Long-Term Consequences

Although Confederate Col. John B. Magruder and his forces won the Battle of Big Bethel, they could not stem the Federal tide for long. On June 15, 1861, within a week of the battle, a huge Sawyer rifled cannon mounted at Fort Calhoun (Fort Wool) on the Rip Raps, opened fire on the Confederate battery at Sewell's Point. Aeronaut John La Mountain began making ascensions in his hot air balloon Atlantic late in July, taking observations from as high as two thousand feet to improve the accuracy of the periodic shelling.
Magruder ordered Hampton evacuated and burned after he read a newspaper account of Gen. Benjamin F. Butler's intention to occupy and fortify the town and make it a haven for "runaway slaves." Soldiers and white residents burned it down on August 7. Butler did not fortify Hampton, but Magruder's fear was partially realized when Butler settled contrabands there in "Slabtown."
On March 8, 1862, a new era in naval warfare began in Hampton Roads with the first clash of ironclad ships, USS Monitor and CSS Virginia, formerly USS Merrimac. Eleven days later, on March 17, Union Gen. George B. McClellan and his vast Army of the Potomac embarked in Alexandria and began steaming to Hampton. McClellan then launched the Peninsula Campaign to capture Richmond. The effort proved futile but
initiated the great blood-letting that continued in eastern Virginia until 1865.
(captions)
Gen. George B. McClellan Courtesy Library of Congress
Sewell's Point Battery, Harper's Weekly, Nov. 2, 1861 — Library of Congress
Balloon reconnaissance of Confederate positions, Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, Aug. 31, 1861
Army of the Potomac landing at Hampton, March 1862 — Library of Congress
Ruins of Hampton — Courtesy Library of Congress

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Battle of Big Bethel
Battle of Big Bethel
Battle of Big Bethel
Battle of Big Bethel
Battle of Big Bethel Union Monument
Battle of Big Bethel
Battle of Big Bethel
Battle of Big Bethel
Battle of Big Bethel
Battle of Big Bethel

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