The Battle of Cockpit Point, the Battle of Freestone Point, or the Battle of Shipping Point, took place on January 3, 1862, in Prince William County, Virginia, as part of the blockade of the Potomac River during the American Civil War.
After victory at First Battle of Bull Run, the Confederate States Army (CSA) established a defensive line from Centreville along the Occoquan River to the Potomac River. The Confederates used the Potomac's banks as gun positions to halt Union traffic on the river, protecting Manassas Junction to the west and Fredericksburg to the south and to close the Potomac River to shipping and isolate Washington.
In October 1861, the Confederates constructed batteries at Evansport (now downtown Quantico), which consisted of two batteries on the river bank, and another 400 yd (370 m) inland, a CSA field battery located at the mouth of Chopawamsic Creek where it empties to the Potomac (now the Marine Corps Air Facility), Shipping Point (now Hospital Point on Quantico), number of guns unknown, Freestone Point, a CSA four-gun battery on the shore of the Potomac River, (now within Leesylvania State Park), and Cockpit Point (near the current asphalt plant), which cons
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