der Capt. Avery and
by the Hornet's Nest Rifles. A little later in the action the Edgecombe Guards, Captain Bridgers, gallantly took a redoubt
that had, on the accidental disabling of a gun, been abandoned by the Confederates. In front of this redoubt the Federals
had found shelter behind and in a house. Colonel Hill called for volunteers from the Edgecombe Guards to burn this house.
Sergt. George H. Williams, Thomas Fallon, John H. Thorpe, H. L. Wyatt and R. H. Bradley promptly offered their services and
made a brave rush for the house. On the way a shot from the enemy's rear guard struck Wyatt down. The determined spirit of
this heroic young soldier led to a premature death, but by dying he won the undying fame of being the first Confederate killed
An attempt to turn the Confederate left having failed, a force headed by
General Butler's aide, the gifted young Connecticut novelist, Maj. Theodore Winthrop, made an attempt on the left, but the
Carolinians posted there killed Winthrop at the first fire, and his followers soon rejoined Pierce and the whole force retreated
toward Fortress Monroe. Just at the close of action, Lieutenant Greble, who had served his guns untiringly against the Confederates,
was killed. The gun that he was firing was abandoned, says General Carr, and his body left beside it, but subsequently recovered
by a company that volunteered for that purpose.
Swinton in his "Army of the Potomac" says that while Colonel Warren yet
remained on the ground the Confederates abandoned the position. This is far from correct. General Magruder in his report says
that Confederate cavalry pursued the Federals for five miles. Colonel Carr, who commanded the Federal rear guard, says: "The
pursuit of the Confederates was easily checked." These two reports establish the fact that there was a pursuit and not abandonment.
Colonel Magruder further says, "It was not thought prudent to leave Yorktown exposed any longer. I therefore occupied the
ground with cavalry; and marched the remainder of my force to Yorktown. So evidently the position was not abandoned while
"Warren was yet on the ground." The Confederate loss in this precursor of many bloody fields was 1 killed and 11 wounded;
the Federal loss was 18 killed and 53 wounded.
In the South this little victory over a vastly superior force awakened a
wild enthusiasm, for it was thought to indicate the future and final success of the cause for which its people were battling.
|Virginia Civil War Battle of Big Bethel
|Alfred R. Waud, artist, June 10, 1861.
(Right) Civil War era sketch of the Battle of Big Bethel, Virginia,
by Alfred Waud, 1861. Alfred Rudolph Waud (October 2, 1828 – April 6, 1891), born in London, England, was
an American artist and illustrator who is best known for his sketches of American Civil War battles (1861 – 1865). Waud, having
immigrated to the US in 1850, would become a staff illustrator for New York Illustrated News in 1860 before
working for Harper's Weekly in late 1861. Whilst he illustrated the First Battle of Bull Run and numerous other
battles, Waud would become only one of two artists who sketched during the Battle of Gettysburg. His depiction of Pickett's
Charge remains one of his most notable sketches. Although Waud would illustrate for the duration of the four year war, the
artist correspondent would gain much of his notoriety during the latter half of life, when for 30 years he would
visit the battlefields of the late conflict. In 1891, Waud would die in Marietta, Georgia while touring battlefields
of the South. LOC.
*D. H. Hill, Jr., son of Confederate Lieutenant General Daniel Harvey Hill,
Sr., was the author of Confederate Military History Of North Carolina: North Carolina
In The Civil War, 1861-1865 -- which is a welcome addition to the North Carolina Civil War buff. North
Carolina native Daniel Harvey Hill, Sr. -- commonly referred to as D. H. Hill -- was one of only two lieutenant
generals from the Tar Heel State. (Lieutenant general was the second highest rank in the Confederate Army.) Hill was
also brother-in-law to the renowned "Sto