A bloody Civil War clash between Union Navy ships and Confederates defending a promontory overlooking Virginia's James River was the only time in history when U.S. Marines tangled directly with former Marines.
President Abraham Lincoln was in a somber mood on 8 July 1862 when he visited Harrison's Landing on the James River in Virginia, where the USS Galena lay anchored.
Less than two months before, on 15 May, the Galena had been the lead vessel of a Union naval squadron ordered to steam up the James, disable Confederate batteries along the shoreline, and bombard Richmond into submission. But the fleet never got past Fort Darling, situated on Drewry's Bluff, some eight miles below the Rebel capital. Confederate artillerists and sharpshooters unleashed a barrage of shot, shell, and lead, compelling the Galena and her support vessels to withdraw.
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