1862 May 15th

May 15 1862 Thursday

Battle of Drewry’s Bluff, VA (CWSAC Major Battle – Confederate Victory

Peninsula Campaign
First Corinth Campaign
Jackson‘s Shenandoah Valley Campaign

Go to May 16 1862

Great Britain. CSS Alabama was launched at Liverpool for the purpose of acting as a commerce raider.

Arkansas. Union troops seized the ferry at Chalk Bluff.

Louisiana. Union Major-General Benjamin Franklin Butler issued the infamous General War Order No 28, which accused any woman who verbally insulted any Union soldier stationed in New Orleans to be “pandering her profession”.

Mississippi. USS Sea Foam, Acting Master Henry E Williams, and USS Matthew Vassar, Acting Master Hugh H Savage, captured the sloops Sarah and New Eagle off Ship Island with a cargo of cotton.

Missouri. Union reconnaissance to Little Blue River began.

Missouri. Skirmish near Independence with Confederate ambushers.

Missouri. Skirmish near Butler in Bates County.

North Carolina. Expedition to Trenton began.

North Carolina. Reconnaissance to Young’s Cross Roads began.

North Carolina. Skirmishes at Pollocksville, Young’s Cross Roads, and Trenton Bridge, involving Union Colonel Thomas Jonathan Coffin Amory (17th Massachusetts Infantry).

Tennessee. Union reconnaissance towards the Memphis & Charleston railroad.

Texas. Union naval demonstration at Galveston.

Virginia. Skirmish at Ravenswood.

Virginia. Skirmish at Wolf Creek involving Confederate Brigadier-General Humphrey Marshall. The Confederates were defeated and retreated to Jackson River Depot,

Virginia. Skirmish at Gaines Cross Roads, three miles from Richmond.

Virginia. Skirmish at Linden.

Virginia. Confederate General Joseph Eggleston Johnston’s army abandoned the middle and lower stretches of the Chickahominy River, taking an intermediate position nearer Richmond.

Virginia. Union Major-General George Brinton McClellan advanced his base of operations and main supply depot about fifteen miles from West Point to White House on the Pamunkey River. He now had access to a railroad to bring supplies forward from his port.

Drewry’s Bluff, Virginia, also known as Fort Darling. A detachment of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron under the command of Commander John Rodgers USN steamed up the James River from Fort Monroe to test the Richmond defences.
The main obstacle protecting Richmond from a river approach was Fort Darling on Drewry’s Bluff, overlooking a sharp bend on the river seven miles downriver from the city. The Confederate defenders included marines, sailors, and soldiers under the command of Commander Ebenezer Farrand CSN and by Captain Augustus H Drewry (the owner of the property that bore his name) of the Southside Heavy Artillery. The eight guns in the fort comprised field guns and five naval guns, some of them salvaged from the CSS Virginia and they commanded the river in both directions. Guns from CSS Patrick Henry, including an 8-inch smoothbore, were a short distance upriver. An underwater obstruction of sunken steamers, pilings, debris, and other vessels connected by chains was placed just below the bluff, making it difficult for vessels to manoeuvre in the narrow channel.
The Union flotilla consisted of the ironclad gunboats USS Monitor (commanded by Lieutenant William N Jeffers USN) and USS Galena (Rodgers’ flagship), the screw gunship USS Aroostook, the side-wheeler USS Port Royal, and the twin-screw ironclad USS Naugatuck.
At 7.45 am USS Galena encountered underwater obstructions across the river and was engaged by sharpshooters and Confederate batteries. The Confederate forces at Fort Darling were commanded by Brigadier-General William Mahone, Commander Sydney Smith Lee CSN, and Lieutenant John Taylor Wood CSN. The small Confederate fleet of wooden gunboats was under Commander John Randolph Tucker CSN but they had little hope of halting the Union ironclads.
The USS Galena closed to within 600 yards of the fort and anchored but before Rodgers could open fire, two Confederate rounds pierced the hastily and incompletely armoured vessel. The battle lasted over three hours and, during that time. USS Galena remained almost stationary, taking 28 hits (some reports say 45 hits), and suffered severe damage. Her crew reported casualties of 14 dead or mortally wounded and 10 wounded. The USS Monitor was also a frequent target but her heavier armour withstood the blows and the Confederates abandoned their efforts to damage the monitor. Unfortunately, the crew of USS Monitor could not elevate the turrets guns high enough to fire on the Confederate batteries, which stood 110 feet above the river. USS Naugatuck withdrew when her 100-pounder Parrott rifle exploded. The two wooden gunboats remained safely out of range of the big Confederate guns but the captain of USS Port Royal was wounded by a sharpshooter.
Around 11 am, the Union ships withdrew to City Point. Rodgers reported that it was feasible for the Navy to land troops within ten miles of Richmond but that opportunity was not adopted. The Confederate fort on Drewry’s Bluff had blunted the Union naval advance short of the Confederate capital, for a loss of seven Confederates killed and eight wounded. Total Union casualties were reported as 41. (CWSAC Major Battle – Confederate Victory)

