The Battle of Big Bethel is one of the earliest land battles of the American Civil War.

It takes place on the Virginia Peninsula, near Newport News, on June 10, 1861.

Virginia's decision to secede from the Union had been ratified by popular vote on May 23, and Confederate Col. (later Maj. Gen.) John B. Magruder had beensent down the peninsula to deter any advance on the state capital Richmond by Union troops based at the well-defended post of Fort Monroe.

This garrison is commanded by Maj Gen. Benjamin Butler, a former Massachusetts lawyer and politician, who has established a new camp at nearby Hampton and another at Newport News. Magruder has also established two camps, within range of the Union lines, at Big Bethel and Little Bethel, as a lure to draw his opponent into a premature action.

Butler takes the bait, when he and an aide, Maj. Theodore Winthrop, devise a plan for a dawn attack on June 10, after a night march to drive the Confederates back from their bases.

Butler chooses not to lead the force in person, for which he is later criticized.

The plan proves too complex for his poorly-trained subordinates to carry out, especially at night, and his staff has also omitted to communicate the passwords.

They are trying to advance without knowledge of the layout or strength of the Confederate positions, when a friendly fire incident gives away their own.

The commander in the field, Massachusetts militia Gen. Ebenezer Peirce, receives most of the blame for the failed operation.

The Union forces suffer 76 casualties, with 18 killed, including Maj. Winthrop and Lt. John T. Greble, the first regular army officer killed in the war.

The Confederates suffer only eight casualties, with one killed.

Although Magruder subsequently withdraws to Yorktown and his defensive line along the Warwick River, he has won a propaganda victory and local Union forces will attempt no further significant advance until the Peninsula Campaign of 1862.

While small in comparison to many later battles, Big Bethel attracts exaggerated importance because of the general feeling that the war will be short.

The engagement is also known as the Battle of Bethel Church or Great Bethel.