Improvement of Chickahominy River Virginia: 1895 Report

IMPROVEMENT OF CHICKAHOMINY RIVER VIRGINIA

This river is one of the principal tributaries of the James River and is navigable at high water for vessels drawing 12 feet to Binn Bar 2 miles below Windsor Shades. The latter place is the head of navigation and is 25 miles from the mouth of the river. Previous to artificial betterment the channel from Binn Bar to Windsor Shades was obstructed by several shoals with a depth of 4 to 5 feet at low water and the entrance to the river was obstructed by a bar. The present project of improvement is to dredge a channel from 100 to 150 feet wide and not less than 8 feet deep at low water through the shoals near the head of navigation and a channel 200 feet wide and 14 to 15 feet deep at low water through the bar at the entrance. The rise of the tide is about 3 feet. The amount expended on the present project to June 30, 1894 was 23,829.91 The channel through the bar at the entrance to the river has been dredged to the projected dimensions An examination made in January 1891 of the work hitherto done showed that very little shoaling had taken place in the channels dredged since 1878 the worst shoals being near Old Fort. These shoals and those between Binn Bar and Windsor Shades have since been dredged to a depth not less than 8 feet at low water and to a width of 50 feet excepting a part of Windsor Shades Bar where the width is only 40 feet.

Five thousand dollars was appropriated for this improvement by act of July 13, 1892. A contract was entered into with Chester T. Caler, of Norfolk Va., on March 18, 1893 to do the required dredging at 23 cents per cubic yard for material deposited on shore and 13 cents per cubic yard for material deposited by dumping. Work under this contract which was commenced June 9, 1894 was continued during the present fiscal year until July 29, 1894. 18,188 cubic yards of material being removed during July. Thirty-five thousand six hundred and thirty four cubic yards was removed and deposited from scows under this contract from Upper and Lower Binn, Osborn, Old Fort. and Windsor Shades bars increasing the channel width through each bar to 100 feet with 9 feet depth at low water. The aggregate length of the channels dredged was 5,875 feet. The project for this improvement is now complete a channel 100 feet wide and 8 feet deep at low water being completed from the mouth to the head of navigation and this is deemed sufficient for the present and prospective commercial interests of the locality. The amount expended on this improvement during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1895 is $5,170.09 for payment on contract inspection and office expenses

This work is in the collection district of Petersburg, Va which is the nearest port of entry

Nearest light house: Deep Water Light in James River Virginia

Nearest port Fort Monroe Va

The amount of revenue collected at the port of Petersburg, Va during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1895 is $00.00

 The following statistics relative to the commerce of the Chickahominy River Virginia during the calendar year 1894 were furnished by Mr L. F. Barnes of Boulevard, Va.

                                                 Articles

                    Amount      Value
                          tons   $
Cordwood 18 000 90 000
Sawed lumber    6 000 50 000
Vegetables           500 25 000
Fish                     250 10 000
Fertilizer              500 4 000
Total               25 250     179 000

Vessels Number     Average draft    Average tonnage
Feet.
Steam 2 6 6
Sail          200              12 250
Barges 25 6 175
Lighters     25 4 100
Rafts 10

Total 262

-Report of the Chief of Engineers U.S. Army, Part 2
Annual report (United States. War Dept.)
 U.S. Government Printing Office, 1895

Charles City County Courthouse Named

At its December 2016 meeting the Charles City Board of Supervisors vote unanimously to name the Charles City Courthouse after Iona Whitehead Adkins. Mrs. Adkins was Charles City's first African-American Clerk of Circuit Court and the only African-American serving in that position at the time. She served from 1968 until her retirement in 1988. Iona Adkins passed away in 2004 at the age of 79. 

Iona W. Adkins defeated  the incumbent clerk, Hudson Binns, in 1967. She received 1,188 votes to Binn's 552- Charles City at that time had under 2,600 registered voters.  

Mrs. Adkins is recognized as the first African-American woman to be elected a county clerk in America since Reconstruction. I personally can find no record of any African-American holding the position of Clerk in Virginia before her, during Reconstruction or later.  Edwin P. McCabe was elected a county clerk of Graham County, Kansas in 1881. John Mercer Langston was elected clerk of the small town of Brownhelm, Ohio in 1855 becoming probably the first African-American office holder in the United States- he later returned to his native Virginia after the Civil War where he was elected to Congress.

Very exciting news . . .

"Nearly 300 pages of Charles City County records that were pilfered by Union soldiers during the Civil War have returned to Virginia — filling in some of the blanks on wills, deeds and other court filings from the 1600s.

It’s a godsend, an absolute godsend,” said John Metz, deputy of collections and programs at the Library of Virginia. “I’m a historian. This is the kind of thing we live for.”

The records of Charles City County figured in big city news 154 years ago also . . .

At 8 o'clock A.M., the head of the column halted at Charles City Court-House, the old county seat, where half an hour was spent in preparing and eating the morning meal. All the city there is here consists of the two buildings constituting the Court-House and Clerk's Office, which contained the county records. There is an old hotel building on the opposite side of the road, with a wide-spreading porch, whose frameless windows and vacant doorways testify that it was long since abandoned to the owls and bats.