ORDER OF BATTLE: DREWRY’S BLUFF, VA

Union Department of the Potomac: Major-General George Brinton McClellan
North Atlantic Blockading Squadron: Commodore John Rodgers USN
USS Monitor, USS Galena, USS Aroostook, USS Port Royal, USS Naugatuck.

Confederate Department of Northern Virginia: General Joseph Eggleston Johnston
Garrison, Fort Darling: Brigadier-General William Mahone
James River Flotilla: Flag Officer John Randolph Tucker CSN

Union Organisation

USA: Colonel George Washington Bowie (5th California Infantry) assumed command of the District of Southern California, succeeding Brigadier-General James Henry Carleton.

USA: James Birdseye McPherson promoted Brigadier-General USV 15 May 1862.

Commander in Chief: President Abraham Lincoln
Vice-President: Hannibal Hamlin
Secretary of War: Edwin McMasters Stanton
Secretary of the Navy: Gideon Welles

North Atlantic Blockading Squadron: Louis Malesherbes Goldsborough
South Atlantic Blockading Squadron: Samuel Francis Du Pont
West Gulf Blockading Squadron: David Glasgow Farragut
East Gulf Blockading Squadron: William McKean
Pacific Squadron: Charles H Bell
Western Gunboat Flotilla: Charles Henry Davis
Potomac Flotilla: Robert Harris Wyman

Chairman of the War Board: Ethan Allen Hitchcock

Department of the Mississippi: Henry Wager Halleck

  • District of West Tennessee: Ulysses Simpson Grant
    • Army of West Tennessee: Ulysses Simpson Grant
  • District of the Mississippi: Isaac Ferdinand Quinby
    • Army of the Mississippi: John Pope
  • District of the Ohio: Don Carlos Buell
    • Army of the Ohio: Don Carlos Buell
  • District of Cairo: William Kerley Strong
    • Sub-District of Columbus: Isaac Ferdinand Quinby

Department of the Missouri: Henry Wager Halleck

  • District of St Louis: Lewis Merrill
  • District of Central Missouri: James Totten
  • District of Southwest Missouri: Samuel Ryan Curtis
    • Army of the Southwest: Samuel Ryan Curtis
  • District of Northeast Missouri: John Montgomery Glover
  • District of Northwest Missouri: Benjamin Franklin Loan

Department of the Gulf: Benjamin Franklin Butler

  • Army of the Gulf: Benjamin Franklin Butler

Department of Kansas: James Gilpatrick Blunt

Middle Department: John Adams Dix

  • District of the Eastern Shore of Maryland: Henry Hayes Lockwood

Mountain Department: John Charles Frémont

  • Cheat Mountain District: Thomas Maley Harris
  • Railroad District: Benjamin Franklin Kelley
  • District of the Kanawha: Jacob Dolson Cox
  • District of the Gap: Samuel Powhatan Carter
  • District of the Valley of the Big Sandy River: James Abram Garfield

Department of New Mexico: Edward Richard Sprigg Canby

  • Central and Northern District of New Mexico: Benjamin Stone Roberts

Department of New York: Edward Denison Morgan

Department of North Carolina: Ambrose Everett Burnside

Department of the Pacific: George Wright

  • District of the Humboldt: Francis James Lippitt
  • District of Oregon: Justis Steinburger
  • District of Southern California: George Washington Bowie

Department of the Potomac: George Brinton McClellan

  • Army of the Potomac: George Brinton McClellan
    • II Corps Potomac: Edwin Vose Sumner
    • III Corps Potomac: Samuel Peter Heintzelman
    • IV Corps Potomac: Erasmus Darwin Keyes

Department of the Rappahannock: Irvin McDowell

  • Military District of Washington: James Samuel Wadsworth

Department of the Shenandoah: Nathaniel Prentiss Banks

Department of the South: David Hunter

  • Northern District of the South: Henry Washington Benham
  • Southern District of the South: John Milton Brannan
  • Western District of the South: Lewis Golding Arnold

Department of Texas: Vacant

Department of Virginia: John Ellis Wool

Confederate Organisation

CSA: James Green Martin promoted Brigadier-General PACS 2 June 1862 to rank from 15 May 1862.

