May 29 - June 1, 1861 - Battle of Aquia Creek

PhilippiMay 29, 1861 - June 1, 1861

Battle of Aquia Creek

Stafford County, Virginia

Union Navy gunboats: USS Thomas Freeborn of the Federal Potomac Flotilla under Commander James H. Ward, then with the USS Anacostia and USS Resolute, then with USS Pawnee   

vs

Confederate shore batteries on the Potomac River under Captain William F. Lynch of the VA State Navy 

* "First significant battle of the Civil War between the U.S. Navy and batteries of the Rebel State."

* "Site of one of the war’s earliest military engagements"

* "Each side inflicted little damage and no serious casualties on the other. The Union vessels were unable to dislodge the Confederates from their positions or to inflict serious casualties on their garrisons or serious damage to their batteries. The Confederates manning the batteries were unable to inflict serious casualties on the Union sailors or cause serious damage to the Union vessels. "

* A few days later Commander Ward becomes the first US Navy officer killed during the Civil War, while supporting a landing part at nearby Mathias Point in King George County, VA

* Is this why we call Philippi the first LAND battle?

Walker's Battery Gun Emplacement

"This gun emplacement participated in the first significant battle of the Civil War between the U.S. Navy and Batteries of the Rebel State on May 31 and June 1, 1861. Colonel William C. Bate of the Tennessee (Walker) Legion successfully manned four 3 inch rifled cannons from this position, inflicting some damage to the ships of the Potomac Flotilla. The attacking Federal Gunboats, under the command of John A. Ward, withdrew after the action, but continued to monitor the landing.

The presentation and restoration of this site is a project of the Rappahonnock Valley Civil War Round Table. This site & sign are protected under Virginia Penal Code 18.2-137."

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=2249

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=2201

"Within weeks after Virginia seceded from the Union in the spring of 1861, state troops began fortifying Aquia Landing. One artillery battery was established on the waterfront while additional batteries, like this one, covered the landing from nearby hills. These guns posed a threat to Union shipping in the Potomac River, prompting Commander James H. Ward of the United States Navy to take steps to eliminate them.

Between May 29 and June 1, 1861, Union gunboats on the Potomac River, ahead of you, fired more than 700 rounds at the landing. Union shells damaged several houses along the waterfront and tore up sections of railroad track but otherwise inflicted little damage. Return fire by the Confederates struck the U.S.S. Pawnee nine times and caused another attacking vessel, the U.S.S. Thomas Freeborn, to take on water. Incredibly, no one on either side was killed. “The only damage to our side,” observed a confederate spectator, “was the death of a chicken, though a stray ball killed a horse on the opposite side of the creek.” Although the artillery exchange at Aquia Landing had no lasting impact on the war and produced few casualties, it is notable as one of the Civil War’s first military engagements. Manassas, the war’s first major battle, was still more than seven weeks away."

Awesomely preserved rebel batteries on the high ground in VA

The trail up to the high ground 

One of my favorite things to read on a historical marker: "to learn more follow the trail..." :)

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=2200

 "The straight, level road you used to get here was once the bed of the Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroad. As its name implies, the railroad ran from Richmond, through Fredericksburg, to the Potomac River, ending here at Aquia landing. Passengers wishing to continue north boarded a waiting steamship here that carried them up the Potomac River to Washington, D.C., 55 miles away.

Because of its location on the Potomac River and its proximity to Fredericksburg, Aquia Landing was destined to play an important role in the Civil War. It was the site of one of the war’s earliest military engagements and became a major supply base for the Army of the Potomac in three separate campaigns.

To learn more about the 1861 military engagement at Aquia Landing, follow the trail to your right up the hill to the redoubt overlooking the landing. For more information about Aquia Landing’s role as a supply base, walk down the road on your left, go through the park entrance gate, and continue one-half mile to the sign located at the end of the point."

Modern view of Aquia Creek, slightly inland

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=2157

"The first known permanent English Roman Catholic settlers in Virginia, Giles Brent, his sister Margaret, and other family members, emigrated here from Maryland by 1650. In May 1861, Confederates built artillery batteries on the bluffs overlooking Aquia Landing at the creek’s mouth on the Potomac River. An early clash between U.S. Naval vessels and Confederate land batteries took place here, 30 May and 1 June 1861. After the Confederates withdrew in March 1862, the U.S. Army established a huge supply depot there. The Federals burned and abandoned it on 7 June 1863. The landing again served as a Union depot in 1864."

