The Battle of Big Bethel, also known as the Battle of Bethel Church or Great Bethel, was one of the earliest land battles of the American Civil War. It took place on the Virginia Peninsula, near Newport News, on June 10, 1861.
Virginia's decision to secede from the Union had been ratified by popular vote on May 23, and Confederate colonel (later major general) John B. Magruder was sent down the peninsula to deter any advance on the state capital Richmond by Union troops based at the well-defended post of Fort Monroe. This garrison was commanded by Major General Benjamin Butler, a former Massachusetts lawyer and politician, who established a new camp at nearby Hampton and another at Newport News. Magruder had also established two camps within range of the Union lines, at Big Bethel and Little Bethel, to lure his opponent into a premature action.
Butler took the bait, when he and an aide, Major Theodore Winthrop, devised a plan for a night march, followed by a dawn attack to drive the Confederates back from their bases. Butler chose not to lead the force in person, for which he was later criticized. The plan proved too complex for his poorly trained subordinates to carry out, especially at night, and his staff had also omitted to communicate the passwords. They were trying to advance without knowledge of the layout or strength of the Confederate positions when a friendly fire incident gave away their own. The commander in the field, Massachusetts militia general, Ebenezer Peirce, received most of the blame for the failed operation.
The Union forces suffered 76 casualties, with 18 killed, including Maj. Winthrop and Lt. John T. Greble, the first regular army officer killed in the war. The Confederates suffered only eight casualties, with one killed. Although Magruder subsequently withdrew to Yorktown and his defensive line along the Warwick River, he had won a propaganda victory, and local Union forces attempted no further significant advance until the Peninsula Campaign of 1862. While small compared to many later battles, Big Bethel attracted exaggerated importance because of the general feeling that the war would soon be over.
Background Union holds, reinforces Fort Monroe After the American Civil War began with the formal surrender of Fort Sumter to Confederate forces on April 14, 1861, and President Lincoln's call for volunteers to suppress the rebellion on April 15, 1861, Virginia's political leaders quickly set in motion the process of seceding from the Union and joining the Confederacy.President Lincoln's call for volunteers to reclaim federal property and suppress the rebellion of the seven Deep South states after the surrender of Fort Sumter on the previous day set in motion the process of secession of the four Upper South states of Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Arkansas. Hansen, Harry. The Civil War: A History. New York: Bonanza Books, 1961. . p. 48 Even before secession was formally accomplished, Virginia agreed to coordinate its state military forces with the Confederacy and began to seize federal property. The United States Regular Army garrison under the command of Colonel Justin Dimick held Fort Monroe, a nearly impregnable fortress at Old Point Comfort on the southern tip of the Virginia Peninsula between the York River and the James River where they empty into the Chesapeake Bay. The bay was to the east of the fort and Hampton RoadsThe water area known as Hampton Roads is one of the world's biggest natural harbors (more accurately a roadstead or "roads") and incorporates the mouths of the Elizabeth River and James River with several smaller rivers and itself empties into the Chesapeake Bay near its mouth leading to the Atlantic Ocean. was to the south. The fort was supported by the Union Navy at Hampton Roads and could be reinforced and resupplied by water without attack by shore batteries or harassment by the nearly non-existent Virginia or Confederate naval forces. The fort was nearly immune from attack from the land side since it could be approached only over a narrow causeway and a narrow isthmus and had massive walls and hundreds of cannons. An inlet called Mill Creek was the body of water that almost cut the fort off from the mainland of the Peninsula.
Colonel Dimick refused to surrender the fort and the small and poorly equipped Virginia (soon to be Confederate) militia forces in the area had no hope of taking the fort by force, especially after April 20, 1861, when the small Union garrison was reinforced by two Massachusetts volunteer regiments within a few days of the Virginia convention voting to secede from the Union on April 17, 1861. This important fort provided a base for the blockade of Norfolk, Virginia, and the Chesapeake Bay and for the recovery of southeast Virginia and the Virginia Peninsula for the Union.Poland, Jr., Charles P. The Glories Of War: Small Battles and Early Heroes Of 1861. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2006. . p. 200Quarstein, John V. and Dennis P. Mroczkowski. Fort Monroe: the Key to the South. Charleston, SC: Tempus Publications, 2000. . pp. 28, 30–31
Because Massachusetts militia forces were ready to respond to President Lincoln's call for volunteers, two 90–day regiments, the 3rd Massachusetts Militia commanded by Colonel David W. Wardrop and the 4th Massachusetts Militia commanded by Colonel Abner B. Packard, were able to reinforce Fort Monroe's garrison of 415 regulars within five days of the President's call. The 4th Massachusetts was the first to arrive. These reinforcements helped ensure that this strong point and base of operations would be fully prepared for defense and saved for the Union.McKean, William Vincent. The National almanac and annual record for the year 1863, Volume 1. Philadelphia: George W. Childs, 1863. . Retrieved May 31, 2011. On May 13, 1861, the 1st Regiment, Vermont Volunteer Infantry, under Colonel J. Wolcott Phelps joined the garrison and several other volunteer regiments from New York soon followed.
