On May 9, 1864, during Union Gen. Benjamin F. Butler's Bermuda Hundred Campaign, elements of Butler's Army of the James clashed along Swift Creek with part of Confederate Gen. Bushrod R. Johnson's command as the Federals tried to disrupt supply lines, especially the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad, to Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia north of Richmond. Johnson's force was dug in from Brander's Bridge almost to Fort Clifton on the Appomattox River, and the Federal demonstration met resistance here when Union troops encountered the 11th South Carolina Infantry of Gen. Johnson Hagood's command, posted forward of the main Confederate position. Union Gen. Charles A. Heckman's brigade formed its line here as the 21st South Carolina charged across the Swift Creek bridge and up the turnpike to support the 11th, but when the Confederates came within fifty yards, Heckman's men fired volleys that cut them down, and the survivors withdrew across the creek. Skirmishing and artillery fire continued through the night as the 8th Connecticut Infantry, partially armed with Sharps revolving rifles, repulsed a Confederate advance across the railroad bridge east of the turnpike, and the 63rd Tennessee Infantry turned back Union gunners who got a cannon down to the creek bank. In the morning, Butler ordered a withdrawal, and the Confederates had the railroad repaired by the next day.