Battle of Gloucester Point (1861) Battle of Gloucester Point (1861) The Battle of Gloucester Point, Virginia was an inconclusive exchange of cannon fire between a shore battery on the York River which was manned by Virginia (soon to be Confederate) forces and the Union gunboat USS "Yankee". The action occurred on May 7, 1861, three weeks after the start of the American Civil War (Civil War) at Fort Sumter in the harbor at Charleston, South Carolina on April 14, 1861. The Gloucester Point engagement is notable as the earliest exchange of gunfire between the Union Navy and organized Rebel (Confederate) forces after the U.S. Army
Fort Jay players and regimental musicians. The army located its General Recruiting Service for infantry troops at Fort Columbus in November 1852, and many regiments in the army detailed officers to Fort Columbus on recruiting details. Twice, in December 1860 and April 1861, the Army "secretly" dispatched troops and provisions from Fort Columbus to relieve the besieged garrison at Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina. Outgoing President James Buchanan initiated the first effort, but a battery garrisoned by cadets from The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina fired on the Army-chartered New York-based steamship "Star of the West" on January 9,