 A copy of his battle plans were obtained by Confederate spy Thomas Nelson Conrad and in response Confederate forces under General John B. Magruder established three lines of defensive positions extending across the peninsula to stop McClellan's march towards Richmond.The first line of defense was anchored on the north by a redoubt on Ship Point near the mouth of the Poquoson River.After the Confederates abandoned the position in 1863 the Union Army established a supply depot and a hospital at Ship Point.