The Court-House is a very old structure, built of brick and covered with slate. It was erected during the last half of the seventeenth century, and contains the oldest records of any other county in the State. I regret to say that all these old books, with the records of real estate titles and other papers, which must be of great value to the country, have been wantonly scattered in confusion about the premises' covering the floors and dooryards, and are almost wholly destroyed. A more impressive exhibition of the destructive effects of war could scarcely be imagined, than to see those old and cherished books of record and title papers scattered to the winds or trodden under foot. Some portion of these records date back to 1600 and 1675, and exhibit some neat and masterly specimens of penmanship. Charcoal caricatures, of fierce and mustachoed horsemen, ornamented the whitewashed walls, evidently intended to counterfeit some cavalry officer of the German persuasion. The premises are thickly overgrown with rank weeds, and neglect and decay are stamped on everything around. I cannot persuade myself that New-England soldiers would be guilty of such vandalism.

-New York Times, August 20, 1862

Charles City Courthouse 1864

Weather Facts

Some interesting tidbits . . . form the early Twentieth Century . . .

June 1912
U.S.Department of Agriculture
Office of Experiment Stations
DRAINAGE INVESTIGATIONS

wettest year     1889 . . . .72.02 inches
Dryest    "     1876 . . . .27.65 "

Wettest month, July 1889  . .14.01 "
Dryest  "    , October 1874 . 0.11 "
"         , November 1890

Heaviest rainfall in 24 hours, Apr. 17-18, 1910 . . 5.33 "
Heaviest rainfall in short period(46 minutes)
August 19, 1908 . . . .2.88 ins.

Average annual snowfall . . . . 16.80 '

Highest temperature, August 11, 1900 . . .  102 degrees
Lowest temperature, February 10, 1899 . .   -3 "

Latest date of killing frost in spring . .  April 20
Average date of killing frost in spring . . April 2
Earliest date of first killing frost in autumn . .October 12
Average date of first killing frost in autumn . . November 3

Maximum wind velocity, 61 miles per hour . . . February 10/09

- A REPORT UPON THE DRAINAGE OF THE LOWLANDS OF THE CHICKAHOMINY RIVER
(HANOVER, HENRICO, NEW KENT and CHARLES CITY COUNTIES, VA.
 by George M. Warren, Drainage Engineer,
Assisted by John R. Haswell, Assistant Drainage Engineer,
and Newton B. Wade, Assistant Drainage Engineer

A New Look- II

 As I said yesterday, I have discovered that the Richmond Examiner reevaluated its opinion of the Confederated defeat at Charles City Court House, some two weeks after its original scathing article. . .

THE CAPTURE OF OUR CAVALRY AT CHARLES CITY COURT HOUSE

Evidence, lately place in our hands, proves satisfactorily that in a paragraph of this paper, relating to the capture of Confederate Cavalry at Charles City Court House, the Reporter did injustice to some who performed their duty and only surrendered when overwhelmed by superior numbers. The number of our men captured was only eighty-three, whilst the force that surrounded them is acknowledged by the Yankees themselves to have been five hundred cavalry, supported by ten companies of infantry.

The facts of the case are briefly these: Part of three companies of the Thirty-second Virginia cavalry battalion were stationed at Charles City Court House, Captain Hamlet, Company H, being at Bush Hill, quarter of a mile distant. Their couriers were at the Forge bridge, seven miles distant. The pickets of the Holcombe Legion were stationed several miles east, on the road to Williamsburg. At 3 o'clock Sunday morning, December 13th, the pickets of the Legion were driven in and made their way to Bottom's bridge, their headquarters, without informing the couriers of the Thirty-second battalion of the approach of the enemy. The Yankees then advanced to Forge bridge, where they surprised the couriers and took them prisoners. They then rode rapidly to Charles City Court House, reaching there about 7 a.m., a portion riding straight up to the Court House, and the others going in quest of Captain HAMLET, at Bush Hill. Captain HAMLET and his men saw the Yankees, but believed them to be some of our own cavalry sent to relieve them from picket, and as such cheered them as they rode up. When the mistake was discovered they had been completely surrounded, and it was too late for resistance. Lieutenant F.S. BALLARD, commanding Captain A.J. RODGERS' company, had his men, twenty-five in number, out for morning drill and inspection on foot when he discovered the Yankees, some two hundred in number, not more than two hundred and fifty yards distant. He immediately withdrew his men into the old tavern and a building near by, and waited the approach of the enemy. When the Yankees got within fifty yards of the buildings he opened on them with his carbines and kept off until every cartridge was expended. The enemy then charged into the buildings and overpowered our small force.

The enemy lost four men killed and ten wounded. Our casualties were Lieutenant BALLARD and a private, whose name we have not obtained, wounded.

At the time of the approach of the Yankees, Captain RODGERS, commanding the battalion, being ignorant of their coming, had just started to Richmond under orders, and happened to ride back to the Court House just as the Yankees arrived, and was taken prisoner. He and Lieutenant BALLARD were sent back to Richmond by the last flag of truce boat. The men and some of the officers are still held prisoners at Fort Norfolk.

This disaster seems wholly due to the failure of the pickets who were first driven in to give information of the fact to Captain RODGERS' pickets or couriers at Forge Bridge.

-The Daily Examiner(Richmond) January 1, 1864

A New Look- I

 I posted this piece last year at this time as part of a series on the December 1863 raid by Union forces on the village of Charles City Court-House. I entitled it "Snark" as John Moncure Daniel raked confederate forces over the coals for their perceived incompetence in general and the uselessness of the cavalry in particular.

