Battle of Wilson's Wharf

Battle of Wilson's Wharf
	Part of the American Civil War
Date	May 24, 1864
Location	Charles City, Virginia37°18′24″N 76°59′48″W / 37.3067°N 76.9967°W
Result	Union victory
Belligerents
United States (Union)	CSA (Confederacy)
Commanders and leaders
Edward A. Wild	Fitzhugh Lee
Strength
1,100; 2 guns ; USS Dawn	2,500
Casualties and losses
6 killed; 40 wounded	200 killed and wounded

The Battle of Wilson's Wharf (also called the Battle of Fort Pocahontas) was a battle in Union Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's Overland Campaign against Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia.^[3]

On May 24, Confederate Maj. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee's cavalry division (about 2,500 men) attacked the Union supply depot at Wilson's Wharf, on the James River in eastern Charles City, Virginia. They were repulsed by two African American regiments (about 1,100 men) of the United States Colored Troops (USCT) under the command of Brig. Gen. Edward A. Wild, who were in the process of constructing a fortification there, which was subsequently named Fort Pocahontas. The battle was the first combat encounter of Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia with African-American troops.

^ ^a ^b Rhea, pp. 363-64; Salmon, p. 326; Kennedy, p. 290.
^ ^a ^b Rhea, p. 366. Despite these numbers, Rhea reported that a "handful" of blacks were captured. Kennedy, p. 290, cites 26 Union casualties, 140 Confederate. Salmon, p. 328, states "Lee acknowledged 10 killed, 48 wounded, and 4 missing, but the Federals reported the Confederate casualties as approaching 180. On the Union side, Wild reported 7 killed and 40 wounded." Robertson, p. 231, cites 23 Union casualties and 39 Confederate (20 killed and 19 prisoners).
^ It can be argued that this engagement is more appropriately classified as part of the Bermuda Hundred Campaign. It appears as such in Salmon, pp. 325-28, and Robertson, p. 231. The National Park Service campaign classification and Gordon Rhea (Rhea, pp. 362-67) place it within the Overland Campaign.