Zuni, a rail stop along the Norfolk & Petersburg Railroad, was established in 1736. Confederate forces were stationed here in 1861 to protect the railroad bridge and the road leading to Suffolk. In May 1862, they destroyed the bridge to prevent Union forces from crossing the Blackwater River. From September 1862 to March 1863 skirmishes between Confederate and Union troops took place here and throughout the area. About 5,000 Confederate soldiers were here in October 1862. After the war, the bridge was rebuilt, and service was reestablished to Zuni by 1868.

 During the Civil War, Confederate forces guarded this Blackwater River crossing as a part of the Blackwater defensive line. On 14 November 1862, Col. Charles C. Dodge, 1st Battalion New York Mounted Rifles, led his troops in a skirmish against elements of W. C. Claiborne's Confederate cavalry. The Federals drove the Confederates away from the bridge and captured their supplies, but left the bridge standing. The same forces fought another skirmish on 9 March 1863 that resulted in the same outcome. In addition, the Federals captured four Confederates.