THE WAR IN VIRGINIA,

CAPTURE OF CAVALRY NEAR RICHMOND.

From the Richmond Examiner, Dec. 16.

We have some facts concerning the inconsiderable cavalry affair at Charles City Court-house. Several citizens of the county have made the trip to Richmond to post us as to the facts. Two companies of our cavalry were captured entire. We lament the loss of the horses. The force of the enemy, as estimated by our informants, who counted them on their way up to the Court-house, was two hundred. The number of our men captured was at least two hundred. Each Yankee took a man. One of our companies was on parade when the enemy came in sight, and, without resistance, threw down their arms and surrendered, the other company made a show of resistance, but only a show. The citizens of Charles City mourn this event—they weep and cannot be comforted, because all the cavalry, who, up to this time, have been roaming over that country, shooting deer, partridges and poor people's turkeys, had not been captured. A few more of the sort are unfortunately left. We regret to learn that Lieut. S. BALLARD. of this city, was very badly wounded. We are said to have killed six Yankees and wounded many, but we think this very doubtful. The enemy burnt the Court-house and returned toward Williamsburgh. It is unnecessary to make any comments on this brilliant affair.

-The New York Times, December 18, 1863



 However a recent search at the Library of Virginia reveals that Daniel apparently had a change of mind, if not of heart . . .



-MORE TOMORROW-

Scouring the Chickahominy- 1864

                    HEADQUARTERS SEPARATE BRIGADE
                        Fort Pocahontas, VA., September 26, 1864.

Lieutenant-Colonel PATTERSON:

I desire that you will take 200 men from the Second New Hampshire and Sixteenth New York Heavy Artillery and twenty mounted men of the First U.S. Colored Cavalry, with two days rations and forty rounds of ammunition per man, and embark at 3 o'clock to-morrow morning on the gun-boat Mosswood and a barge, which she will take in tow. You will then proceed up the Chickahominy to Hog Neck and disembark on the left bank about ten miles above the mouth of the river. You will then push into the country some four or five miles and sweep down to Barrett's Ferry, near the mouth of the Chickahominy, gathering such horses, mules, cattle, and sheep as may be useful to the army, and taking along with you such colored men and their families as desire to come within our lines. If you find any considerable amount of corn you may seize that also if you can find means to transport it to your boats. You are required particularly to examine the country, and especially along the river for torpedoes, which it is believed are concealed there, and to make diligent inquiry of all the people whom you may chance to meet in relation to a party of soldiers who, on the 19th instant, came from Richmond with torpedoes, as it is believed. You wilt not allow officers or men to enter the dwellings of the people for the purpose of disturbing the occupants, and you will take no other property but animals and grain which will be useful in subsisting the army and affording it transportation. The Mosswood, after you have disembarked, will drop down the river to Barrett's Ferry, where you will re-embark your command when you deem that nothing useful can be accomplished by prolonging your stay. At furthest, you will not remain absent more than two days.

                    GILMAN MARSTON,
                        Brigadier-General.


-The war of the rebellion: a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate armies. ; Series 1- Volume 42 (Part II)


A description of the Mosswood from the following January . . .

"Propeller Mosswood, drawing nine feet of water; new and excellent boat (chartered by Government); mounts two 30-pounder Parrotts; crew, thirty-four men."

 -The war of the rebellion: a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate armies. / Series 1- Volume 46 (Part II)

Death at Rocketts

ROBERT A. CRADDOCK, a young married man, twenty-four years of age, of the county of New Kent, fell overboard from the lighter "Woodbury" Monday night, whilst intoxicated, opposite the Virginia sugar refinery, Rocketts, and was drowned. He is the young man alluded to in The Journal yesterday as having been fatally injured near the sugar refinery, which representation was according to the tenor of existing advices at that time.

-The Daily State Journal(Richmond), August 14, 1873

 Robert A. Craddock is listed as living in the St. Peter's district in the census of 1870 along side his wife Mary, and two sons Gustavus and Albert, 2 years old and a infant respectively.

I assume he is the same "Robt" A. Craddock(though listed as14) of the 1860 Charles City census listed as the son of William H. and Sarah A. Craddock.(Household ID: 357). This would seem to be confirmed by a Robert Craddock marrying a Mollie A. Craddock in Charles City in 1866.

Pollard at Samaria Church . . .

  . . . or St Mary's Church, or Nance's Shop . . .

An excerpt from the post "South Carolina Cavalry Clash with "Sheridan's Raiders", 1864" of the          

"General Fitz Lee rode up to Butler's headquarters at the foot of a large oak tree, where the bullets were flying uncomfortably close. Upon being informed of the situation Fitz Lee dispatched his staff officer, Major Dug Ferguson asking to be allowed to take command in the field. The result was General Hampton granted the request, and wrote a note to General Butler to take orders from General Lee. (This correspondence ought to be in existence somewhere). The couriers and staff were fully advised of it at the time. However that may be, General Lee fully concurred with General Butler and ordered the Ninth Virginia, commanded by Colonel Beale, to report to Butler, who in the meantime increased the fire across the field to attract Gregg's attention.

