Battle of Big Bethel

W-66

On 10 June 1861, the first land battle of the Civil War in present-day Virginia took place here at Big Bethel Church. Maj. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler, commanding at Fort Monroe, sent converging columns at night from Hampton and Newport News for a dawn attack against Confederate outposts there. The 1,408 Confederates, led by Cols. John B. Magruder and D. H. Hill, fell back to their entrenchments behind Brick Kiln Creek, near the church. Some 4,400 Federals under Brig. Gen. Ebenezer W. Pierce pursued, launched two disjointed attacks, and were repulsed. They then retreated to Fort Monroe, leaving the Confederates in control of most of the Peninsula.

Department of Historic Resources, 2000

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References/Bibliographic Citation:

Patricia L. Faust, ed., Historical Times Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Civil War (New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1986), 59; The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Prepared Under the Direction of the Secretary of War by Robert N. Scott, 129 vols. (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1880–1901).