gunfire from the road back to Hampton behind them, Duryée's men of the 5th New York Infantry withdrew from their advanced position and headed south to the sound of the guns, as did the other Union troops from the Vermont and Massachusetts regiments under Lieutenant Colonel Washburn. Those troops were approaching Little Bethel in front of the site of the incident. The Union forces had lost the element of surprise for their attack and delayed the timing of it as well. Little Bethel The friendly fire incident alerted the Confederates at Little Bethel, as well as Magruder's main force, of the Union movement. Upon approach of the Union force and the sound of the gunfire from the New York regiments, the approximately 50 Confederates manning the outpost at Little Bethel Church abandoned that position and fell back to their entrenchments behind Marsh Creek (later Brick Kiln Creek), the branch of the Back River near Big Bethel Church. As it had turned out, only this small group was stationed at Little Bethel, not the large force that Butler expected to find there. Gordon, in discussing the mistakes of the Union commanders in this operation says: "But behind all this was the most serious mistake of all – a mistake in Butler's plan. The Confederates had no outpost of strength at Little Bethel, and the scheme to surround and capture it was an attack on a man of straw." He says that Butler could have struck the road to Yorktown north of Big Bethel and compelled Magruder to withdraw to Yorktown without firing a shot. The 5th New York Infantry (Duryee's Zouaves) had again been sent by Peirce as the leading regiment. Finding the Confederates were in flight from Little Bethel, the 5th New York Infantry burned the church at Little Bethel so the Confederates could not use it as an outpost and also set fire to the homes of several secessionists. The Union force then continued toward Big Bethel. Confederate advance, return to Big Bethel By chance, Magruder had started a large part of his force toward Hampton to launch a surprise attack of his own on the Union forces. After hearing the gunfire and being alerted by an elderly local lady that a Union force was only a few hundred yards down the road, Magruder hurried his men back to his fortifications at Big Bethel. The Confederates were now fully