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Battle of Mathias Point, Virginia Union forces attack Confederate batteries

The Battle of Mathias Point, Virginia (June 27, 1861) was an early naval action of the American Civil War in connection with the Union blockade and the corresponding effort by the Confederates to...

The Battle of Mathias Point, Virginia (June 27, 1861) was an early naval action of the American Civil War in connection with the Union blockade and the corresponding effort by the Confederates to deny use of the Potomac to the enemy.

Two Union gunboats tried to prevent the Confederates from installing a battery on the Potomac at Mathias Point in King George County, Virginia. A landing party prepared to install their own battery, but were beaten back before they could unload their guns from the USS Thomas Freeborn. Cannon fire from this vessel kept the Confederates temporarily at bay, and Commander James H. Ward ordered another landing. This was also repulsed, and Ward was killed, becoming the first Union Navy officer to be killed in the war.

Historical Significance

The Battle of Mathias Point, Virginia (June 27, 1861) was an early naval action of the American Civil War in connection with the Union blockade and the corresponding effort by the Confederates to deny use of the Potomac to the enemy.

Events Before

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  2. Willie Park Sr. marries Susanna Law in Inveresk, Scotland

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  3. Start of the Pony Express, mail is delivered by horse and rider relay teams between St. Joseph, Missouri and Sacramento,

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  4. First Pony Express rider reaches Sacramento, California

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  5. Champion of England Tom Sayers and American John Heenan fight a brutal 2-hour, 27-minute draw that ends only after polic

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Events After

  1. First Legal Tender Act of 1862 is passed by US Congress, authorizing the United States note (greenback) into circulation

    First Legal Tender Act of 1862 is passed by US Congress, authorizing the United States note (greenback) into circulation, the first fiat paper money that is legal tender in America

  2. First pasteurization test is completed by Frenchmen Louis Pasteur and Claude Bernard

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  3. Chemist Dmitri Mendeleev (28) weds Feozva Nikitichna Leshcheva at Nikolaev Engineering Institute's church in Saint Peter

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  4. First baseball enclosure opens at Union Grounds in Brooklyn

    Union Grounds was a baseball park located in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York. The grounds opened in 1862, its inaugural match being played on May 15.

  5. Belgian-French engineer Étienne Lenoir builds the first automobile with an internal-combustion engine

    Belgian-French engineer Étienne Lenoir builds the first automobile with an internal-combustion engine

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Frequently Asked Questions

What happened on June 24, 1861?
The Battle of Mathias Point, Virginia (June 27, 1861) was an early naval action of the American Civil War in connection with the Union blockade and the corresponding effort by the Confederates to deny use of the Potomac to the enemy. Two Union gunboats tried to prevent the Confederates from installing a battery on the Potomac at Mathias Point in King George County, Virginia. A landing party prepared to install their own battery, but were beaten back before they could unload their guns from the USS Thomas Freeborn.
Why is Battle of Mathias Point, Virginia Union forces attack Confederate batteries significant?
The Battle of Mathias Point, Virginia (June 27, 1861) was an early naval action of the American Civil War in connection with the Union blockade and the corresponding effort by the Confederates to deny use of the Potomac to the enemy.

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June 24 in HistoryYear 1861