Battle of Sewell's Point

36°57′17″N 76°19′36″W / 36.95472°N 76.32667°W / 36.95472; -76.32667

Battle of Sewell's Point
Part of American Civil War
DateMay 18, 1861 (1861-05-18) – May 19, 1861 (1861-05-19)
Location
Result Confederate victory (USS Monticello and USS Thomas Freeborn routed)
Belligerents
United States United States (Union) Confederate States of America CSA (Confederacy)
Commanders and leaders
Henry Eagle
Daniel L. Braine
Walter Gwynn
Peyton H. Colquitt
Strength
2 gunboats 1 shore battery
(3 32-pounder guns)
Casualties and losses
10[A 1]

The Battle of Sewell's Point was an inconclusive exchange of cannon fire between the Union gunboat USS Monticello, supported by the USS Thomas Freeborn, and Confederate batteries on Sewell's Point that took place on May 18, 19 and 21, 1861, in Norfolk County, Virginia in the early days of the American Civil War. Little damage was done to either side. By the end of April 1861, USS Cumberland and a small number of supporting ships were enforcing the Union blockade of the southeastern Virginia ports at the southern end of the Chesapeake Bay and had captured several ships which attempted to pass the blockade. USS Monticello's bombardment of the Sewell's Point battery was one of the earliest Union Navy actions against Confederate forces during the Civil War. [A 2] While it has been suggested by some sources that the Monticello's action may have been the first gunfire by the Union Navy during the Civil War, a brief exchange of cannon fire between the U.S. gunboat USS Yankee and shore batteries manned by Virginia volunteer forces which had not yet been incorporated into the Confederate States Army at Gloucester Point, Virginia on the York River occurred on May 7, 1861.[A 3][3]

  1. ^ "Battle Summary: Sewell Point". National Park Service. Retrieved 2011-03-29.
  2. ^ "Civil War Battles by Campaign". National Park Service. Retrieved 2011-03-29.
  3. ^ 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 to Flag Officer G. J. Pendergrast, May 7, 1861. Washington, DC.: Government Printing Office, 1896. Series 1, Volume 4. OCLC 278162008. Page 381. Retrieved April 24, 2011.


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