| America's Civil War Source |
A resource for those interested in the study of America's Civil War
| Thursday June 27, 1861 |
First Naval Officer Dies
Unsure as to whether there was a battery or not, due to the heavy
underbrush and trees, Mathias Point, Potomac River was shelled
prior to a planned landing of sailors to clear the area and erect a
Union battery. Sailors worked at defoliation, and sandbag
defenses under occasional fire from the Fortieth Virginia Infantry.
During this engagement, Commander James H. Ward becomes
the first naval officer killed in the Civil War. Ward was attempting
to cover the withdrawal of the force, when he was mortally
wounded by gunfire from a Confederate sniper. Ward received a
musket ball to the stomach, while attempting to direct the fire of
his forward guns aboard the Freeborn. He died shortly thereafter.
Unsure as to whether there was a battery or not, due to the heavy
underbrush and trees, Mathias Point, Potomac River was shelled
prior to a planned landing of sailors to clear the area and erect a
Union battery. Sailors worked at defoliation, and sandbag
defenses under occasional fire from the Fortieth Virginia Infantry.
During this engagement, Commander James H. Ward becomes
the first naval officer killed in the Civil War. Ward was attempting
to cover the withdrawal of the force, when he was mortally
wounded by gunfire from a Confederate sniper. Ward received a
musket ball to the stomach, while attempting to direct the fire of
his forward guns aboard the Freeborn. He died shortly thereafter.