Battle of Wilson's Wharf

Battle of Wilson's Wharf
Part of the American Civil War
DateMay 24, 1864 (1864-05-24)
Location
Charles City, Virginia
37°18′24″N 76°59′48″W / 37.3067°N 76.9967°W / 37.3067; -76.9967
Result Union victory
Belligerents
United States United States (Union) Confederate States of America CSA (Confederacy)
Commanders and leaders
United States Edward A. Wild Confederate States of America Fitzhugh Lee
Strength
1,100
2 guns
USS Dawn[1]		 2,500[1]
Casualties and losses
6 killed
40 wounded[2]		 200 killed and wounded[2]

The Battle of Wilson's Wharf (also called the Battle of Fort Pocahontas) was a battle in Union Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's Overland Campaign against Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia.[3]

On May 24, Confederate Maj. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee's cavalry division (about 2,500 men) attacked the Union supply depot at Wilson's Wharf, on the James River in eastern Charles City, Virginia. They were repulsed by two African American regiments (about 1,100 men) of the United States Colored Troops (USCT) under the command of Brig. Gen. Edward A. Wild, who were in the process of constructing a fortification there, which was subsequently named Fort Pocahontas. The battle was the first combat encounter of Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia with African-American troops.

  1. ^ a b Rhea, pp. 363-64; Salmon, p. 326; Kennedy, p. 290.
  2. ^ a b Rhea, p. 366. Despite these numbers, Rhea reported that a "handful" of blacks were captured. Kennedy, p. 290, cites 26 Union casualties, 140 Confederate. Salmon, p. 328, states "Lee acknowledged 10 killed, 48 wounded, and 4 missing, but the Federals reported the Confederate casualties as approaching 180. On the Union side, Wild reported 7 killed and 40 wounded." Robertson, p. 231, cites 23 Union casualties and 39 Confederate (20 killed and 19 prisoners).
  3. ^ It can be argued that this engagement is more appropriately classified as part of the Bermuda Hundred Campaign. It appears as such in Salmon, pp. 325-28, and Robertson, p. 231. The National Park Service campaign classification and Gordon Rhea (Rhea, pp. 362-67) place it within the Overland Campaign.