In the early months of the Civil War, a Union naval mission to gather intelligence on Virginia’s Northern Neck turned into a deadly skirmish with Confederate volunteers. Discover how a routine operation aboard the USS Monticello quickly escalated into a fierce clash that left both sides scrambling.
On April 27, in response to the capture of Harpers Ferry Arsenal and Gosport Navy Yard, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln extended the naval blockade of seven original Confederate States to include the ports of Virginia. Flag-Officer Silas H. Stringham’s Atlantic Blockading Squadron, which included the screw-steamer USS Star (Monticello), patrolled the Chesapeake Bay, boarding and searching ships and engaging with Confederate shore batteries at Gloucester Point, Sewell’s Point, and Pig Point. In late May, the Monticello was damaged during the Engagement at Sewell’s Point and was sent back to Washington, D.C. for repairs.
U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command
Meanwhile, Confederate volunteers quickly formed companies in Virginia’s Tidewater region, erecting forts and batteries at strategic points along the coastal waterways. Companies from Virginia’s Northern Neck—a peninsula between the Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers—formed the 40th Virginia Infantry Regiment, commanded by Col. John M. Brockenbrough. Since a regiment typically consisted of only 10 companies, some units were left waiting for assignment. One such unit was Currell’s Company from Lancaster County, commanded by Capt. Isaac Currell.
On June 13, the Monticello returned to Fort Monroe under the command of Lt. Daniel L. Braine. Ten days later, on June 23, Flag-Officer Garrett J. Pendergrast ordered Lt. Braine to intercept a blockade runner near Smith Island. While sailing up the Chesapeake, the Monticello‘s pilot informed Braine of a steamer called the Virginia that could be captured near the mouth of the Rappahannock River. Braine decided to take a brief detour on June 24, but the Virginia was nowhere to be found.
The Monticello‘s pilot then mentioned that a local Unionist named William Gresham, who lived near the mouth of Carter’s Creek on the Northern Neck, might have useful information. A landing party of 18 armed men, led by Master’s Mate Lewis A. Brown and Assistant Surgeon Heber Smith, went ashore in the steamer’s launch—a small craft armed with two swivel guns and a rowboat. While speaking with Gresham, about 30 men from Currell’s Company, led by Adjutant Henry S. Hathaway, opened fire from behind bushes and trees along the shore.
Brown later reported, “I heard a man on the stoop say that there was a company of well-drilled volunteers in the vicinity, and on my turning about I saw a company of armed and uniformed men stealing along the shore as if to cut off our retreat. I immediately ordered a retreat to the boat and fired off our carbines, many of which missed fire…”
The Union landing party immediately ran for their launch, leaving the rowboat behind. While wading through the shallow water, Assistant Surgeon Heber Smith and Quartermaster August Peterson were wounded (Peterson later died at Fort Monroe). The launch crew returned fire with their carbines and swivel guns.
Once the landing party was safely back aboard the Monticello, Lt. Braine ordered his gunners to fire on Gresham’s house, causing severe damage. A local resident who spoke with eyewitnesses wrote to the Richmond Dispatch: “As soon as the barge left the shore the steamer commenced a heavy fire of cannon and bombs upon the men and the dwelling-house, which fire was kept up for an hour, and the house of Mr. G. struck with about 17 balls, weighing from 2 to 36 lbs, and also by several bombshells.”
There were no reported Confederate casualties, and the Monticello returned to Fort Monroe empty-handed. This brief but intense skirmish underscored the strategic importance of Virginia’s waterways and the escalating conflict between Union naval forces and Confederate volunteers in the region.
Sources
Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion. Series I, Vol. 5. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1897.
Richmond Dispatch (Richmond, VA) 27-29 June 1861.
Wallace, Lee A., Jr. A guide to Virginia Military Organizations, 1861-1865. Lynchburg: H.E. Howard, Inc., 1986.
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