Commander in Chief: President Jefferson Finis Davis
Vice-President: Alexander Hamilton Stephens
Secretary of War: George Wythe Randolph
Secretary of the Navy: Stephen Russell Mallory

Military Adviser to the President: Robert Edward Lee

Department No 1: Mansfield Lovell

Department of Alabama and West Florida: John Horace Forney temporary

  • Army of Mobile: William L Powell

Department of Middle and Eastern Florida: Joseph Finegan

Department of East Tennessee: Edmund Kirby Smith

  • Army of East Tennessee: Edmund Kirby Smith

Department of Henrico: John Henry Winder

Department of the Indian Territory: Douglas Hancock Cooper

Department of North Carolina: Theophilus Hunter Holmes

  • District of Cape Fear: Samuel Gibbs French
  • District of Pamlico: Robert Ransom temporary
  • District of Roanoke Island: Henry Marchmore Shaw

Department of Northern Virginia: Joseph Eggleston Johnston

  • District of Aquia: Gustavus Woodson Smith
  • Army of Northern Virginia: Joseph Eggleston Johnston
    • Right Wing Northern Virginia: James Longstreet
    • Left Wing Northern Virginia: Gustavus Woodson Smith
    • Reserve Northern Virginia: John Bankhead Magruder
  • Valley District: Thomas Jonathan Jackson
    • Army of the Valley: Thomas Jonathan Jackson

Department of South Carolina and Georgia: John Clifford Pemberton

  • District of Georgia: Alexander Robert Lawton
  • District of South Carolina: Roswell Sabine Ripley
    • 1st Sub-District of South Carolina: Arthur Middleton Manigault.
    • 2nd Sub-District of South Carolina: Roswell Sabine Ripley
    • 3rd Sub-District of South Carolina: Nathan George Evans
    • 4th Sub-District of South Carolina: William Stephen Walker
    • 6th Sub-District of South Carolina: Thomas Fenwick Drayton

Department of Southwestern Virginia: William Wing Loring

  • District of Abingdon: Humphrey Marshall

Department of Texas: Paul Octave Hébert

  • Eastern District of Texas: Paul Octave Hébert
  • Western District of Texas: Henry Eustace McCullough
  • Sub-District of Houston: John C Bowen
  • Sub-District of Galveston: Ebenezer B Nichols
  • Sub-District of the Rio Grande: Hamilton Prioleau Bee
  • Defences of Pass Cavallo: John W Glenn

Western Department: Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard

  • Trans-Mississippi District: Earl Van Dorn
    • Forces in Arkansas: John Selden Roane
  • District of North Alabama: Daniel Ruggles
  • Army of Mississippi: Braxton Bragg
    • I Corps Mississippi: Leonidas Polk
    • II Corps Mississippi: Thomas Carmichael Hindman
    • III Corps Mississippi: William Joseph Hardee
    • Reserve Corps Mississippi: John Cabell Breckinridge
  • Army of the West: Earl Van Dorn

District of Arizona: Henry Hopkins Sibley

  • Army of New Mexico: Henry Hopkins Sibley

Forces in Richmond: Charles Dimmock

Union Generals

Note: Italics, awaiting confirmation of the commission

Major-General USA

George Brinton McClellan
John Charles Frémont
Henry Wager Halleck

Major-General USV

Asterisk indicates concurrently Brigadier-General USA

John Adams Dix
Nathaniel Prentiss Banks
Benjamin Franklin Butler
David Hunter
Edwin Denison Morgan
Ethan Allen Hitchcock
Ulysses Simpson Grant
Irvin McDowell*
Ambrose Everett Burnside
William Starke Rosecrans*
Don Carlos Buell
John Pope
Samuel Ryan Curtis
Franz Sigel
John Alexander McClernand
Charles Ferguson Smith
Lewis Wallace
Ormsby McKnight Mitchel
Cassius Marcellus Clay
George Henry Thomas
George Cadwalader
William Tecumseh Sherman
Edward Otho Cresap Ord
Edwin Vose Sumner*
Samuel Peter Heintzelman
Erasmus Darwin Keyes
Joseph Hooker