 "Beale was sent off from Butler's left, guided by Cloud, Hogan and Miller and other scouts, under cover of a hill and thick woods, and as soon as he gained Gregg's right, made a vigorous assault, which compelled the latter to withdraw hurriedly and with a good deal of confusion. General Butler then rushed his line across the open field and Gregg's discomfiture was complete and amounted almost to a rout. General Butler ordered the Jeff Davis legion (of Young's brigade), mounted, under the command of that gallant officer and gentleman, Lieutenant-Colonel Waring of Savannah, to pursue with his mounted column, and right lustily did he carry out his orders."

This would seem to be the engagement of the Ninth Virginia in which  Captain James Pollard of New Kent, of Dalhgren Affair fame, lost his leg.

I respectfully apply to be furnished with an order on Wells Bro. Charlottesville Va., or whatever manufacturer may be designated, for an artificial limb. When a Capt. in Co. H. 9th Va. Cav. Regiment, on the 4th day of July 1864, at (Battle Field or Hospital.) Winder Hos.. My leg was amputated by surgeon Dudley* at (Seat of operation) Middle 3. on account of (Wound, accident or disease) G.S. receive in the service of the confederate States at (Battle Field, &c) Nance's Shop on the 24 day of June 1864.

 However, Beale's History of the Ninth Virginia Cavalry in the War Between the States states . . .

The next day we met the enemy near an old saw-mill in the vicinity of Nance's Shop, and had a spirited engagement, which was growing very interesting, when we were ordered back. One private was killed and several were wounded - E. F. Cox, of Company C, fatally so. Lieutenant Pollard was wounded in the ankle joint slightly, as was thought at the time, but the injury caused the loss of his leg.

Major Waller had been assigned at Ashland to the temporary command of another regiment, and Captain Swann was now our acting major.

Not far from the field to-day we met the divisions of Hampton and Fitz. Lee returning after the heavy battle at Trevillian's. We bivouacked in the neighborhood of Nance's Shop.

Early next day (June 24th) the movement of troops indicated a fight on hand.

. . . and so on, then describing the Battle of Samaria Church/ St. Mary's Church.

Which would seem to lead us to Pollard having lost his leg the day before the Battle of Samaria Church on June 23, 1864 at a separate engagement of Nance's Shop

The Chickahominy Sun, 1938- 1942

A great little piece from the blog of the Virginia Newspaper Project of the Library of Virginia,  about Providence Forge's first and only newspaper, The Chickahominy Sun. Extant from 1938 until the beginning of rationing in 1942, the paper was merged into the Tidewater Review.

"Will meet in conclave at Soldiers' Rest Landing"

location of Soldiers Rest Landing, New Kent.

A NOVEL REUNION

Chickahominy Indians and Their Descendants to Meet In Conclave.

Charles City County, May 29, 1900.

To the Editor of the Dispatch: The "Pamunkey Tribe" of Indians and their relations scattered through New Kent and Charles City will meet in conclave at Soldiers' Rest Landing, on the Chickahominy River, on Tuesday, the 5th of.June, in grand conclave, and give a barbacue of good things, from the water and land for which that historic section is famed.

The location is about the spot where Captain John Smith was captured by the indians so long ago. According to tradition, there are a great many places along the Chicahominy where the redoubtable Captain was caught. But this seems to be the locality for two reasons. First because it is near the head of navigation, and second, the sunken grounds just above are as good for Captain Smith to have been caught in as any other sunken grounds anywhere.

Of course, we have seen other places where he was captured. Mark Twain standing and peeping at the grave of Noah, his distinguished kinsman, said he knew it was the old man's grave because, he had seen it in so many other places in the East. 

The Pamunkeys, they say will  make this an interesting occasion. The public are invited, and invitations have been extended to Hons. Manly H. Barnes and L. M. Nance, and Judge Isaac Christian to address the conclave. The chief of the Pamunkeys, with his retinue from the Indian reservation of the Pamunkey river, will be there.

Confederate veterans  of the Charles City Cavalry and Infantry are invited to be present at Charles City Courthouse on June court-day to complete the organization of the Harrison Howard Camp of Confederate Veterans, and it is earnestly hoped that the old veterans will all come who can.

All soldiers, from the county who are in any command are included in this invitation. It is suggested that the cornerstone of the monument to the Confederate dead, erected by the Daughters or the Confederacy, will be laid in the  court-yard here sometime in July. They  have not yet decided, however.

-Richmond Dispatch, 31 May, 1900

M. H. Barnes, New Kent Commonwealth Attorney

In the News- Thomasina E. Jordan

In case you're wondering about why it's called the Thomasina E. Jordan Indian Tribes of Virginia Federal Recognition Act . . .
      HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 79 Offered January 18, 2000

On the death of Thomasina Elizabeth Jordan.

