View source for Battle of Cockpit Point

{{Coord|38.5586|-77.2642|type:event_region:US-VA|display=title}}
{{short description|Battle of the American Civil War}}

{{No footnotes|date=October 2023}}
{{Infobox military conflict
|conflict=Battle of Cockpit Point
|image=Rebel-batteries-cockpit-point.jpg
|image_size=300px
|caption=''The rebel batteries on the Potomac now in possession of our troops. A sketch from 1862 by [[Harper's Weekly]] showing the aftermath of the engagement at Cockpit Point.''
|partof=the [[American Civil War]]
|date= {{Start date|1862|1|3}}
|place=[[Prince William County, Virginia]]
|result=Inconclusive
|combatant1= {{flag|United States|1861}}
|combatant2= {{flagcountry|CSA|1861}}
|commander1={{Flagicon|United States Navy|1861}} [[Robert H. Wyman]]
|commander2= {{Flagicon|CSA|army}} [[Samuel G. French]]
|strength1=2 [[gunboat]]s
|strength2=50 men <br/> 4 batteries 
|casualties1=
|casualties2=
}}
{{Campaignbox Blockade of the Potomac River}}
[[File:Cockpit_Point_Battlefield_Virginia.jpg|305px|thumb|right|Map of Cockpit Point Battlefield core and study areas by the [[American Battlefield Protection Program]].]]

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, Virginia|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, D.C.|Washington]].[[File:"Attack on the U. S. Steam Sloop-of-War Seminole, from the (illegible) Shipping Point, Potomac River, October 15.".jpg|thumb|Attack on the U. S. Steam Sloop-of-War [[USS Seminole (1859)|''Seminole'']], from the field batteries, Evansport, Shipping Point, Potomac River, 15 October]]

In October 1861, the Confederates constructed batteries at Evansport (now downtown [[Quantico, Virginia|Quantico]], consisted of two batteries on the river bank, and another {{convert|400|yd|m|abbr=on}} inland), a CSA field battery located at the mouth of [[Chopawamsic Creek]] where it empties to the [[Potomac River|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 {{convert|75|ft|m|abbr=on}} 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 {{USS|Jacob Bell|1842|6}} (commanded by [[Lieutenant]] Edward P. McCrea) and {{USS|Seminole|1859|2}}, commanded by Lieutenant Charles S. Norton. On January 1, 1862, Cockpit Point was shelled by {{USS|Anacostia|1856|2}} (Lieutenant Oscar C. Badger commanding) and {{USS|Yankee|1861|2}} (Lieutenant Eastman commanding), with neither side gaining an advantage, though ''Yankee'' was slightly damaged.

[[Union (American Civil War)|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, Virginia|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==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060526100724/http://www.cr.nps.gov/hps/ABPP/battles/va100.htm National Park Service battle description]
*[http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1861/november/merrimac-story.htm ''Harper's Weekly'' of November 2, 1861] hosted on the ''Son of the South'' website.
*[http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1862/march/rebel-batteries-cockpit-point.htm ''Harper's Weekly'' of March 22, 1862] hosted on the ''Son of the South'' website.
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20061129194634/http://www.geocities.com/naforts/va.html Virginia Forts] information from American Forts Network, compiled by Pete Payette.
*[http://www.historycentral.com/NAVY/cwnavalhistory/March1862.html Naval History of the Civil War March 1862]
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=wV7QOSrhH6MC&q=samuel+g+french&pg=PA140 ''Two Wars, an Autobiography of General Samuel G. French'']
*[http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=4820 Freestone Point Earthworks] Civil War Trails Historical Marker

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20161006212654/http://www.pwcgov.org/government/dept/publicworks/hp/pages/cockpit-point-battlefield-heritage-park.aspx Cockpit Point Battlefield Heritage Park] at [[Prince William County, Virginia]]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Cockpit Point, Battle of}}
[[Category:1862 in Virginia]]
[[Category:Battles of the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War|Cockpit Point]]
[[Category:Inconclusive battles of the American Civil War|Cockpit Point]]
[[Category:Naval battles of the American Civil War|Cockpit Point]]
[[Category:Battles of the American Civil War in Virginia|Cockpit Point]]
[[Category:Prince William County, Virginia, in the American Civil War]]
[[Category:Battles and conflicts without fatalities]]
[[Category:1862 in the American Civil War]]
[[Category:Riverine warfare]]
[[Category:January 1862]]