In May 1861, Confederate forces commanded by Brig. Gen. Daniel Ruggles and Maj. Robert Mayo began constructing gun emplacements at Mathias Point, located 2.5 miles northwest on the Potomac River near the Virginia shore. This battery, along with others, interfered with Union shipment of troops and supplies to Washington, D.C. On 27 June 1861, the gunboat USS Thomas Freeborn, commanded by Comdr. James H. Ward, shelled the Confederate-held batteries. While sighting the bow gun, Ward was mortally wounded, becoming the first U.S. Navy officer killed in action in the Civil War.