 Picture Courtesy of John Musgrove
In June 1861, Union Maj. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler, in order to clear a route for the capture of Suffolk, sought to neutralize the Confederate battery at Pig Point three miles north on the James River at the mouth of the Nansemond River. At 9:00 A.M. on 5 June, the steamer USS Harriet Lane shelled the battery. The Portsmouth Rifles, manning the guns there, returned fire and struck the vessel twice. One shot hit a tub of musket balls; the flying balls wounded six men. No Confederates were injured in the engagement, which ended after twenty minutes when the Harriet Lane withdrew.
Department of Historic Resources 1998
US 13/US460 (westbound) at the Norfolk and Suffolk line. Marker is next to VA marker Z235. Chesapeake City Virginia
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