Maine 8th Volunteer Infantry, Company D (Union)

Ware Bottom Church

After severe fighting at Drewry's Bluff on the James River blunted a Union offensive against Richmond, Maj. Gen. Benjamin Butler's Army of the James withdrew to the Bermuda Hundred peninsula. On May 20th, eight Confederate brigades under Gen. Pierre G.T. Beauregard attacked Butler's advance picket lines near Ware Bottom Church. Nearly 10,000 soldiers from both sides clashed in the vicinity of the structure. At the end of the severe fight, over 1,400 men were left either dead or wounded. After the battle, t…READ MORE