Battle of Wilson's Wharf

Part of the American Civil War

Date	May 24, 1864 (1864-05-24)
Location	Charles City, Virginia Coordinates: 37°18′24″N 76°59′48″W / 37.3067°N 76.9967°W / 37.3067; -76.9967
Result	Union victory

Belligerents

United States (Union)

CSA (Confederacy)

Commanders and leaders

Edward A. Wild

Fitzhugh Lee

Strength

1,100
2 guns
USS Dawn

2,500

Casualties and losses

6 killed
40 wounded

200 killed and wounded

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, 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.

Wild, a physician and ardent abolitionist, lost his left arm at the Battle of South Mountain in 1862. After recovering, he raised a unit of former slaves called Wild's African Brigade. During the winter of 1863–64, Wild led these soldiers in an expedition on the coast of North Carolina, terrifying a local white population accustomed to African slavery since the early 18th century.

...
Wikipedia