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Porto Bello (Williamsburg, Virginia)

1773 establishments in VirginiaHistoric American Buildings Survey in VirginiaHouses in York County, VirginiaHouses on the National Register of Historic Places in VirginiaNational Register of Historic Places in York County, Virginia
Virginia Peninsula Registered Historic Place stubsVirginia building and structure stubsVirginia in the American Revolution
Porto Bello lodge
Porto Bello lodge

Porto Bello was the hunting lodge of the last Royal Governor of the British Colony of Virginia, John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore. The name commemorates the battle of Porto Bello, a 1739 British naval victory in Panama. Lord Dunmore fled to Porto Bello to escape the early stages of the American Revolution in Williamsburg, Virginia. He later boarded a British ship lying at anchor near Porto Bello in the York River. Porto Bello is located in York County, Virginia on the grounds of Camp Peary. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, but is closed to visitors because of restricted access to Camp Peary.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Porto Bello (Williamsburg, Virginia) (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Porto Bello (Williamsburg, Virginia)
Williams Road,

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N 37.300611111111 ° E -76.644522222222 °
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Williams Road

Williams Road

Virginia, United States
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Porto Bello lodge
Porto Bello lodge
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Bigler's Mill, Virginia

Bigler's Mill was a small town in Virginia near Williamsburg in York County which is now extinct. It is considered one of the many lost towns of Virginia. The original community on this site was founded by James Bigler in the spring of 1852, who purchased 2400 acres of timberland, part of the tract known as Rippon Hall. He built a sawmill and gristmill with a long pier extending into the York River. A series of homes, a store and church were also constructed. During the Peninsula Campaign of the Civil War, the property was occupied by Confederate forces; in May 1862, Federal gunboats shelled the mill and set fire to the buildings and the pier, for which Bigler was later compensated.After the war, a new community grew up along the river based on oyster planting and harvesting. In this practice, seed oysters were gathered from rocky river bottoms, mostly in the James River, and planted in the muddier York River. The right to plant and harvest sections of the riverbed was leased from the state, and leaseholds were transferable, a system that provided some measure of protection from overfishing, and prosperity for the lease owners. During World War II, the U.S. Navy took over a large area in the north-western portion of York County, which was developed as Camp Peary. All residents of the entire towns of Bigler's Mill and nearby Magruder were removed, and many of the areas were redeveloped. Camp Peary later became well known as "The Farm," a training facility for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Access to the base is restricted. The 100-acre (400,000 m2) Biglers Millpond occupies the site adjacent to the York River.

Peninsula campaign
Peninsula campaign

The Peninsula campaign (also known as the Peninsular campaign) of the American Civil War was a major Union operation launched in southeastern Virginia from March to July 1862, the first large-scale offensive in the Eastern Theater. The operation, commanded by Major General George B. McClellan, was an amphibious turning movement against the Confederate States Army in Northern Virginia, intended to capture the Confederate capital of Richmond. McClellan was initially successful against the equally cautious General Joseph E. Johnston, but the emergence of the more aggressive General Robert E. Lee turned the subsequent Seven Days Battles into a humiliating Union defeat. McClellan landed his army at Fort Monroe and moved northwest, up the Virginia Peninsula. Confederate Brigadier General John B. Magruder's defensive position on the Warwick Line caught McClellan by surprise. His hopes for a quick advance foiled, McClellan ordered his army to prepare for a siege of Yorktown. Just before the siege preparations had been completed, the Confederates, now under the direct command of Johnston, began a withdrawal toward Richmond. The first heavy fighting of the campaign occurred during the Battle of Williamsburg in which the Union troops managed some tactical victories, but the Confederates continued their withdrawal. An amphibious flanking movement to Eltham's Landing was ineffective in cutting off the Confederate retreat. During the Battle of Drewry's Bluff, an attempt by the US Navy to reach Richmond by way of the James River was repulsed. As McClellan's army reached the outskirts of Richmond, a minor battle occurred at Hanover Court House, but it was followed by a surprise attack by Johnston at the Battle of Seven Pines or Fair Oaks. The battle was inconclusive, with heavy casualties, but it had lasting effects on the campaign. Johnston was wounded by a Union artillery shell fragment on May 31 and replaced the next day by the more aggressive Robert E. Lee, who reorganized his army and prepared for offensive action in the final battles of June 25 to July 1, which are popularly known as the Seven Days Battles. The result was that the Union army was unable to enter Richmond, and both armies remained intact.