First Fire In Virginia

Flag Officer Garrett Pendergrast

The Battle of Gloucester Point in Virginia occurred on May 7^th 1861 and is reported to be the earliest action of the Civil War to take place in Virginia.

In early May 1861 it came to the attention of the Union Navy that a Confederate leaning force was building fortifications at Gloucester Point, Virginia.  On May 7^th 1861 Union Flag Officer Garrett J Pendergrast ordered an examination of the area.  He sent Navy Lieutenant Thomas O Selfridge Jr, who commanded the USS Yankee a converted steam tug, up the York River on a reconnaissance of the area.  As the Yankee pulled to within about 2,000 yards of Gloucester Point a shore battery fired a shot across the tug’s bow.  Selfridge continued his course and the guns on shore fired at them again.

The battery on the shore; manned by the Virginia State Richmond Howitzers under the command of Lieutenant John Thompson Brown, fired between 12 and 13 shots at the Union tug.  The Yankee returned fire on the battery, but couldn't get the elevation, and his guns were too small to have done much damage anyway.  After firing on each other, the Yankee turned around and headed back to its base near Fort Monroe.

There were no reported injuries.

To The Confederacy, Before Leaving The Union

Confederate Brigadier General William Stephen Walker resigned his captain’s commission with the 1^st United States Cavalry May 1^st 1861.

William Stephen Walker was born April 13^th 1822 in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.  He was raised by an uncle; Robert J Walker, in Mississippi and Washington, DC, where that uncle served as the Secretary of the Treasury for President James K Polk.  Walker received his education in private schools.  At the start of the Mexican American War he was appointed to First Lieutenant, and assigned to the 1^st United States Voltiguers.  For his action at the Battle of Chapultepec, Walker received a brevet to Captain.  He was discharge from service following the end of the war August 31^st 1848.  Walker returned to military service March 3^rd 1855 becoming a Captain in the 1^st United States Cavalry.

When the Civil War started, Walker resigned his commission with the United States Army on May 1^st 1861, having received a Captaincy in the Confederate Army on March 16^th 1861.  He started as a mustering officer, but by November 5^th 1861 he was serving as the aide-de-camp to General Robert E Lee, and from December 1861 to March 1862 as the inspector general for the Department of South Carolina, Georgia and East Florida.  With a promotion to Colonel he took part in the Battle of Pocotaligo.  Walker was promoted to Brigadier General October 22^nd 1862.  He was wounded in the left arm and the bone in his lower right leg was shattered during the Battle of Ware Bottom Church, a part of the Bermuda Hundred Campaign.  He was captured and taken to Fort Monroe where Union Doctor John J Craven amputated his right foot.  He was exchanged October 29^th 1864.  Walker served out the war at Weldon, North Carolina.  He was paroled at Greensboro, North Carolina May 1^st 1865.

After the war ended Walker moved to Georgia.  He died June 7^th 1899 in Atlanta, Georgia and is buried in the Oakland Cemetery.

The Had Been Raised In The East

The “California Hundred”, which would become a part of the 2^nd Massachusetts Cavalry, was organized December 10^th 1862 in San Francisco, California.

During the summer of 1862 a number of men living in California, all but one of whom had been raised back East decided to enlist in the Union army, but they wanted to serve the cause in the Eastern Theater of the war.  The men reached out to Massachusetts Governor John Andrew, with offer of 100 men to serve in that state’s cavalry.  Andrew agreed to accept the men as long as they paid their own way to Boston, Massachusetts and equipped themselves.

The “California Hundred”; as they were called, were organized in San Francisco, California on December 10^th 1862.  The shipped out the next day and arrived at Camp Meigs in Readville, Massachusetts January 4^th 1863.  The Hundred became Company “A” of the 2^nd Massachusetts Cavalry.  The men were moved in February to Fort Monroe in Baltimore, Maryland, and then sent out on duty around Virginia.  Under the command of Union Captain James Sewall Reed, the men from California were engaged a number of time against Confederate General John S Mosby’s cavalry in the Loudoun Valley.  They were serving with the Army of the Shenandoah under Union General Philip H Sheridan during the Valley Campaign of 1864.  In the spring of 1865 the Hundred were part of the pursuit of Confederate General Robert E Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, ending at Appomattox.

The California men took part in the Grand Review on May 23^rd 1865 in Washington, DC, before returning to their homes.  The company lost 90 men, killed, and another 141 who from disease.

Richmond Stayed Safe

The Battle of Drewry’s Bluff a part of the Peninsula Campaign was fought May 15^th 1862 in Chesterfield County, Virginia.

The only obstacle to Union movement up the James River after the fall of Norfolk, Virginia; protecting the Confederate capital at Richmond, was Fort Darling and Drewry’s Bluff.  Drewry’s Bluff is located about 7 miles from the capital on a sharp bend in the river.  The confederates in the area were under the command of Navy Commander Ebenezer Farrand and Army Captain Augustus H Drewry.  Fort Darling had 8 cannons along with some artillery and naval guns salvaged from the CSS Virginia.  Also protecting the fort were the CSS Patrick and obstructions placed just under the water in the river.

