The Battle of Big Bethel was one of the earliest land battles of the American Civil War. It took place on the Virginia Peninsula, near Newport News, on June 10, 1861. The Virginia State government had refused President Abraham Lincoln’s appeal for troops to put down the rebellion of the southern states, and its decision to secede from the Union was ratified by popular vote on May 23, 1861. Confederate Colonel (later Major General) John B. Magruder was sent down the peninsula to deter any advance on the state capital Richmond by Union troops based at the well-defended post of Fort Monroe. This garrison was commanded by Major General Benjamin Butler, a former Massachusetts lawyer and politician, who established a new camp at nearby Hampton and another at Newport News. Magruder had also estab