View source for Howlett Line

[[File:NPS marker for Parker Battery.jpg|thumb|300px|National Park Service marker located at Parker's Battery]]
[[File:Battery Dantzler Civil War vintage photo.jpg|thumb|300px|Battery Dantzler Civil War vintage photo]]
[[File:The photographic history of the Civil War - thousands of scenes photographed 1861-65, with text by many special authorities (1911) (14760492744).jpg|300px|thumb|Another view of Battery Dantzler]]
The '''Howlett Line''' was a critical [[Confederate States Army|Confederate]] [[Earthworks (engineering)|earthwork]]s dug during the [[Bermuda Hundred Campaign]] of the [[United States Civil War]] in May 1864. Specifically, the line stretched across the [[Bermuda Hundred]] peninsula from the [[James River]] to the [[Appomattox River]].<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite web |url=http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=16096 |title=Howlett Line Park Marker |publisher=Hmdb.org |date= |accessdate=2012-10-01 |archive-date=2012-11-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105122412/http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=16096 |url-status=dead }}</ref> It was named for the Dr. Howlett's House that overlooked the James River at the north end of the line.<ref name="Department of Historic Resources">{{cite web|url=http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/hiway_markers/marker.cfm?mid=2942 |title=Department of Historic Resources |publisher=Dhr.virginia.gov |date= |accessdate=2012-10-01}}</ref> The Howlett Line became famous as the "Cork in the Bottle" by keeping  the 30,000-man strong [[Benjamin Butler|General Butler's]] [[Army of the James]] at bay.<ref name="Department of Historic Resources"/>

==History==
Following the [[Battle of Ware Bottom Church]] (May 20, 1864), the confederates began digging a decisive set of defensive earthworks that became known as the Howlett Line.<ref name="autogenerated1"/> It continued for three miles from river to river and aimed to hold down the railroad and turnpike of crucial importance, which connected [[Richmond, Virginia|Richmond]] and [[Petersburg, Virginia|Petersburg]] that were at the time slightly defended.<ref>[http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_drewrys_bluff_1864.html Battle of Drewry's Bluff, 16 May 1864.]</ref> Gen. [[Daniel Harvey Hill|Daniel H. Hill]] directed the construction of the Confederate fortifications.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=LLPqCQAAQBAJ&dq=Howlett%20Line&pg=PT579 The Earl J. Hess Fortifications Trilogy, Kindle edition.]</ref>

In ''Personal Memoirs'' Gen. [[Ulysses S. Grant]] described a conversation with his Chief Engineer Gen. [[John G. Barnard]] regarding Butler's predicament:

{{quote|He said that the general occupied a place between the James and Appomattox rivers which was of great strength, and where with an inferior force he could hold it for an indefinite length of time against a superior; but that he could do nothing offensively. I then asked him why Butler could not move out from his lines and push across the [[Richmond and Petersburg Railroad]] to the rear and on the south side of [[Richmond in the American Civil War|Richmond]]. He replied that it was impracticable, because the enemy had substantially the same line across the neck of land that General Butler had. He then took out his pencil and drew a sketch of the locality, remarking that the position was like a bottle and that Butler's line of intrenchments across the neck represented the cork; that the enemy had built an equally strong line immediately in front of him across the neck; and it was therefore as if Butler was in a bottle. He was perfectly safe against an attack; but, as Barnard expressed it, the enemy had corked the bottle and with a small force could hold the cork in its place.|Ulysses S. Grant|''Personal Memoirs''<ref>Grant, Ulysses S., and E. B. Long. [https://books.google.com/books?id=SbZfwxEztYoC&dq=He%20said%20that%20the%20general%20occupied%20a%20place%20between%20the%20James%20and%20Appomattox%20rivers%20which%20was%20of%20great%20strength%2C%20and%20where%20with%20an%20inferior%20force%20he%20could%20hold&pg=PA376 ''Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant.''] New York: Da Capo Press, 2001.</ref>}}

Battery Dantzler, called Howlett's Battery before it was renamed to honor Col. Olin M. Dantzler of the 22nd South Carolina, and Parker's Virginia Battery anchored the Howlett Line.<ref>Hess, Earl J. [https://books.google.com/books?id=dI4MOLZnruAC&dq=Howlett%20Line&pg=PA308 ''In the Trenches at Petersburg Field Fortifications and Confederate Defeat.''] Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2013.</ref> During the [[Second Battle of Petersburg]] (June 15, 1864) Gen. [[P. G. T. Beauregard]] pulled part of the troops from the Howlett Line to reinforce his main defenses. Overall, the construction of Confederate fortifications and trenches known as the Howlett Line held Butler in place until General [[Robert E. Lee]] evacuated the position on April 2, 1865.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.chesterfieldtourism.org/civilwar.shtml |title=Chesterfield Heritage Alliance: Civil War |publisher=Chesterfieldtourism.org |date= |accessdate=2012-10-01 |archive-date=2013-01-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130108132112/http://www.chesterfieldtourism.org/civilwar.shtml |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Preservation==
The Chesterfield Historical Society of Virginia works on preservation of the extant earthworks in the Howlett Line Park, which belongs to the Chesterfield County Parks System.<ref>[http://www.northamericanforts.com/East/varich.html#rich3 Richmond Area Battlefields]</ref><ref>[http://www.richmond.com/news/local/chesterfield/article_97d8d84a-39cc-5137-a92f-d71ce8463923.html Chesterfield County looking to expand Howlett Line Park], ''Richmond Times-Dispatch,'' June 4, 2013.</ref>

==See also==
* [[Richmond National Battlefield Park]]
* [[Troop engagements of the American Civil War, 1864]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://chesterfieldhistory.com/Civil-War/Howlett.html The Civil War in Chesterfield County: The Howlett Line]

{{coord missing|Virginia}}

[[Category:Military installations in Virginia]]
[[Category:Fortifications in the United States]]
[[Category:Fortification lines]]
[[Category:Virginia in the American Civil War]]
[[Category:1864 establishments in Virginia]]