Английская Википедия:Battle of Cockpit Point
Шаблон:Coord Шаблон:Short description
Шаблон:No footnotes Шаблон:Infobox military conflict Шаблон:Campaignbox Blockade of the Potomac River
The Battle of Cockpit Point, the Battle of Freestone Point, or the Battle of Shipping Point, took place on January 3, 1862, in Prince William County, Virginia, as part of the blockade of the Potomac River during the American Civil War.
After victory at First Battle of Bull Run, the Confederate States Army (CSA) established a defensive line from Centreville along the Occoquan River to the Potomac River. The Confederates used the Potomac’s banks as gun positions to halt Union traffic on the river, protecting Manassas Junction to the west and Fredericksburg to the south and to close the Potomac River to shipping and isolate Washington.
In October 1861, the Confederates constructed batteries at Evansport (now downtown Quantico, consisted of two batteries on the river bank, and another Шаблон:Convert inland), a CSA field battery located at the mouth of Chopawamsic Creek where it empties to the Potomac (now the Marine Corps Air Facility), Shipping Point (now Hospital Point on Quantico, number of guns unknown), Freestone Point (a CSA four-gun battery on the shore of the Potomac River, now within Leesylvania State Park), and Cockpit Point (near the current asphalt plant, consisted of six guns (one heavy gun) in four batteries, a powder magazine, and rear rifle pits, on top of a Шаблон:Convert high cliff known as Possum Nose). By mid-December, the Confederates had 37 heavy guns in position along the river.
On September 25, 1861, the Freestone Point batteries were shelled by the Шаблон:USS (commanded by Lieutenant Edward P. McCrea) and Шаблон:USS, commanded by Lieutenant Charles S. Norton. On January 1, 1862, Cockpit Point was shelled by Шаблон:USS (Lieutenant Oscar C. Badger commanding) and Шаблон:USS (Lieutenant Eastman commanding), with neither side gaining an advantage, though Yankee was slightly damaged.
Union ships approached the point again on March 9. A landing party from Anacostia and Yankee destroyed abandoned Confederate batteries at Cockpit Point and Evansport, Virginia, and found CSS Page blown up. The Confederates, in keeping with their general tactic of withdrawal from the sea coast and coastal islands, had abandoned their works and retired closer to Richmond, after effectively sealing off the Potomac River for nearly five months.
Legacy
Prince William County is in the process of establishing the Cockpit Point Battlefield Heritage Park at Cockpit Point to open in 2017. The park will preserve 113 acres, including a 93 acre natural area with a pond. The park area has a 16 acre gun battery site along the Potomac River, including cannon emplacements.
References
- National Park Service battle description
- Harper's Weekly of November 2, 1861 hosted on the Son of the South website.
- Harper's Weekly of March 22, 1862 hosted on the Son of the South website.
- Virginia Forts information from American Forts Network, compiled by Pete Payette.
- Naval History of the Civil War March 1862
- Two Wars, an Autobiography of General Samuel G. French
- Freestone Point Earthworks Civil War Trails Historical Marker
External links
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- 1862 in Virginia
- Battles of the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War
- Inconclusive battles of the American Civil War
- Naval battles of the American Civil War
- Battles of the American Civil War in Virginia
- Prince William County in the American Civil War
- Battles and conflicts without fatalities
- 1862 in the American Civil War
- Riverine warfare
- January 1862 events
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