Potomac Flotilla The Potomac Flotilla , or the Potomac Squadron was a unit of the United States Navy created in the early days of the American Civil War to secure Union communications in the Chesapeake Bay , the Potomac River and their tributaries , and to disrupt Confederate communications and shipping in the same . History . American Civil War . On April 22 , 1861 Commander James H . Ward , who was the commander of the receiving ship USS North Carolina at the New York Navy Yard , wrote to Secretary of the Navy Gideon Wells to put forth a plan for the protection of the Chesapeake Bay area . Ward suggested a “ Flying Flotilla ” of light draft vessels to operate in the Chesapeake and it ’ s tributaries . His commander Captain Samuel L . Breese , commandant of the New York Navy Yard , endorsed his plan . Wells accepted this proposal and wrote back to Wells and Breese on April 27 , 1861 authorizing them to begin carrying out Ward ’ s plan . On May 1 , 1861 the first vessels for the new flotilla were acquired . On May 16 , 1861 Ward set out from the New York Navy Yard with three vessels , the " Thomas Freeborn " , " Reliance " and " Resolute " . He arrived at the Washington Navy Yard on May 20 , 1861 onboard his flagship , the " Thomas Freeborn " . On June 27 , 1861 Ward ’ s flotilla engaged the Confederates at Mathias Point , Virginia . While he was sighting the bow gun of the " Thomas Freeborn " , Ward was shot through the abdomen and died within an hour due to internal hemorrhaging . He was the first United States Naval officer to be killed during the war . After the death of Ward the flotilla was led by a succession of short - term commanders until the fall of 1862 when Commodore Andrew A . Harwood took command . He was in turn succeeded by Commander Foxhall A . Parker on December 31 , 1864 . On July 18 , 1865 the Navy Department ordered Parker to disband the flotilla on July 31 , 1865 . Most of the flotilla ’ s remaining vessels were sent to the Washington Navy Yard to be decommissioned . Name of the Flotilla . It wasn ’ t until August 1861 that the flotilla became known as the Potomac Flotilla . The designation of Flying Flotilla was dropped when Ward ’ s force arrived in the theatre of operations . The flotilla was then referred to by a variety of names , including : Flotilla , Potomac River ; Potomac Blockade ; Flotilla in the Chesapeake ; etc . In early August 1861 the flotilla commander and the Navy Department began to consistently refer to the command as the Potomac Flotilla . Operations . 1861 < br > Engagement with the Confederate batteries at Aquia Creek , Virginia , 29 May - 1 Jun 1861 < br > Affair at Mathias Point , Virginia , 27 Jun 1861 < br > Engagement with the Confederate batteries at Potomac Creek , Virginia , 23 Aug 1861 < br > Engagement with the Confederate battery at Freestone Point , Virginia , 25 Sep 1861 1862 < br > Engagement at Cockpit Point , Virginia , 3 Jan 1862 < br > Expedition up the Rappahannock River to Tappahannock , Virginia , 13 - 15 Apr 1862 < br > Expedition up the Rappahannock River to Fredericksburg , Virginia , 20 Apr 1862 < br > Expeditions to Gwynn ’ s Island and Nomini Creek , Virginia , 3 - 4 Nov , 1862 < br > Engagement at Port Royal , Virginia , 4 Dec 1862 < br > Engagement at Brandywine Hill , Rappahannock River , Virginia , 10 - 11 Dec 1862 1863 < br > Destruction of salt works on Dividing Creek , Virginia , 12 Jan 1863 < br > Destruction of Confederate stores at Tappahannock , Virginia , 30 May 1863 < br > Capture of U . S . steamers Satellite and Reliance , 16 Aug 1863 1864 < br > Expedition to the Northern Neck of Virginia , 12 Jan 1864 < br > Expedition up the Rappahannock River , Virginia , 18 - 21 Apr 1864 < br > Expedition to Carter ’ s Creek , Virginia , 29 Apr 1864 < br > Expedition to Mill Creek , Virginia , 12 – 13 May 1864 < br > Expedition up the Rappahannock River , Virginia , 16 – 19 May 1864 < br > Expedition to the Northern Neck of Virginia , 11 - 21 Jun l864 < br > Expedition to Milford Haven and Stutt ’ s Creek , Virginia , 24 Sep 1864 1865 < br > Expedition to Fredericksburg , Virginia , 6 - 8 Mar 1865 < br > Expedition up the Rappahannock River , 12 - 14 Mar 1865 < br > Operations in Mattox Creek , Virginia , 16 - 18 Mar 1865 Ships of the Squadron . When Commander James H . Ward departed from New York Navy Yard on May 16 , 1861 his flotilla consisted of three vessels . The strength of the flotilla would be steadily increased until it reached a strength that hovered between fifteen and twenty - five vessels .