 During the American Civil War, the 1862 Peninsula Campaign was a move up the Virginia Peninsula from Fort Monroe at the eastern tip by Union troops in an attempt to take the Confederate capital of Richmond.The Williamsburg Line, a third Confederate line of defense, extended across the Peninsula just east of town.Construction of the line, largely consisting of a series of 14 redoubts, was overseen by College of William and Mary President Benjamin S. Ewell, who had joined in the defense of Williamsburg.