The whole story:

"On April 22, 1861, Governor John Letcher of Virginia gave Robert E. Lee command of Virginia State forces with the rank of major general.^[3] General Lee dispatched Captain William F. Lynch of the Virginia state navy to examine the defensible points on the Potomac River, and to take measures for the establishment of batteries to prevent Union vessels from navigating that river.^[4] On April 24, 1861, Major Thomas H. Williamson of the Virginia Army engineers and Lieut. H. H. Lewis of the Virginia Navy examined the ground at Aquia Creek,^{[note 3]} and selected Split Rock Bluff as the best point for a battery, as the channel there could be commanded from that point by guns of sufficient caliber." 

On April 27, 1861, President Lincoln ordered the Union blockade of the Confederacy extended to the coasts of Virginia and North Carolina since those states were already in the process of joining the Confederate States of America.^[6] Both the Union and Confederacy then wanted to deny use of the Potomac River to the other side.

On May 8, 1861, Major Williamson began construction on fortifications at the Aquia Creek landing, mainly to protect the terminus of the Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad, which had its northern terminus at the landing, from seizure by Union Army forces.^[7] About May 14, 1861, Captain Lynch and Lieutenant Lewis, along with Commander Robert D. Thorburn and Lieutenant John Wilkinson of the Virginia State Navy, had erected at Aquia a battery of thirteen guns to protect the railroad terminal.^[5] The battery also was a threat to close the navigation of the Potomac River in line with the original mission to site guns to command the river.^[8] On May 10, 1861, Confederate authorities appointed General Lee to command Confederate troops in Virginia.^[9] Brigadier General Daniel Ruggles assumed overall command of the batteries although they remained under the immediate command of Captain Lynch at Aquia

The Confederate battery at Aquia Landing was first spotted by the USS Mount Vernon on May 14, 1861, but the Mount Vernon made no attack on the position.^[7] Since the first battery at Aquia was at the river level and intended mainly to protect the railroad terminal, the Confederates strengthened defenses at Aquia before May 29, 1861 by the addition of a second battery atop the bluffs to the south of the confluence of the Aquia Creek with the Potomac River as originally selected by the scouting party.

On May 29, 1861, a converted 250-ton paddle-wheel steamer mounting 3 guns,^[12] the USS Thomas Freeborn of the Federal Potomac Flotilla under the command of Commander James H. Ward^[10] attacked the Confederate batteries at Aquia to little effect.^[7][13] Confederate Captain Lynch reported that the Thomas Freeborn fired 14 shots and only wounded one man in the hand.^[8] On the following day, May 30, 1861, the Thomas Freeborn returned with the USS Anacostia, a 200-ton vessel with 2 guns, and USS Resolute, which was half the size of the Anacostia, and engaged the Confederate batteries for several hours, again with little effect.^[7][14] The largest guns of the squadron were 32-pounders.^[12] On June 1, the Thomas Freeborn, Anacostia, Resolute, and the sloop-of-war USS Pawnee bombarded the batteries for almost 5 hours, firing over 500 rounds.^[15][16] Captain Lynch reported no deaths or injuries from the second and third days of shelling, only the death of a chicken and a horse.^[7][17] Lynch added that his works sustained some damage, houses in the rear were "knocked about" and the railroad was torn up in three or four places.^[17] Lynch said that he returned fire sparingly in order to save ammunition and because he could fire only when the ships came in view and range of his embrasures as the big guns could not be turned.^{[17][note 4]} Nonetheless, during the fight both the Thomas Freeborn and the Pawnee took minor damage from the batteries and required repairs.^[15][17] No Federal sailors were seriously wounded or killed.^[15][17]

"The Attack on the Secession Batteries at Aquia Creek, Potomac River, by the U.S. Vessels Pawnee, Live Yankee, Freeborn, Anacostia and Lioness, June 1, 1861." Line engraving, based on a sketch by an "Officer of the Expedition" published in "Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper", 1861. Ships depicted are (from left to right-center, in the foreground): U.S. Tug Resolute (called "Lioness" in the original text), USS Anacostia, USS Thomas Freeborn, USS Yankee (called "Live Yankee" in the original text) and USS Pawnee. A two-masted schooner is in the right foreground.