Brigadier-General USA

Brackets indicates concurrently Major-General USV

John Ellis Wool
William Selby Harney
(Edwin Vose Sumner)
Joseph King Fenno Mansfield
(Irvin McDowell)
Robert Anderson
(William Starke Rosecrans)
Philip St George Cooke

Brigadier-General USV

Andrew Porter
Fitz-John Porter
William Buel Franklin
Charles Pomeroy Stone
Thomas West Sherman
George Archibald McCall
William Reading Montgomery
Philip Kearny
John Wolcott Phelps
Charles Smith Hamilton
Darius Nash Couch
Rufus King
Jacob Dolson Cox
Stephen Augustus Hurlbut
Robert Cumming Schenck
Benjamin Mayberry Prentiss
Benjamin Franklin Kelley
Alpheus Starkey Williams
Israel Bush Richardson
James Cooper
James Brewerton Ricketts
Orlando Bolivar Willcox
Michael Corcoran
Henry Hayes Lockwood
Louis Blenker
Henry Warner Slocum
James Samuel Wadsworth
John James Peck
George Webb Morell
John Henry Martindale
Samuel Davis Sturgis
George Stoneman
Henry Washington Benham
William Farrar Smith
James William Denver
Egbert Ludovicus Vielé
James Shields
John Fulton Reynolds
William Farquhar Barry
John Joseph Abercrombie
John Sedgwick
Silas Casey
Lawrence Pike Graham
George Gordon Meade
Abram Duryée
Alexander McDowell McCook
Oliver Otis Howard
Eleazar Arthur Paine
Charles Davis Jameson
Ebenezer Dumont
Robert Huston Milroy
Willis Arnold Gorman
Daniel Butterfield
Horatio Gouverneur Wright
William Nelson
William Thomas Ward
John Gross Barnard
Innis Newton Palmer
Seth Williams
John Newton
Winfield Scott Hancock
Thomas Leonidas Crittenden
George Wright
Isaac Ingalls Stevens
Thomas Williams
George Sykes
William Henry French
William Thomas Harbaugh Brooks
John Milton Brannan
William Wallace Burns
John Porter Hatch
David Sloane Stanley
William Kerley Strong
Albin Francisco Schoepf
Lovell Harrison Rousseau
James Scott Negley
Thomas John Wood
Richard W Johnson
Adolph Wilhelm August Friedrich Von Steinwehr
Joseph Bennett Plummer
John Gray Foster
George Washington Cullum
Jeremiah Tilford Boyle
Christopher Columbus Augur
Schuyler Hamilton
Jesse Lee Reno
George Washington Morgan
Julius Stahel
John McAllister Schofield
Thomas Jefferson McKean
John Grubb Parke
Zealous Bates Tower
Jefferson Columbus Davis
James Henry Lane
John McAuley Palmer
William High Keim
James Abram Garfield
Lewis Golding Arnold
Frederick Steele
William Scott Ketchum
Abner Doubleday
John Wynn Davidson
Napoleon Jackson Tecumseh Dana
David Bell Birney
Thomas Francis Meagher
Henry Morris Naglee
Andrew Johnson
James Gallant Spears
Eugene Asa Carr
Thomas Alfred Davies
Daniel Tyler
William Hemsley Emory
Andrew Jackson Smith
Marsena Rudolph Patrick
Isaac Ferdinand Quinby
Hiram Gregory Berry
Orris Sanford Ferry
Daniel Phineas Woodbury
Henry Moses Judah
Richard James Oglesby
John Cook
John McArthur
Robert Latimer McCook
Jacob Gartner Lauman
Horatio Phillips Van Cleve
John Alexander Logan
Speed Smith Fry
Alexander Asboth
James Craig
Mahlon Dickerson Manson
Gordon Granger
Edward Richard Sprigg Canby
Grenville Mellen Dodge
Robert Byington Mitchell
James Gilpatrick Blunt
Francis Engle Patterson
Quincy Adams Gillmore
Amiel Weeks Whipple
Cuvier Grover
George Lucas Hartsuff
Rufus Saxton
Benjamin Alvord
Napoleon Bonaparte Buford
William Sooy Smith
Nathan Kimball
Charles Devens
James Henry Van Alen
Carl Schurz
Samuel Wylie Crawford
Henry Walton Wessells
Milo Smith Hascall
Leonard Fulton Ross
John White Geary
Alfred Howe Terry
Andrew Atkinson Humphreys
James Henry Carleton
Absalom Baird
John Cleveland Robinson
Truman Seymour
George Dashiell Bayard
Henry Prince
Abram Sanders Piatt
Thomas Turpin Crittenden
Maximilian Weber
Pleasant Adam Hackleman
Jeremiah Cutler Sullivan
Alvin Peterson Hovey
James Clifford Veatch
William Plummer Benton
Henry Bohlen
John Curtis Caldwell
Isaac Peace Rodman
Neal S Dow
George Sears Greene
Samuel Powhatan Carter
John Gibbon
George William Taylor
Erastus Barnard Tyler
James Birdseye McPherson

