On August 13, 1864, several units of the Army of the James moved into positions at the narrow neck of land known recently as Dutch Gap to secure a position for a military canal ordered by General Butler. Confederate artillery from land batteries and the big guns of the James River Squadron struck these units posted there. The grave holes here may be those of some of the first Union soldiers killed in action here during the Civil War, and their later exhumation suggests this was one of a few graveyards around Dutch Gap Canal, with most bodies removed to Federal cemeteries shortly after the war ended. Lieutenant Norman J. Crippen, Sergeant William Shinners, Private Joseph Corps, and Private Martin Kavern of the 169th New York Infantry, Private Thomas Costello of the 16th New York Heavy Artillery, and Artificer Terrance Dolan of the 1st New York Engineers were killed in action on August 13, 1864. A few months later, Lieutenant Crippen's father came from upstate New York to remove his son's remains.