First Significant Battle Of The Civil War - Aquia Landing
N 38° 22.895 W 077° 19.150
18S E 297430 N 4250700
The first naval engagement between the U.S. Navy and Confederate state took place at Aquia Landing in Stafford VA.
Waymark Code: WM6W38
Location: Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 07/26/2009
Views: 8
Aquia Landing is a penisula that sits where Aquia Creek enters the Potomac River. In the the mid-1800's, it was the location of the terminus of the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad where it was a rail-to-steamboat transfer point for travel from Richmond, VA to Washington, D.C.
Soon after Virginia seceded from the Union in 1861, the state fortified the point and nearby hills with artillery to protect this important location from being captured by Union troops and used as a shipping port for supplies. On May 31 and June 1 1861, three U.S. Navy gunboats under Cmdr. James H. Ward, fired 700 rounds upon the Confederate batteries, causing damage to the railroad and houses along the waterfront. The VA troops returned fire and struck the U.S.S. Pawnee and U.S.S. Thomas Freeborn. Incredibly, no one was killed and the conflict would prove to have little consequences on the war.
Ultimately, Confederate troops abandoned the site in 1862 and destroyed the railroad tracks. The Union Army moved in and rebuilt new wharves and storage buildings for supplies, but destroyed them again upon evacuating the area in September.
The Battle Of Aquia Landing sign erected at the site of a Confederate battery reads:
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.
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