----------

Patrons-- Davis, Albo, Baskerville, Bolvin, Grayson, Katzen, McQuigg, Moran and Morgan

----------

WHEREAS, Thomasina Elizabeth Jordan (Red Hawk Woman), an internationally recognized American Indian activist, died after a long battle with cancer on May 23, 1999; and

WHEREAS, raised by her maternal grandparents in Mashpee, Massachusetts, Thomasina Jordan attended preparatory school at Mount St. Joseph's Academy in Newton, Massachusetts, and received Bachelor and Master degrees in Fine Arts at Bishop Lee College in Boston; and

WHEREAS, Thomasina Jordan studied at Harvard University, received an educational doctorate from Catholic University of America, and attended the American Academy of Fine Arts in New York City; and

WHEREAS, after meeting her husband, Wendell, Thomasina Jordan moved to Alexandria, Virginia, where she was a long-time member of the Alexandria Republican City Committee and the first American Indian to serve in the Electoral College in 1988; and

WHEREAS, Thomasina Jordan was appointed Chairperson of the Virginia Council on Indians by Governor George Allen, and was reappointed by Governor James Gilmore, III; and

WHEREAS, giving generously of her time and efforts, Thomasina Jordan was founder of the American Indian Cultural Exchange, served on the Board of Directors of Save the Children and the National Rehabilitation Hospital, was past president of Chapter I of the Capital Speakers Club, and was a recipient of the Medal of Honor of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution; and

WHEREAS, Thomasina Jordan was instrumental throughout the years in bringing Indian issues to the forefront in the General Assembly, including legislation to correct birth certificates to identify Native Americans as such, allow animal parts and feathers to be used in religious regalia, and memorialize the United States Congress to grant historic federal recognition to Virginia’s state-recognized tribes; and

WHEREAS, Thomasina Elizabeth Jordan (Red Hawk Woman) leaves a lasting legacy of dedicated and effective service to the Indian communities and nations as well to the Commonwealth; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly note with great sadness the passing of a distinguished Virginia lady, Thomasina Elizabeth Jordan; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of Thomasina Elizabeth Jordan and to the Virginia Council on Indians as an expression of the great respect in which her memory is held by the members of the General Assembly.

In the News- Thomasina E. Jordan Indian Tribes of Virginia Federal Recognition Act of 2013

 Here is the Bill in full,
 . . . and here is the opening section on the Chickahominy, which has a lot of interesting historical background

TITLE I--CHICKAHOMINY INDIAN TRIBE

SEC. 101. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--

        (1) in 1607, when the English settlers set shore along the Virginia coastline, the Chickahominy Indian Tribe was 1 of about 30 tribes that received them;

        (2) in 1614, the Chickahominy Indian Tribe entered into a treaty with Sir Thomas Dale, Governor of the Jamestown Colony, under which--

            (A) the Chickahominy Indian Tribe agreed to provide 2 bushels of corn per man and send warriors to protect the English; and

            (B) Sir Thomas Dale agreed in return to allow the Tribe to continue to practice its own tribal governance;

        (3) in 1646, a treaty was signed which forced the Chickahominy from their homeland to the area around the York Mattaponi River in present-day King William County, leading to the formation of a reservation;

        (4) in 1677, following Bacon's Rebellion, the Queen of Pamunkey signed the Treaty of Middle Plantation on behalf of the Chickahominy;

        (5) in 1702, the Chickahominy were forced from their reservation, which caused the loss of a land base;

        (6) in 1711, the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg established a grammar school for Indians called Brafferton College;

        (7) a Chickahominy child was 1 of the first Indians to attend Brafferton College;

        (8) in 1750, the Chickahominy Indian Tribe began to migrate from King William County back to the area around the Chickahominy River in New Kent and Charles City Counties;

        (9) in 1793, a Baptist missionary named Bradby took refuge with the Chickahominy and took a Chickahominy woman as his wife;

        (10) in 1831, the names of the ancestors of the modern-day Chickahominy Indian Tribe began to appear in the Charles City County census records;

        (11) in 1901, the Chickahominy Indian Tribe formed Samaria Baptist Church;

        (12) from 1901 to 1935, Chickahominy men were assessed a tribal tax so that their children could receive an education;

        (13) the Tribe used the proceeds from the tax to build the first Samaria Indian School, buy supplies, and pay a teacher's salary;

        (14) in 1919, C. Lee Moore, Auditor of Public Accounts for Virginia, told Chickahominy Chief O.W. Adkins that he had instructed the Commissioner of Revenue for Charles City County to record Chickahominy tribal members on the county tax rolls as Indian, and not as White or colored;

        (15) during the period of 1920 through 1930, various Governors of the Commonwealth of Virginia wrote letters of introduction for Chickahominy Chiefs who had official business with Federal agencies in Washington, DC;

        (16) in 1934, Chickahominy Chief O.O. Adkins wrote to John Collier, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, requesting money to acquire land for the Chickahominy Indian Tribe's use, to build school, medical, and library facilities and to buy tractors, implements, and seed;

        (17) in 1934, John Collier, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, wrote to Chickahominy Chief O.O. Adkins, informing him that Congress had passed the Act of June 18, 1934 (commonly known as the `Indian Reorganization Act') (25 U.S.C. 461 et seq.), but had not made the appropriation to fund the Act;

        (18) in 1942, Chickahominy Chief O.O. Adkins wrote to John Collier, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, asking for help in getting the proper racial designation on Selective Service records for Chickahominy soldiers;

        (19) in 1943, John Collier, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, asked Douglas S. Freeman, editor of the Richmond News-Leader newspaper of Richmond, Virginia, to help Virginia Indians obtain proper racial designation on birth records;

        (20) Collier stated that his office could not officially intervene because it had no responsibility for the Virginia Indians, `as a matter largely of historical accident', but was `interested in them as descendants of the original inhabitants of the region';

        (21) in 1948, the Veterans' Education Committee of the Virginia State Board of Education approved Samaria Indian School to provide training to veterans;