Brigadier-General USA (Staff)

Montgomery Cunningham Meigs (Quartermaster-General)
Henry Knox Craig
Lorenzo Thomas (Adjutant-General)
James Wolfe Ripley (Ordnance)
William Alexander Hammond (Surgeon-General)

Confederate Generals

Note: Italics, awaiting confirmation of the commission

General ACSA/PACS

Samuel Cooper
Robert Edward Lee
Joseph Eggleston Johnston
Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard
Braxton Bragg

Major-General PACS

Leonidas Polk
Earl Van Dorn
Gustavus Woodson Smith
Theophilus Hunter Holmes
William Joseph Hardee
Benjamin Huger
James Longstreet
John Bankhead Magruder
Mansfield Lovell
Thomas Jonathan Jackson
Edmund Kirby Smith
George Bibb Crittenden
John Clifford Pemberton
Richard Stoddert Ewell
William Wing Loring
Sterling Price
Benjamin Franklin Cheatham
Samuel Jones
John Porter McCown
Daniel Harvey Hill
Jones  Mitchell Withers
Thomas Carmichael Hindman
John Cabell Breckinridge

Brigadier-General PACS

Alexander Robert Lawton
Charles Clark
John Buchanan Floyd
Henry Alexander Wise
David Rumph Jones
Henry Hopkins Sibley
John Henry Winder
Richard Caswell Gatlin
Daniel Smith Donelson
Richard Heron Anderson
Robert Augustus Toombs
Arnold Elzey
William Henry Chase Whiting
Jubal Anderson Early
Isaac Ridgeway Trimble
Daniel Ruggles
Roswell Sabine Ripley
Albert Pike
Paul Octave Hébert
Joseph Reid Anderson
Simon Bolivar Buckner
Albert Gallatin Blanchard
Gabriel James Rains
James Ewell Brown Stuart
Lafayette McLaws
Thomas Fenwick Drayton
Lloyd Tilghman
Nathan George Evans
Cadmus Marcellus Wilcox
Robert Emmett Rodes
Richard Taylor
James Heyward Trapier
Samuel Gibbs French
William Henry Carroll
Hugh Weedon Mercer
Humphrey Marshall
Richard Griffith
Alexander Peter Stewart
William Montgomery Gardner
Richard Brooke Garnett
William Mahone
Lawrence O’Bryan Branch
Edward Johnson
Maxcy Gregg
Raleigh Edward Colston
Henry Heth
Johnson Kelly Duncan
Sterling Alexander Martin Wood
John George Walker
John King Jackson
George Edward Pickett
Bushrod Rust Johnson
James Patton Anderson
Howell Cobb
George Wythe Randolph
Joseph Brevard Kershaw
James Ronald Chalmers
Joseph Lewis Hogg
Ambrose Powell Hill
James Johnston Pettigrew
Carter Littlepage Stevenson
Daniel Leadbetter
William Whann Mackall
Charles Sidney Winder
Robert Ransom
John Bell Hood
Daniel Marsh Frost
Winfield Scott Featherston
Thomas James Churchill
William Booth Taliaferro
Albert Rust
Patrick Ronayne Cleburne
Samuel Bell Maxey
Hamilton Prioleau Bee
James Morrison Hawes
George Hume Steuart
William Duncan Smith
James Edwin Slaughter
Charles William Field
John Horace Forney
Paul Jones Semmes
Lucius Marshall Walker
Seth Maxwell Barton
Dabney Herndon Maury
John Bordenave Villepigue
Henry Eustace McCullough
John Stevens Bowen
Benjamin Hardin Helm
John Selden Roane
States Rights Gist
William Nelson Pendleton
Lewis Addison Armistead
Joseph Finegan
Martin Luther Smith
Franklin Gardner
William Nelson Rector Beall
Thomas Jordan
William Preston
Roger Atkinson Pryor
Henry Little
John Echols
George Earl Maney
Jean Jacques Alfred Alexandre Mouton
John Stuart Williams
James Green Martin

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