THE BEGINNING BATTLES
Burnside
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In the beginning of the Civil War, North Carolina had little involvement. North Carolina was affected when Lincoln ordered a blockade of the ports along the southern states coast. The Union came to Hatteras Inlet in August 28 of 1861 and successfully blocked it, causing them to gain a much needed victory on the Union side. The Union wanted more control of North Carolina’s east coast so they created the Burnside Expedition lasting from late January to April 1862. Ambrose E. Burnside was a Union general from Rhode Island, who led significant Union victories in North Carolina and East Tennessee. The Union captured Roanoke Island on February 8th, which gave them more control of North Carolina’s coast. Once the US Navy was in command of the state’s east coast, their next goal was to capture North Carolina’s small forces, the Mosquito Fleet. Following the capture of Roanoke Island, was the Battle of Elizabeth City which took place on the Pasquotank River, and led to another Union victory ultimately defeating the Mosquito Fleet. Burnside’s next expedition was to conquer North Carolina’s capital New Bern. Confederate forces were protecting the town but on March 12th, 1862 Union forces were ready to attack. After a quick battle, the Confederates retreated and the Union had now captured New Bern. Next while traveling down south of the state’s east coast, the Union captures Havelock, Carolina City, Morehead City and Beaufort. Next on the list for the Union was the capture of Fort Macon, on April 25, the Union fired on the fort from sea and land, and quickly defeated the Confederates causing them to surrender the fort. By now it’s late April 1862, and the Union controlled the whole east coast of North Carolina. Newbern became a headquarters for the Union Army, and along with Roanoke became freedman’s colonies where slaves came to remain under the protection on the Union. After the Burnside Expedition and capture of Fort Macon, there was little activity in North Carolina, while Union troops were focusing on South Carolina, Virginia, and the Mississippi River (Brown, 2011).
IDOL PERIOD
CSS Albemarle http://www.gowildnc.org/images/CivilWar/CSS-Abbemarle.jpg
During this idol period there were a few small attempts by both the Union and the Confederacy. Foster’s Raid was one where Union general John D. Foster led forces to burn the bridge over Neuse River at Goldsboro to create a deploy for Burnsides attack in Virginia. Before returning to New Burn, Foster also captured Kinston and Whitehall when he crossed paths with Confederate forces. Potter’s Raid in July 1863 also consisted of burning bridges in attempt to interfere with Confederate supply trade. Confederates quickly rebuilt all bridges that Potter and Foster destroyed. While burning the bridges Union forces attempted to destroy the CSS Neuse, which the Confederates were hard at work to build. They were unsuccessful at destroying it. At this point the North Carolina Confederates were ready to attempt the capture of New Bern from the Union. Late January 1864 Confederate general George E. Pickett split his men into three groups with the goal of each group attacking New Bern from a different angle. Unfortunately due to poor leadership the attack was unsuccessful. The next attempt from the Confederates by general Hoke was the capture of Plymouth. The CSS Albemarle attacked two Union boats, one sinking and one blowing up. Hoke was ready to try again with New Bern with the assistance of the CSS Albemarle and CSS Neuse. The boats were no help as Albemarle quickly got damaged causing it to turn around and Neuse running aground on a sandbar right off their port. Beginning on May 4, Hoke’s attack had the ability to be successful, but he was called to Virginia for assistance causing hm to withdraw. After Hoke and Pickett’s attempts on New Bern there were no more attempts to recapture the capital. On October 27, 1864 the CSS Albemarle was sunk, allowing the Union to recapture Plymouth, ultimately giving Union full control again (Brown, 2011).
CONTROL OF THE COAST
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By December of 1864, Union general William T. Sherman became interested in capturing Fort Fisher and Wilmington, because Wilmington was an important supply port for the Confederacy. The Union Navy was to attack Fort Fisher on water, and the Union Army was to attack on land. The Navy was unsuccessful thereby leaving the Army unable to attack, especially since rumor was Hoke and men were in Wilmington waiting for the attack. Since the first led to failure, the Union decided to try a second battle against Fort Fisher under the command of general Alfred H. Terry on January 13 1865. This plan was similar, the Navy was going to attack by water, but would also have forces coming up the beach, while the army also covered the land, also having troops protect them from any attack. On the Confederate side was General Charles J. Paine and his US Colored Troops, who were Africa-American soldiers. The union ultimately got inside the Fort and took over, but little did they know General Hoke was nearby waiting for the command to attack the Union soldiers, but Hoke was told to retreat as it was too late. The loss of Wilmington was a bad loss for the Confederate as it was a primary source port. Opposite the Cape Fear River of Fort Fisher was Fort Anderson which also fell into Union control (Brown, 2011).
CAPTURING AND DESTRUCTION
General William T. Sherman marched into North Carolina after conquering Columbia, South Carolina, and he sent Jacob Cox and 13,000 soldiers to New Bern to try and capture Goldsboro. On their way they were confronted by confederate forces in Wyse Fork, which is east of Kinston. Hoke led that battle why the Confederate stayed strong, but retreated to head to Goldsboro to join the other Confederates and General Joseph E. Johnson. Meanwhile, Sherman split his troops in half sending half to be encountered by General William J. Hardee and confederates, which was only a slight delay for the Union who met back with the rest on time. Johnston was stationed near Bentonville to meet the Union. The Battle of Bentonville lasted March 19-2, and is the largest battle fought in North Carolina. The confederate’s were able to break the Unions line but as soon as the other half of Sherman’s troops arrived Johnson’s army fell to the Union. Sherman then made his way to his destination of Goldsboro to get supplies. General George H. Stoneman marched through Tennessee, western North Carolina, and southwestern Virginia with the goal of destroying railroads lasting from March 28 until April 26, 1865. During this Stoneman destroyed stores, towns, bridges, and buildings, while also capturing Salem, Winston, and Salisbury, while meeting little resistance from Confederate troops. On April 26, 1865, the Civil War in North Carolina had ended (Brown, 2011).