        (22) that school was established and run by the Chickahominy Indian Tribe;

        (23) in 1950, the Chickahominy Indian Tribe purchased and donated to the Charles City County School Board land to be used to build a modern school for students of the Chickahominy and other Virginia Indian tribes;

        (24) the Samaria Indian School included students in grades 1 through 8;

        (25) in 1961, Senator Sam Ervin, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights of the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate, requested Chickahominy Chief O.O. Adkins to provide assistance in analyzing the status of the constitutional rights of Indians `in your area';

        (26) in 1967, the Charles City County school board closed Samaria Indian School and converted the school to a countywide primary school as a step toward full school integration of Indian and non-Indian students;

        (27) in 1972, the Charles City County school board began receiving funds under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 458aa et seq.) on behalf of Chickahominy students, which funding is provided as of the date of enactment of this Act under title V of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 458aaa et seq.);

        (28) in 1974, the Chickahominy Indian Tribe bought land and built a tribal center using monthly pledges from tribal members to finance the transactions;

        (29) in 1983, the Chickahominy Indian Tribe was granted recognition as an Indian tribe by the Commonwealth of Virginia, along with 5 other Indian tribes; and

        (30) in 1985, Governor Gerald Baliles was the special guest at an intertribal Thanksgiving Day dinner hosted by the Chickahominy Indian Tribe.

In the News- Recognition Of Virginia Indian Tribes

From the office of United States Senator Tim Kaine . . .

Kaine, Warner Applaud Committee Passage Of Bill To Grant Federal Recognition Of Virginia Indian Tribes

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the “Thomasina E. Jordan Indian Tribes of Virginia Federal Recognition Act of 2013,” a bill introduced by U.S. Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, was passed out of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee.  The legislation would grant federal recognition of six Virginia Indian tribes: the Chickahominy, the Eastern Chickahominy, the Upper Mattaponi, the Rappahannock, the Monacan, and the Nansemond. These tribes have received official recognition from the Commonwealth of Virginia, but have not received federal recognition. In October 2013, Kaine made a passionate case for passage of the legislation before the Indian Affairs Committee. The legislation will now advance to the full Senate for consideration.

The legislation was introduced by Senators Warner and Jim Webb in 2009. The House companion, introduced by Congressman Jim Moran,  has received strong bipartisan support from many members of the Virginia delegation. Kaine also testified on the tribes’ behalf before the committee as Governor of Virginia in 2008.

“Federal recognition of the Chickahominy, Eastern Chickahominy, Monacan, Nansemond, Rappahannock and Upper Mattaponi tribes of Virginia is long overdue,” Sen. Warner said  “Members of our Virginia Indian tribes are both part of the history of the Commonwealth and valued members of our present and should be recognized as such. Committee passage of this legislation is an important step forward and I remain committed to turning this bill into law .”

“Committee passage of this legislation is a critical step toward granting these six Virginia tribes the recognition they deserve,” said Kaine. “These tribes are an integral part of Virginia’s history and identity and it is both troubling and tragic that they have never been recognized by the United States, even when more than 500 other Indian tribes have been granted recognition. We will continue fighting for final passage of this legislation, so we can finally rectify this injustice.”

Expedition to Charles City- VIII: Postscript

FORT MONROE, Dec. 16.

About 90 rebel prisoners arrived this morning, via Yorktown. They were captured last Monday at Charles City Court House. Among them are seven non-commissioned officers and a female soldier.

-The Buffalo Daily Courier, December 18, 1863



Notice again, the "female soldier." The New York Times in its coverage had already noted, ""Among the captured was a young woman in soldier's clothes."

De Anne Blanton in her book They Fought Like Demons: Women Soldiers in the American Civil War, references this engagement . . .

"An assistant surgeon in one of the regiments later wrote to his father, 'we captured every officer and man . . . among the the prisoners was a female soldier, a woman of about 20 years. She had male attire, and used her rifle against us, as well as the rest. She had been in several engagements.' "

Expedition to Charles City- IX: The 42nd Virginia Cavalry Battalion

The best way I've found to explain the rather tortured history of the 42nd Battalion Virginia Cavalry is this little diagram . . .

I relied principally on A Guide to Virginia Military Organizations 1861-1865, Lee A. Wallace, Jr., 1986

Expediton to Charles City- VII: Snark

 Wherein John Moncure Daniel of the Daily Richmond Examiner gives us an example of his attitude toward the Davis administration and its handling of military affairs . . .

THE WAR IN VIRGINIA, CAPTURE OF CAVALRY NEAR RICHMOND.

From the Richmond Examiner, Dec. 16.

We have some facts concerning the inconsiderable cavalry affair at Charles City Court-house. Several citizens of the county have made the trip to Richmond to post us as to the facts. Two companies of our cavalry were captured entire. We lament the loss of the horses. The force of the enemy, as estimated by our informants, who counted them on their way up to the Court-house, was two hundred. The number of our men captured was at least two hundred. Each Yankee took a man. One of our companies was on parade when the enemy came in sight, and, without resistance, threw down their arms and surrendered, the other company made a show of resistance, but only a show.

The citizens of Charles City mourn this event—they weep and cannot be comforted, because all the cavalry, who, up to this time, have been roaming over that country, shooting deer, partridges and poor people's turkeys, had not been captured. A few more of the sort are unfortunately left. We regret to learn that Lieut. S. BALLARD. of this city, was very badly wounded. We are said to have killed six Yankees and wounded many, but we think this very doubtful. The enemy burnt the Court-house and returned toward Williamsburgh. It is unnecessary to make any comments on this brilliant affair.

