Swift Creek was a Civil War engagement fought in Virginia, 1864. The outcome was inconclusive.
On May 9, Maj. Gen. Benjamin Butler made a thrust toward Petersburg and was met by Bushrod Johnson's Division at Swift Creek. A premature Confederate attack at Arrowfield Church was driven back with heavy losses, but Union forces did not follow up. After skirmishing, Butler seemed content to tear up the railroad tracks and did not press the defenders. In conjunction with the advance to Swift Creek, five Federal gunboats steamed up the Appomattox River to bombard Fort Clifton, while Hincks's U.S. Colored Troops infantry division struggled through marshy ground from the land side. The gunboats were quickly driven off, and the infantry attack was abandoned.
On May 9, 1864, Union and Confederate troops clashed in an engagement known as the Battle of Swift Creek, sometimes called Arrowfield Church, part of the ongoing American Civil War. The outcome for the Union side was mixed: while they managed to damage the nearby railroad, their attempt to push forward met with a stop.
Maj. Gen. Benjamin Butler pushed toward Petersburg on May 9, running into Bushrod Johnson's Division at Swift Creek. The Confederates struck first at Arrowfield Church, but the assault came too soon and was thrown back with severe casualties. Rather than capitalize on this, Union troops held their position instead of pressing forward. Once the skirmishing died down, Butler turned his attention to destroying railroad track, apparently satisfied to leave the defenders alone rather than mount a stronger assault. At the same time as the movement toward Swift Creek, a squadron of five Federal gunboats made its way up the Appomattox River intending to shell Fort Clifton. On land, Edward W. Hincks led his division of U.S. Colored Troops infantry through difficult, swampy terrain toward the same objective. The naval effort collapsed almost immediately as the gunboats were forced to withdraw, and the ground assault was called off as well.
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