field. Winfield Scott Hancock’s brigade occupied some abandoned Confederate works and swatted aside a disorganized attempt to retake them. Fresh Union troops charged headlong into the Confederate advance and forced them back to Fort Magruder. Confederates counterattacked and drove the Union lines back, but only temporarily. Reinforcements arrived on both sides as a steady rain began to fall. Wilcox’s brigade in a desperate fight over swampy ground. Joseph Hooker’s 2nd division of the Union III Corps attacked Fort Magruder from the southeast, becoming tangled with Cadmus M. James Longstreet was left to defend Fort Magruder, southeast of Williamsburg, and cover the withdrawal. Their combined force of 57,000 was still no match for McClellan, so Johnston decided to withdraw to the defenses around Richmond. The delay bought time for Confederate General Joseph E. Magruder’s elaborate showmanship and deceptive tactics delayed the Union army for nearly 30 days.
Magruder, a series of small forts and defensive works, and 11,000 men. Standing in his way was Confederate Brig. He planned to march up the Virginia Peninsula and capture the Confederate capitol of Richmond, bringing a swift end to the war.
McClellan took his massive 120,000-man Army of the Potomac by boat and landed at Fort Monroe near Hampton Roads. The battle was tactically a draw, with the Confederate army withdrawing toward Richmond during the night. James Longstreet outside Williamsburg, Virginia during the American Civil War. McClellan and Confederate forces commanded by Maj.
The Battle of Williamsburg was fought on between Union forces commanded by Maj. A small monument and a few wayside markers are all that remind passersby that two Civil War armies once fought here.