-The New York Times, December 18, 1863

Expedition to Charles City- VI: The New York Times

EXPEDITION TOWARD RICHMOND.;
Particulars of the Attack on Charles City Court-house- A Wild Night for a March Surprise and Capture of Pickets Charge on the Rebel Camp- The Spoils of Victory- Contrabands Coming In.

 Correspondence of the New-York Times.

WILLIAMBURGH, Va., Monday, Dec. 14, 1863.

An expedition, composed of six companies of the First New-York. Mounted Rifles and three companies of the One Hundred and Thirty-ninth New York regiment, has just returned from a highly successful raid to Charles City Court-house, situated near the north bank of the James River, and seven miles beyond the Chickahominy. The expedition was under the direction of Col. R. M. WEST, the present commander of this post; the cavalry was commanded by Col. B. F. ONDERDONK, and the infantry, which acted as a reserve this side the Chickahominy, by Col. ROBERTS.

The infantry preceded the cavalry twelve hours. The Mounted Rifles quitted Williamsburgh at 6 o'clock on the evening of the 11th inst., under lowering clouds, and an atmosphere that presaged storm. We made a brief halt at Twelve-mile Ordinary. After leaving this point, our route lay through dense forests of pine and dreary patches of cleared but uncultivated land. As night and the column advanced, the darkness became terrible, the wind fairly roared through the tall trees, and the rain, so long threatening, fell in torrents. We had two trusty white guides, but you may imagine how serviceable they were when we could not distinguish a horseman at the distance of three yards, unless, perhaps, he was mounted on a white steed. Still, the regiment moved forward for many miles, keeping closed files, and carefully following the sound of clanking sabres; until, finally, the road, which before had seemed to be in a highly-tangled condition, formed a knot like the Gordian puzzle. Here, apparently, fate had a choice bivouac in store for us -- but not so. Col. WEST. The guides lit matches which blazed for a moment, (just long enough to exhibit our forlorn prospects,) and were then quenched by the rain. Still, we were making a few yards, or rather "taking ground to the right." The guide covered his hands with the phosphorus of the matches, and held them up. This did not remind one forcibly of a revolving coast light, but we persevered. Many of the men lost their way through the woods, two or three officers were missing, but fortunately all regained the column. We pushed on in this manner until about three o'clock, when it being perfectly impossible to proceed another foot, on account of the blackness of all surrounding objects, and the awful condition of the road, (when we found it,) we were compelled to sit patiently in our saddles until daylight, drenched to the skin, and ruminating upon the beautiful moral relation which the soldier sustains toward a grateful country.

At daylight we moved on rapidly, and made up for lost time. We came up with the infantry, and halted a mile this side of the Chicahominy River. They had surprised and captured a small rebel picket. We soon came in sight of the river at Ford's Crossing, and away we went on the gallop. The first rebel picket was discovered on the west bank of the river. They were in a tranquil state of existence, having divested themselves of their superfluous clothing, and "lain down to quiet dreams." They were sound asleep. The very doorkeepers of the great and invincible City of Richmond were shoring in their slumbers. After fording the river, which is quite narrow at this place, and the water about up to our saddle-bags, we swept onwards with drawn sabres, at a light gallop, capturing without resistance, four pickets, and keeping a bright lookout in all directions. As we mounted a hill in view of Charles City Court House, we caught a sight of the rebel camp, and with a loud cheer we commenced the charge. The charge was led by the field officers of the regiment, with Col. ONDERDONK and Col. WEST. It was irresistible. In less than fifteen minutes we captured ninety prisoners, including eight commissioned officers, nearly one hundred and fifty stand of arms, over fifty horses, and a large quantity of forage, commissary stores, camp and garrison equipage.

The rebels were holding the usual Sunday morning inspection in their best clothes, in camp, and made slight resistance, being either entirely surprised or not wishing to injure the few good clothes in their possession.

At the Court-house the rebels made a brief but spirited resistance. They were driven into two wooden buildings, and fired several volleys from the windows, at very short range. We surrounded the houses, and compelled a surrender, which was formally made by the enemy, after exhibiting a white flag. Sergt. WOOD, a brave and faithful non-commissioned officer, was killed in the first assault upon the building. Capt. GREGORY was severely, but not dangerously wounded in the thigh. Our entire loss during the expedition was two killed and five wounded.

 The rebel officers were, without exception, gentlemen, both in appearance and manner. Had their surprise been less complete, I have no doubt they would have made an obstinate defence. Many of the rebel soldiers were well uniformed, and were mostly armed with the Maynard rifles.

The force captured was a part of the Forty-second Virginia, commanded by Major ROBINSON, who was away at the time on his wedding tour. It was considered by the rebels a crack corps, they being admiringly styled "Plugs."

 After destroying their camp, all the arms, accoutrements and munitions of war, which we could not bring away, we retired leisurely across the Chickahominy. Here the regiment rested awhile. Col. WEST sent a small party to secure Diascon Creek bridge. The party arrived just in time to prevent the destruction of the bridge by a small squad of guerrillas, who retired after exchanging a few shots, wounding the guide severely. We arrived in Willlamsburgh yesterday afternoon. The fair portion of the inhabitants behaved anything but amiably when they beheld the result of the expedition, in so many prisoners.

