The Probert Encyclopaedia of Warfare

BATTLE OF BIG BETHEL

The Battle of Big Bethel was an unsuccessful attempt directed by General Butler and attempted by General Pierce with four regiments to dislodge outposts of Magruder's Confederate troop encampment at Yorktown, Virginia on June 10th 1861 during the American Civil War. The Federal regiments, under Townsend and Bendix, en route for the Big Bethel camp, mistook each other for the enemy and fired, creating a great confusion. Pierce arrived and pushed on to the Confederate earthwork on Back River, destroying the camp at Little Bethel. The Federal troops crossed Bavk River and charged the earthwork, but were repulsed with considerable losses, including Major Theodore Winthrop who was killed.
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