Battle of Big Bethel

The Battle of Big Bethel was, for most of the participants, their first experience with warfare, and officers and enlisted men on both sides recorded details that in later fighting would hardly have merited mention. Union Gen. Ebenezer W. Pierce, who commanded the excursion, prefaced his report with notes from the planning meeting that reflected close control over the movement of pickets, the pace of the march, the hoped-for capture of men at Little Bethel and Big Bethel, and the destruction of both places. Confederate Maj. George W. Randolph of the Richmond Howitzers complained that serious defects in his fuses caused shells from the Parrott gun to burst far behind the enemy and act merely as solid shot. Union Capt. H. Judson Kilpatrick of the 5th New York Infantry recalled a grapeshot that tore part of Colonel Duryea's left shoulder, passed through his own leg, and killed a soldier behind him. Confederate Capt. William H. Werth of the Virginia Volunteers reported that in the dark a Federal wandered over to him and was taken prisoner, carrying a fine minie musket, accouterments, and forty-five rounds of cartridges.

Hampton, Virginia · United States