The Confederates set up several shore batteries to block Union military and commercial vessels from moving in the Chesapeake Bay and along the lower Potomac River as well as for defensive purposes.

The Union forces sought to destroy or remove these batteries as part of the effort to blockade Confederate States coastal and Chesapeake Bay ports.

The Union vessels were unable to dislodge the Confederates from their positions or to inflict serious casualties on their garrisons or serious damage to their batteries.

The Confederates ultimately abandoned the batteries on March 9, 1862 as they moved forces to meet the threat created by the Union Army's Peninsula Campaign.

[8][14] Confederate Captain Lynch reported that the Thomas Freeborn fired 14 shots and only wounded one man in the hand.

[13] On June 1, the Thomas Freeborn, Anacostia, Resolute, and the sloop-of-war USS Pawnee bombarded the batteries for almost five hours, firing over 500 rounds.

[8][18] Lynch added that his works sustained some damage, houses in the rear were "knocked about" and the railroad was torn up in three or four places.

[18][note 3] Nonetheless, during the fight both the Thomas Freeborn and the Pawnee took minor damage from the batteries and required repairs.

[16][18] On June 27, 1861, Commander James Harmon Ward became the first United States Navy officer killed during the American Civil War.

[16] The Confederates abandoned the batteries in early March 1862 when General Joseph E. Johnston recalled their garrisons in preparation to defend Richmond at the start of the Peninsula Campaign.