A detachment of Union navy under Commander John Rodgers steamed up the James River on May 15^th 1862 from Fort Monroe.  The ships in this detachment included the USS Monitor, USS Galena, and USS Aroostook with others.  The Galena got to within 600 yards of the fort, but was hit by several Confederate rounds before she could fire on the fort.  The battle went on for over three hour with the Galena taking another 45 hit, unable to move.  The Monitor’s heavy armor allowed her withstand the incoming ammo, but she was unable to elevate her guns enough to hit the Confederate batteries.  The Union ships were force to withdraw to City Point.

Fort Darling on Drewry’s Bluff had held up to the attack with only 8 casualties.

Only Married Aout Three Weeks

The first former United States officer to be captured as a Confederate; Brigadier General John Pegram was killed February 6th 1865.

John Pegram was born January 24th 1832 in Petersburg, Virginia the son of John West and Virginia [Johnson] Pegram. His father died when he was still young, and his mother supported the family by running a girls school. Pegram received an appointment to the United State Military Academy at West Point. He graduated in 1854, and was assigned to the United State dragoons as a Second Lieutenant. After three years of garrison duty in the West, Pegram was appointed as Assistant Instructor of Cavalry at West Point. He took a leave in 1858-59 to go to Europe and observe the Austro - Sardinian War. After returning from Europe in 1860 Pegram was assigned on the frontier in New Mexico Territory.

Pegram received news in May 1861 that his home state of Virginia had seceded. He resigned his Untied State Lieutenant commission. In July of 1861 Pegram was assigned to the 20th Virginia Infantry and commissioned a Lieutenant Colonel. The 20th Virginia was part of Brigadier General Robert Selden Garnett’s brigade serving in western Virginia. In August 1861 Pegrem’s men were cut off from the brigade during the Battle of Rich Mountain on July 11th 1861, and Pegram surrendered his men to the Union forces. Making Pegram the first former United States Army officer to be captured as a Confederate, he spent six months imprisoned in Fort Monroe. Paroled on January 1862, Pegram was prompted to Colonel and made the Chief Engineer of the army of General Braxton Bragg. In November 1862 Pegram was promoted to Brigadier General and given command of a Cavalry Brigade. In November 1862 he reported to the Army of Northern Virginia, where he was given command of a brigade in Jubal A Early’s division. Pegram was wounded during the Battle of the Wilderness, but was back in time for Early’s Valley Campaign.

Pegram married Hetty Cary January 19th 1865 in Richmond, Virginia. The wedding was attended by Confederate President and Mrs Jefferson Davis. Pegram was killed in action February 6th 1865 at the Battle of Hatcher’s Run. His funeral would be held in the same church he was just married in. Pegram is buried in the Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia.

Give Peace A Try

President Abraham Lincoln met with Confederate Assistant Secretary of War John A Campbell February 3rd 1865 for the Hampton Roads Peace Conference.

The Hampton Roads Conference was an attempt to bring the Civil War to a negotiate end, and was arranged by Lincoln‘s adviser Francis P Blair Sr. President Abraham Lincoln with his Secretary of State William H Seward met near Fort Monroe, Virginia with Confederate representatives Vice President Alexander Hamilton Stephens, Assistant Secretary of War John A Campbell and Senator Robert M T Hunter. They used the ship the USS River Queen a Union transport ship on February 3rd 1865 for the meeting.

After four hours, there were no agreements. President Lincoln dominated the meeting. He demanded an immediate end to fighting, with the disbandment of the Confederate military, southern recognition of emancipation, and all Confederate States returned to the Union. Lincoln was willing to consider compensation for slave owners, and good treatment for Confederate officials. The men representing the Confederacy were not authorized to accept anything short of independence. At the conclusion of the conference the Confederate Representatives returned to Richmond, Virginia, and the war went on.

The Last Days Of A President

Jefferson Davis’ last day as the President of the Confederacy was May 10th 1865.


With General Ulysses S Grant in place to capture the Confederate capital of Richmond Virginia, Jefferson Davis headed for Danville Virginia April 3rd 1865. Along with his Confederate Cabinet Davis issued his last proclamation as the Confederate President then got on the Richmond and Danville Railroad and went south to Greensboro North Carolina. He received Robert E Lee’s letter declaring his surrender April 12th 1865. Davis met with his Cabinet on May 5th 1865 for the last time in Washington Georgia and adjourned the Confederacy’s activities.

Davis was captured in Irwinville Georgia on May 10th 1865. As he was trying to escape he tossed on his wife Varina Davis’ overcoat over his shoulders, leading to the stories and cartoons of him trying to hide in women’s clothes. Members of the 1st Wisconsin and 4th Michigan Cavalry took him prisoner. On May 19th 1865 he was placed in prison at Fort Monroe Virginia, where he would held on charges of treason for two years. He would be released on a bail of $100,000 which was posted by people north and south, including Cornelius Vanderbilt and Horace Greeley. The prosecution of Davis’ case was dropped February 1869.

Some other reading on this subject on the web
The Capture of Jefferson Davis

Colored Troops Organized

The Second Cavalry of the United States Colored Troops were organized on December 22nd 1863 at Fort Monroe, Virginia.

The 2nd Cavalry of the United States Color Troops saw service at Fort Monroe, Portsmouth and Williamsburg, Virginia through May 1864. They were present at the capture of Bermuda Hundred, and for the siege of Petersburgs and Richmond.

After the end of hostilities they were ordered to City Point, Virginia, where they sailed for Texas, and saw duty on the Rio Grande and other points around Texas until February 1866. The unit was mustered out of service February 12th 1866.