Before Virginia voters cast their ballots on secession, cannon fire echoed across the York River. In May 1861, at Gloucester Point, Virginia militia fired on the USS Yankee, marking the first shots of the Civil War in Virginia and an almost-forgotten opening clash between the state and the U.S. government.
On April 17, 1861, the attack on Fort Sumter and President Abraham Lincoln’s call for 75,000 volunteers to “suppress the rebellion” in the Deep South spurred delegates at the Virginia Convention in Richmond to pass an ordinance of secession, pending the results of a popular referendum on May 23.
A few days later, Virginia militia captured the Gosport Navy Yard at Norfolk, seizing approximately 1,085 cannon and 250,000 pounds of powder. Governor John Letcher appointed Robert E. Lee, recently resigned from the U.S. Army, as a major general in command of Virginia’s Provisional Army and Navy.
On April 27, Lincoln extended the blockade of the seven original Confederate States to include the ports of Virginia and North Carolina. From his post at Fort Monroe at the mouth of the Chesapeake, Flag-Officer Garrett J. Pendergrast attempted to enforce this blockade with the remnants of the fleet he had rescued from Norfolk. With resources stretched thin, the U.S. Navy supplemented its fleet by chartering civilian vessels.
One of these chartered ships was the USS Yankee, a 328-ton side-wheel steamer built in New York City in 1860. Measuring 146 feet in length, the Navy outfitted her with two 32-pounder guns and a crew of 48. The Yankee first helped evacuate the Gosport Navy Yard before serving as a dispatch and escort vessel between Annapolis and Havre de Grace, Maryland.
As Virginia slid inexorably toward war, defensive preparations became urgent.
Located across the York River from Yorktown, Gloucester Point (originally Tyndall’s Point) offered a natural defensive position where the river narrows to less than a mile wide. Recognizing its strategic value, British colonists constructed a fort there in 1667, which they later named Fort James. This site became a crucial stronghold for British forces during the American Revolution. Fortifying the point would be vital for preventing the U.S. Navy at Fort Monroe from controlling the York River.
On May 3, Lee appointed Gloucester County native William B. Taliaferro as colonel of Virginia volunteers, placing him in command of the defenses at Gloucester Point. Lee instructed him to cooperate with Virginia Navy Capt. William C. Whittle on the construction of a shore battery. By that time, local militia and enslaved laborers had already begun erecting rudimentary fortifications.
While still in Richmond, Taliaferro wrote to Lee for guidance, asking what he should do if a U.S. Naval ship attempted to pass the point: “Is the attempt to be resisted, or shall I await the institution of more decisive hostilities on the part of the United States authorities?” He could not have foreseen how quickly his question would need an answer.
On May 6, Taliaferro ordered a company of the Richmond Howitzers, led by Lt. John Thompson Brown and equipped with two six-pounder cannons, to reinforce Gloucester Point. They arrived by steamboat from West Point the next morning. At the same time, Flag-Officer Pendergrast ordered Lt. Thomas O. Selfridge, Jr. to sail up the York River with the USS Yankee and examine the fortifications.
As soon as the vessel was spotted, the Richmond Howitzers sprang into action, joined by local civilians who hauled two older cannons down from the county courthouse. A volunteer company, the Gloucester Invincibles, which had not yet mustered into state service, took a supporting position behind the redoubt. Three cannons were positioned inside the fortification and a fourth was placed at the foot of the wharf.
As the Yankee approached within 2,000 yards of Lt. Brown’s battery, Brown made the fateful decision to open fire. The “political question” Taliaferro wrestled with was answered by a 26-year-old lawyer with no military experience.
The Richmond Howitzers fired approximately a dozen shots at the Yankee. From their viewpoint, the steamer “careened to one side,” indicating a successful hit. But the list was caused by the weight of the Yankee’s own guns being moved into firing position. Lt. Selfridge tried to counteract the tilt by shifting equipment and letting water into the starboard ballast tanks. The Yankee returned six rounds, but its guns could not elevate high enough to strike the shore battery.
Seeing the engagement was futile, Selfridge sailed away after thirty minutes. Neither side reported casualties.
Taliaferro arrived at Gloucester Point that evening, missing the fight. The next day, he finally received Lee’s instructions. Ironically, the orders were to do precisely what Lt. Brown had already done: fire a warning shot across the bow, and “if she still persist, you will fire into her.” However, when Lee learned of the incident, he disapproved of them firing from such a long range.
As the first hostile engagement between Virginia and the U.S. government in the Civil War, this brief exchange received surprisingly little press coverage, occurring less than two weeks before Virginia’s secession referendum.
Sources
Baker, T. Roberts. “Dairy of T. Roberts Baker, of the Second Howitzer Company, of Richmond, Va.” in Contributions to a History of the Richmond Howitzer Battalion, Pamphlet No. 3. Richmond: Carlton McCarthy & Co., 1884.
Mooney, James L. “Yankee I (Tug) 1861-1865.” Naval History and Heritage Command. April 13, 2021. https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/y/yankee-i.html
Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion. Series I, Vol. 4. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1896.
Scharf, J. Thomas. History of the Confederate States Navy from its Organization to the Surrender of its Last Vessel. New York: Rogers & Sherwood, 1887.
The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Series I, Vol. II. With additions and corrections. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1902.
Wallace, Lee A., Jr. The Richmond Howitzers. Lynchburg: H.E. Howard, Inc., 1993.
Wiatt, Alex L. 26th Virginia Infantry. Lynchburg: H.E. Howard, Inc., 1984.
Spirit of '61 