On May 14, 1861, while Colonel Dimick was still in command of the garrison, he seized a well just outside the fort in what was then Elizabeth City CountyIn 1952 Elizabeth City County was absorbed by the independent city of Hampton, which had been the county seat and largest town in the county. because the fort did not have enough water even for its original small garrison. His forces also occupied the Mill Creek Bridge, which was needed for access to the peninsula from the fort and the nearby Clark farm.Quarstein, 2000, p. 30 The fort soon could not hold all of the arriving reinforcements so Union forces established Camp Troy, soon renamed Camp Hamilton in honor of an aide to General-in-Chief Winfield Scott, on the Segar farm on the Hampton side of Mill Creek, within range of the guns of Fort Monroe.Quarstein, 2000, pp. 31–32
Butler takes command, expands Union bridgehead While Colonel Dimick remained in command of the 415 regular army soldiers, Volunteer Major General Benjamin F. Butler of Massachusetts took command of Fort Monroe and the entire garrison on May 23, 1861.McKean, 1863, p. 547On that same day a popular vote ratified the secession of Virginia. With continuing reinforcements, Butler could not only retain the Union hold on Fort Monroe but support the Union blockade of the Chesapeake Bay, move up the Peninsula, and threaten to retake Norfolk, Virginia, and other locations on the south side of Hampton Roads from the Confederates.
On May 27, 1861, General Butler sent a force west to occupy the lightly defended adjacent town of Newport News at Newport News Point, an excellent anchorage for the Union Navy. This force established and significantly fortified Camp Butler and a battery at Newport News Point that could cover the entrance to the James River ship canal and the mouth of the Nansemond River. By May 29 Butler's force, which included the 1st Vermont Infantry, Colonel John A. Bendix's 7th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment (a regiment of German speakers), the 4th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment, Scott's Life Guards and a detachment of U.S. regulars to man artillery, completed the mission.Lossing, Benson John and William Barritt. Pictorial history of the civil war in the United States of America, Volume 1. Philadelphia, George W. Childs, 1866. . Retrieved May 1, 2011. pp. 501–502 On June 8, 1861, the camp, which was commanded by Colonel Phelps of the 1st Vermont Infantry, also was reinforced by the 9th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment (Hawkin's Zouaves).Quarstein, 2000, pp. 38–40 Butler also further occupied and expanded Camp Hamilton, started by Colonel Dimick in the equally lightly defended, adjacent town of Hampton, just beyond the confines of the fort and within the range of its guns. After Colonel Abram Duryee of the 5th New York Infantry commanded Camp Hamilton for a week, on June 4, 1861, Massachusetts militia Brigadier General Ebenezer Peirce assumed command.Authoritative sources, including his tombstone, show Peirce is the correct spelling of the general's name although in some accounts it is mistakenly shown as "Pierce."Lossing, Benson John and William Barritt. Pictorial history of the civil war in the United States of America, Volume 1. Philadelphia, George W. Childs, 1866. . Retrieved May 1, 2011. p. 502
Confederate response Major General Robert E. Lee in charge of Virginia (soon to be Confederate) forces, which already were in league with the Confederacy, responded to the growing Union threat from Fort Monroe by sending Colonel John Bankhead Magruder to defend the southeastern area of the Peninsula and push Union forces back to the fort.Gordon, E. Clifford. The Battle of Big Bethel, Volumes 1–4. Richmond, VA: Carlton McCarthy and Co., 1883. Pamphlet No. 1. . Retrieved June 9, 2011. p. 15 Magruder was given the command on May 21, 1861. On May 24 he established his headquarters at Yorktown, Virginia and set up his defenses.The secession of Virginia was ratified by popular vote on May 23, 1861. Although a formality, Virginia Governor Letcher did not issue a proclamation officially transferring Virginia forces to the Confederacy on June 6, 1861. United States War Dept., Robert Nicholson Scott, et al. The War of the Rebellion: a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate Armies Series I, Volume II. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1880. . Retrieved May 14, 2011. pp. 911–912. The delay was caused mostly by negotiations over whether the State or the Confederacy would control certain property. Maj. Gen. Lee, as commander of the state forces, issued an order in compliance with the proclamation on June 8, 1861. Soon Magruder's original small Virginia force was increased to about 1,500 men by the inclusion of Colonel Daniel Harvey Hill's 1st North Carolina Volunteer Infantry, Lieutenant Colonel William D. Stuart's 3rd Virginia Infantry (Wythe Rifles), a cavalry battalion under Major E.B. Montague, and the Richmond Howitzer Artillery Battalion under Major George W. Randolph (grandson of Thomas Jefferson and future Confederate Secretary of War).Quarstein, 2000, p. 44