| Fredericksburg, Va. |
| April 24, 1861 |
| |
| Brigadier-General Ruggles |
| |
| By your orders I proceeded to Aquia
Creek, and examined the place, with the view of fortifying it, for
the purposes indicated by your verbal directions of this date, viz:
To secure the railroad iron, the timber, two vessels, and a
small steamer at that point from the enemy. I was joined in the
evening by Lieutenant Lewis, of the Virginia Navy, at your request,
and we reviewed the ground together. After examining the topography
of the ground and the character and position of the
channel, we are of the opinion that the best place to put a
battery is on the Split Rock
Bluff, as the channel can be commanded from that point by guns of
sufficient caliber. A battery on Cream Point would invite attack,
and, being separated from the landing by Aquia Creek, would be
difficult to hold. We do not think the place worth fortifying, and
would respectfully recommend that a small force of ten or twenty men
be kept there, to keep off any boats that might attempt to land
there, and be employed in loading cars, which should be sent to
remove the iron and timber to Fredericksburg at once; that the
captains of the vessels be allowed to sail with their vessels at
their pleasure. While the enemy holds the
Potomac
the steamer is of no value to us, and we have not the slightest idea
that the enemy will make the attempt to possess themselves of it.
The men kept there should be required to give information to
headquarters of any attempt of the enemy to land there in force,
which would be indicated by the number of vessels in the offing, and
not allowed to harass the inhabitants by reporting every vessel they
see in the river.
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| Very respectfully submitted by
|
| Thomas H. Williamson
|
| Major of Engineers, Virginia Army |
| H. H. Lewis |
| Lieutenant, Virginia Navy |
| P. S. William H. Kerr, brigade inspector, concurs in
this report. |
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