The rank and file of the captured party appeared rather happy than otherwise, with their sudden escape from rebeldon. One, (a nephew of United States Senator BOWDEN,) took the oath of allegiance, and several seemed disposed to do so. The officers, of course, are as bitter, as their systematic schooling to pervert the use of the five senses will make any one. Capt. RODGERS, in command, owned nearly all the horses and equipments, and he reckons his loss heavily. Among the captured was a young woman in soldier's clothes.

We brought into our lines quite a large number of contrabands. The rebel officers told them they were not compelled to come. We told them they were not compelled to stay. They seemed to value our word most, and came. One of them, an athletic pure blooded African, was relating his adventures. He said his master, in Richmond, had sold him for sixteen hundred dollars, to be sent South. He ran away and came to his wife, at Charles City Court-house. His master offered two hundred dollar for his capture, and he was obliged to hide. The morning of our arrival at the Court-house, he was lying asleep in the woods, and a little boy came and woke him up, and said that the Yankees had come. He said: "Go way, chile, what you want to fool dis nigga for?" But just then he heard the firing, and, raising up, saw the blue coats of our troops on the hill. "I was so glad dat I come right away and left all my things."

 The following is a list of the killed and wounded in the Mounted Rifles:

Sergt. Wood, Co. H -- killed.

Corp. Smith, Co. H -- killed.

Capt. L.B. Gregory -- wounded severely in thigh.

Sergt. Hendrickson, Co. H -- wounded in three places.

Private Stoppelbeen, Co. H -- wounded.

Private Johnson, Co. H -- wounded slightly.

Guide -- wounded in arm.

The rebels had three men wounded.

This raid has developed some interesting facts, which I would like to impart, but forbear on account of their military importance. C.

-The New York Times, December 21, 1863




The "Capt. Rodgers", would be Andrew J. Rodgers of Company A.

Note, "Among the captured was a young woman in soldier's clothes."

Expedition to Charles City- V: Recriminations

HEADQUARTERS,

Chaffins Farm, December 13, 1863 9.15 p. m.

Maj. T. O. CHESTNEY,
Assistant Adjutant-General:

MAJOR: Your dispatch is received and its directions shall be complied with. The last information I have received of the strength and movements of the enemy is in a dispatch from signal corps. It states that the enemy crossed Forge Bridge about daylight, and attacked the cavalry at Charles City Court-House, about an hour by sun, capturing nearly the whole command. Major Robertson escaped. The enemy's force is estimated at 400. I presume Forge Bridge was picketed; my orders were positive to that effect. The dispatch from signal corps informs me that the enemy retired about 10 a. m. today toward Forge Bridge. 

 As soon as I heard of the capture of Major Robertsons command, I sent out Lieutenant-Colonel Berkeley, with about 150 men, to picket in my front. He is at New Market, with a picket on the river road and one on the Long Bridge road where it is crossed by the Central or Darbytown road. This guards all the approaches, I think, to Richmond and this point, excepting the Charles City and Williamsburg roads, which Colonel Shingler is directed to watch and hold. I also ordered Colonel Shingler to watch, as far as the capacities of his command would allow, the defiles of the Chickahominy until a cavalry force could be procured to take the place of that captured. I hope General Elzey will be able to furnish me with this cavalry. 

 I feel exceedingly indignant at what I suppose to be a complete surprise, and somebody should suffer for it. I have directed Major  Robertson to report all the facts of the case to me, and they shall be forwarded to you. I have just learned from the signal corps that two brigades of Yankees landed on Friday at Newport News.
I am, major, yours, respectfully,

EPPA HUNTON,
Brigadier- General.

P. S.-Colonel Shingler sent out a scout to ascertain the where-abouts and strength of the enemy to-day, and I am expecting to hear from him.

-The war of the rebellion: a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate armies.; Series 1 - Volume 29 (Part II)

A few notes: The Lieutenant-Colonel Berkeley referred to is Lieutenant-Colonel Norbonne Berkeley, commanding the 8th Virginia in Hunton's brigade. Elzey is Major General Arnold Elzey, commanding the Department of Richmond. The department included many of the "odds and ends" units that guarded the eastern approaches to Richmond. He also commanded the units at Drewry's Bluff and Chaffin's Farm, which includes the Pamunkey Artillery.

Expedition to Charles City- IV: Recriminations

 

Ruins of Tavern and Houses at Charles City Courthouse

Capture of two companies of our
cavalry on the Peninsula.

Two companies of our cavalry were captured by the enemy on Sunday morning near Charles City Court-House. The facts, as we have obtained them, with reference to the affair, would seem to indicate a lack of vigilance on the part of our troops at that point. On Sunday morning, an hour after sunrise, the whole of Major Robertson's command, consisting of two companies of the 42d Virginia battalion of cavalry, were completely surprised, and, with one or two exceptions, all the men captured. It is said that the surprise was so complete as not to admit of resistance. The capturing force was composed of cavalry, and came up on the main road from Williamsburg.

It was reported here yesterday morning that the enemy had destroyed the village of Charles City Court-House, but later in the day the report was contradicted. They did, however, burn two or three buildings in the place.

-The Daily Dispatch, December 15, 1863.