Battle of Gloucester Point (1861)

Battle of Gloucester Point
	Part of the American Civil War
Date	May 7, 1861
Location	Gloucester Point, Virginia
Result	Inconclusive
Belligerents
United States (Union)	Virginia
Commanders and leaders
Garrett J. Pendergrast; Thomas O. Selfridge Jr.	William B. Taliaferro; William C. Whittle; John Thompson Brown
Units involved
USS Yankee (1861)	Battery garrison
Strength
1 gunboat	60-70
Casualties and losses
none	none

37°16′12″N 76°29′55″W / 37.27000°N 76.49861°W / 37.27000; -76.49861

The Battle of Gloucester Point, Virginia was the first reported exchange of fire in the American Civil War, following the surrender of Fort Sumter. As Lincoln extended the Union blockade to include Virginia, the rebels (notionally Confederates) tried to deny Union access to the local estuaries. On May 7, 1861, Lieutenant Thomas O. Selfridge Jr. commanding the USS Yankee was ordered to reconnoitre the new fortifications at Gloucester Point opposite Yorktown. Shots were exchanged, causing no casualties, Selfridge claiming that his guns were too small to damage the battery, commanded by Lieutenant John Thompson Brown, credited with firing the first cannon shot of the war in Virginia.

^ One source gives the date of this engagement as May 8, 1861. Wyllie, Arthur. The Union Navy. Gardners Books 2007. p. 657. ISBN 978-1-4303-2117-0. Retrieved April 24, 2011. Other generally reliable sources give the date as May 9, 1861. Parker, William Harwar. The Confederate States Navy, Volume XII of ‘’Confederate Military History’’, edited by Clement Anselm Evans, Atlanta: Confederate Publishing Company, 1899, OCLC 29140494, p. 470, retrieved April 22, 2011; Hannings, Bud. Every Day of the Civil War: A Chronological Encyclopedia p. 40. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2010. ISBN 978-0-7864-4464-9. Retrieved April 24, 2011; Long, E. B. and Barbara Long. The Civil War Day by Day: An Almanac, 1861–1865. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1971. OCLC 68283123. p. 72. A few early sources give even later dates in May for this engagement. It is clear, however, that the engagement took place on May 7, 1861. Baker, p. 5; Nesser, p. 74; Scharf, p. 107; Fredriksen, John C. Civil War Almanac. New York: Facts on File, 2007. ISBN 978-0-8160-6459-5. p 29; Rush, Lt. Commander Richard and Robert H. Woods. Naval War Records Office, United States. Navy Dept. Official records of the Union and Confederate navies in the war of the rebellion Report of Lt. Thomas O. Selfridge, Jr. to Flag Officer G. J. Pendergrast, May 7, 1861. Washington, DC.: Government Printing Office, 1896. Series 1, Volume 4. OCLC 278162008. Retrieved April 22, 2011. p. 381; Scott, Robert N.; U.S. War Department. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies Series 1, Volume 2. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1880. OCLC 278162008. p. 821. The May 9, 1861 date of Flag Officer Pendergrast’s report or the wording of one or more of the reports of the engagement may have misled some authors to conclude that the date of the engagement was May 9.

[Date-1] One source gives the date of this engagement as May 8, 1861. Wyllie, Arthur. The Union Navy. Gardners Books 2007. p. 657. ISBN 978-1-4303-2117-0. Retrieved April 24, 2011. Other generally reliable sources give the date as May 9, 1861. Parker, William Harwar. The Confederate States Navy, Volume XII of ‘’Confederate Military History’’, edited by Clement Anselm Evans, Atlanta: Confederate Publishing Company, 1899, OCLC 29140494, p. 470, retrieved April 22, 2011; Hannings, Bud. Every Day of the Civil War: A Chronological Encyclopedia p. 40. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2010. ISBN 978-0-7864-4464-9. Retrieved April 24, 2011; Long, E. B. and Barbara Long. The Civil War Day by Day: An Almanac, 1861–1865. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1971. OCLC 68283123. p. 72. A few early sources give even later dates in May for this engagement. It is clear, however, that the engagement took place on May 7, 1861. Baker, p. 5; Nesser, p. 74; Scharf, p. 107; Fredriksen, John C. Civil War Almanac. New York: Facts on File, 2007. ISBN 978-0-8160-6459-5. p 29; Rush, Lt. Commander Richard and Robert H. Woods. Naval War Records Office, United States. Navy Dept. Official records of the Union and Confederate navies in the war of the rebellion Report of Lt. Thomas O. Selfridge, Jr. to Flag Officer G. J. Pendergrast, May 7, 1861. Washington, DC.: Government Printing Office, 1896. Series 1, Volume 4. OCLC 278162008. Retrieved April 22, 2011. p. 381; Scott, Robert N.; U.S. War Department. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies Series 1, Volume 2. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1880. OCLC 278162008. p. 821. The May 9, 1861 date of Flag Officer Pendergrast’s report or the wording of one or more of the reports of the engagement may have misled some authors to conclude that the date of the engagement was May 9.

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