Battle of Sewell's Point

The Battle of Sewell's Point was an inconclusive exchange of cannon fire between the Union gunboat USS Monticello, supported by the USS Thomas Freeborn, and Confederate batteries on Sewell's Point that took place on May 18, 19 and 21, 1861, in Norfolk County, Virginia in the early days of the American Civil War. Little damage was done to either side. By the end of April 1861, USS Cumberland and a small number of supporting ships were enforcing the Union blockade of the southeastern Virginia ports at the southern end of the Chesapeake Bay and had captured several ships which attempted to pass the blockade. USS Monticello's bombardment of the Sewell's Point battery was one of the earliest Union Navy actions against Confederate forces during the Civil War. While it has been suggested by some sources that the Monticello's action may have been the first gunfire by the Union Navy during the Civil War, a brief exchange of cannon fire between the U.S. gunboat USS Yankee and shore batteries manned by Virginia volunteer forces which had not yet been incorporated into the Confederate States Army at Gloucester Point, Virginia on the York River occurred on May 7, 1861.

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1861  Wikidata
battle, United States, 

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Location: 36.9547, -76.3267, KML, Cluster Map, Maps,
15 places

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1861-05-18T00:00:00Z

1861-05-19T00:00:00Z

1861 Battle of Sewell's Point

1775-11-15T00:00:00Z

1775-11-15T00:00:00Z

1775 Battle of Kemp's Landing

1775-12-09T00:00:00Z

1775-12-09T00:00:00Z

1775 Battle of Great Bridge

1783-01-22T00:00:00Z

1783-01-22T00:00:00Z

1783 Action of 22 January 1783

1813-06-22T00:00:00Z

1813-06-22T00:00:00Z

1813 Battle of Craney Island

1861-06-05T00:00:00Z

1861-06-05T00:00:00Z

1861 Battle of Pig Point

1861-06-10T00:00:00Z

1861-06-10T00:00:00Z

1861 Battle of Big Bethel

1862-03-08T00:00:00Z

1862-03-09T00:00:00Z

1862 Battle of Hampton Roads

1864-01-31T00:00:00Z

1864-02-01T00:00:00Z

1864 Battle of Smithfield

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Frameless

Type	Subtype	Date	Description	Notes	Source
event	armed conflict		Skirmish at Cedar Lane	battle	Wikidata
event	armed conflict	1775	Battle of Kemp's Landing	United States, Kingdom of Great Britain, battle	Wikidata
event	armed conflict	1775	Battle of Great Bridge	United States, battle, Kingdom of Great Britain, Colony of Virginia, Province of North Carolina, William Woodford	Wikidata
event	armed conflict	1783	Action of 22 January 1783	France, naval battle, Kingdom of Great Britain	Wikidata
event	armed conflict	1813	Battle of Craney Island	United States, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, battle	Wikidata
event	armed conflict	1861	Battle of Sewell's Point	battle	Wikidata
event	armed conflict	1861	Battle of Pig Point	battle	Wikidata
event	armed conflict	1861	Battle of Big Bethel	battle	Wikidata
event	armed conflict	1862	Battle of Hampton Roads	battle	Wikidata
event	armed conflict	1864	Battle of Smithfield	battle	Wikidata
object	watercraft		CSS Virginia	casemate ironclad	Wikidata
object	watercraft		USS Congress	ship	Wikidata
object	watercraft		USS Cumberland	ship	Wikidata
object	watercraft		USS Theodore Roosevelt	supercarrier, Nimitz-class aircraft carrier	Wikidata
object	watercraft		USS Whitehall	steamship	Wikidata
object	watercraft		USS Wisconsin	fast battleship, Iowa-class battleship	Wikidata
object	watercraft	1916	Portsmouth	lightvessel, preserved watercraft	Wikidata
object	watercraft	1962	USS Enterprise	former entity, Enterprise-class aircraft carrier, supercarrier, aircraft carrier	Wikidata
object	watercraft	1998	USS Harry S. Truman	supercarrier, Nimitz-class aircraft carrier	Wikidata
organisation	factory	1767	Norfolk Naval Shipyard	shipyard, shipbuilding	Wikidata
organisation	factory	1886	Newport News Shipbuilding	shipyard, shipbuilding, shipbuilding company	Wikidata
organisation	shipbuilding	2011	Huntington Ingalls Industries	shipbuilding, business, public company, enterprise	Wikidata
site	fort	1775	Fort Norfolk	historic district, fort	Wikidata
site	fort	1834	Fort Monroe	National Park Service, fort, unincorporated community in the United States	Wikidata
site	museum		Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Museum	military museum, shipyard	Wikidata
site	museum	1994	Nauticus	military museum	Wikidata
site	shipwreck		USS Manta	sunken vessel, attack submarine, Balao-class submarine	Wikidata