[2][3] In 1863 Lieutenant General James Longstreet was placed in command of the Confederate Department of Virginia and North Carolina.

Peck commanded the Suffolk garrison, which was part of Major General John Dix's Department of Virginia.

Rear Admiral Samuel P. Lee lent two flotillas from the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron for naval support.

Longstreet's forces moved against Suffolk on April 11, crossed the Nansemond River, captured several pickets and routed a cavalry regiment.

Pickett's Confederate division probed Foster's and Dodge's fronts driving in the Union picket lines.

On April 14 Lamson's sailors spotted fresh dirt on the river bluffs, tell tale signs of the battery's construction.

Union gunboats attempted to run the batteries at the Norfleet House slightly upstream, but the USS Mount Washington became grounded and was crippled in the attack.

Lamson's sailors launched a night attack early on April 17 against Hill's Point but were driven off by Confederate pickets.

Confederate forces in Hill's Point included 5 guns manned by 59 artillerists under Captain Robert M. Stribling; Capt.

At 5:00 p.m. Getty assembled 270 veteran troops and loaded them onto Lamson's Stepping Stones, covered in canvas to conceal the infantry.

Detachments of the Union Army's 8th Connecticut and 89th New York Infantry Regiments landed on Hill's Point at the confluence of the forks of the Nansemond River.

The Union infantry stood fully exposed on the decks with 30 feet of unknown-depth water separating them from the bank.

Meanwhile, Lamson, remaining calm, maneuvered the boat closer to shore where the rest of the infantry helped unload the howitzers.

Lamson hauled the howitzers into the battery and Cushing occasionally lobbed shells into the surrounding woods to discourage Confederate troops from forming there.

Late into the night Colonel John K. Connally brought forward inexperienced North Carolina troops.

Getty returned an accurate fire while Major General Evander M. Law arrived and ordered Connally to withdraw.

Major General Samuel G. French, Longstreet's third divisional commander, arrived and decided against any further attack against Getty figuring it would be foolish of the Union troops to remain in their isolated position across the river in enemy territory.

On April 24, Corcoran's Union division mounted a reconnaissance-in-force from Fort Dix against Pickett's extreme right flank.

While Longstreet had conceded to besieging the Union garrison instead of a quicker frontal assault, it did allow his troops to conduct a highly successful foraging campaign in the Blackwater region.

On April 29, Lee directed Longstreet to disengage from Suffolk and rejoin the Army of Northern Virginia at Fredericksburg.

None of Longstreet's forces had returned to Lee by this point but the Confederate foraging wagons began to move back to the North.

It was clear at this point that Lee and Hooker were engaged in a major battle, but Longstreet informed Richmond that he would not withdraw until the wagons were safe.