If I remember correctly that was one of the reason Longstreet was in Southeast Virginia in the first place.
Longstreet was originally sent to counter a reported advance on Petersburg from Suffolk with two divisions of 20,000 men. When the attack did not materialize, Longstreet began foraging operations for supplying the AoNV since the area was not heavily affected by the war. He also began thinking about attacking Suffolk.
To counter such an attack
Samuel Phillips Lee sent 6 gunboats to the James River. These gunboats engaged in a series of artillery duels with Longstreet's troops; at one point a gunboat landed troops with boat howitzers to capture five field guns and 130 prisoners, much to Longstreet's embarrasment.
Source: James M. McPherson,
War on the Waters, page 197.