Charles City County, VA
WILSON'S WHARF & HARRISON'S LANDING
WILSON'S WHARF
The Battle of Wilson's Wharf (also called the Battle of Fort Pocahontas) was a battle in Union Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's Overland Campaign against Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia.
On May 24, 1864, Confederate Maj. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee's cavalry division (about 2,500 men) attacked the Union supply depot at Wilson's Wharf, on the James River in eastern Charles City, Virginia. They were repulsed by two African American regiments (about 1,100 men) of the United States Colored Troops (USCT) under the command of Brig. Gen. Edward A. Wild, who were in the process of constructing a fortification there, which was subsequently named Fort Pocahontas. The battle was the first combat encounter of Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia with African-American troops.
Confederate Maj. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee
US Brig. Gen. Edward A. Wild
HARRISON'S LANDING
Harrison’s Landing is situated in Charles City County, VA and during the summer of 1862 served as a supply center for the Union Army after it withdrew from the Potomac River following the Battle of Malvern Hill. While stationed at Harrison’s Landing, General Daniel Butterfield created Taps, one of the most recognized and revered bugle calls in the nation. It was originally meant as a tranquil signal to extinguish the camp lights, but it developed into a solemn tribute to honor the sacrifice and service of the nation's fallen.
Lincoln reviews Union troops at Harrison's Landing in July 1862.
Colonels Albert V. Colburn, Delos B. Sackett and General John Sedgwick in Harrison's Landing, Virginia, during the Peninsula Campaign, 1862