Water tour tells story of ‘Blockade of the Potomac,’ showcases river sights

The Potomac River was brown, and unusually rough Saturday as a group of history lovers ventured out on the water.

“All of the sustained winds we’re getting out here makes it choppy, but we’re into fall now, and conditions change out here with the weather,” said Capt. Mark Perry, who ferried sightseers about on his Miss Rivershore boat.

All wanted a look several artillery batteries dating back to the Blockade of the Potomac River, which took place from Sept. 25, 1861, to March 8, 1862. Historians have called it one of the most significant events in the early years of the Civil War in Virginia.

“The Federals deemed the river unsafe to civilian ships, so they ordered it closed,” said David Born, tour guide with the Prince William Historic Preservation Foundation. This caused a coffee shortage in Washington, D.C, and residents couldn’t get the latest European fashions, so outraged D.C. residents write letters to newspapers and elected officials to complain.”

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Freestone Point (today known as Leesylvania State Park), Evansport (Quantico Town), Shipping Point (Hospital Point at Quantico), and Cockpit Point — 114 acres of land recently acquired by Prince William County in August to be preserved, all served as batteries during the war. The batteries proximity to Maryland made the area a danger zone, as Whitworth Rifles were used to fire as much as five miles across the river in Maryland.

Cockpit Point was the site of a 16-acre artillery battery. The county’s historic preservation department plans to place trails and signage on about 90 acres of the site to mark one of the most preserved batteries on the Potomac River.

Today, railroad tracks run up the middle of Cockpit Point, and crossing the tracks by foot to access the property is illegal. Signs and trails will be placed on 90 acres of land between the railroad tracks and the Potomac River. 

Boaters are able to enter the property from the river shore. 

“Maybe the county will put a dock on the property,” said Perry.

If a dock is built, it could cost upward of $70,000. Perry said he would operate boart tours that could launch from Occoquan and Leesylvania State Park to Cockpit Point. The tours would last about three hours, and would cost $15 per person.

“There is a lot to do to get the site ready for access so it will probably be a while before we can roll out a draft plan,” said Brendon Hanifin, with the Prince William County Historic Preservation Department.

Hanifin and his team plan to begin working with SunCal, developers of Potomac Shores, on a pedestrian bridge as a means of accessing Cockpit Point on foot. 

The Miss Rivershore launched from Leesylvania State Park and then headed north to see Freestone Point, at the most northern tip of the park. The boat came about and headed south along the river shore toward Hospital Point at the confluence of Quantico Creek at the Potomac River. Passengers saw Possum Point (site of a large power plant), Possum Nose, and Cockpit Point — which is nothing more than a small beach seen from the boat.

Miss Rivershore floated underneath a low rail bridge and into the Quantico Creek, where below lay the remains of sunken confederate ships the Martha Washington and George Page sit on the river bottom buried under silt. Boats played a large role in the blockade, as a boat was used on this stretch of the Potomac to launch an air balloon during the blockage for aerial reconnaissance. 

It is the first known use of an aircraft in a U.S. war, and the first known instance of aerial reconnaissance in the U.S., said Born 

Saturday’s boat tour was the final of three tours held on the river this year by the Prince William County Historic Preservation Department. Attendees paid $45 per person to go on the river cruise and were provided lunch from Blue Arbor Cafe in Occoquan.

Four similar trips are planned in the spring and four more in the fall of next year. Hanifin plans to release an approved schedule after November. 

A NuStar ethanol energy facility sits just west of Cockpit Point. Trains deliver the ethanol to the facility, and the ethanol is then trucked out.

“At this point I am not sure how much, if any impact the plant will have on access and interpretation,” added Hanifin.