Battle of Big Bethel
The
Battle of Big Bethel, also known as the
Battle of Bethel Church or
Great Bethel, took place on
June 10,
1861, in
Tabb and
Hampton, Virginia, as part of the blockade of
Chesapeake Bay during the
American Civil War. It was arguably the first Civil War land battle in the
Eastern Theater, and the first organized land battle of the entire war.
[The National Park Service battle description claims "This was the first land battle in Virginia." However, the other contender for first battle in the East, Philippi, on June 3, whether considered a skirmish or a full battle, was also fought in Virginia, considering the state boundaries in 1861.]Maj. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler, based at
Fort Monroe, sent converging columns from Hampton and
Newport News against advanced
Confederate outposts at
Little and
Big Bethel. The Confederates abandoned Little Bethel and fell back to their entrenchments behind Brick Kiln Creek, near
Big Bethel Church. The
Federals, under immediate command of
Brig. Gen. Ebenezer Pierce, pursued, attacked frontally along the road, and were repulsed. Crossing downstream, the
5th New York Volunteer Infantry attempted to turn the Confederate left flank, but were also repulsed.
Novelist
Theodore Winthrop, on the staff of Gen. Pierce, was killed. The disorganized Union forces retired, returning to Hampton and Newport News. The Confederates suffered 1 killed, 7 wounded.
*
National Park Service battle description *
Johnson, Robert Underwood, and
Buel, C.C.,
Battles and Leaders of the Civil War (volume ii, New York, 1887)
* U.S. War Department,
The War of the Rebellion:
a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1880–1901.
*
Official reports*
Account in Southern Historical Society Papers of the first Confederate enlisted death in battle*
Gone and forgotten: the battle of Big Bethel*
Baptism of Fire: Big Bethel to the Peninsula
