Joint Operations In The North Carolina Sounds During The Civil War by LCDR James J. May USN

Author:LCDR James J. May USN [USN, LCDR James J. May]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, United States, Civil War Period (1850-1877), Military, Modern, 19th Century
ISBN: 9781786253798
Google: q8BvCwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing
Published: 2015-11-06T05:07:31+00:00

CHAPTER 4—JOINT OPERATIONS SURROUNDING THE FALL AND RECAPTURE OF PLYMOUTH IN 1864

In January of 1864, Commander Henry K. Davenport had ten gunboats assigned to his command in the Sounds of North Carolina. The four assigned to New Bern, Underwriter, Commodore Hull, and Lockwood, were in port, while Davenport’s flagship, the Hetzel, cruised the sounds near Ocracoke Inlet. The USS Miami, flagship of Lieutenant Commander Charles Flusser, was stationed in Plymouth with the three other gunboats under his command, the Southfield, Whitehead, and Seymour. Commander Richard T. Renshaw, Commanding Officer of the USS Louisiana, was responsible for the defense of Washington, North Carolina and the Granite was underway in the vicinity of Hatteras Inlet. Major General Benjamin Butler, Commanding General, Department of Virginia and North Carolina was located in Hampton Roads, Virginia, and provided overall leadership to the Army forces. However, the daily operations of the sounds were directed by Major General John J. Peck, Commanding General, Army and District of North Carolina. General Peck was located in New Bern with Brigadier General Innis N. Palmer, the Commanding General of the Army’s five infantry brigades in New Bern. Meanwhile, Brigadier General Henry W. Wessells commanded the three infantry brigades of the sub-district of the Albemarle located in Plymouth, North Carolina.

The Union Army’s mission in northeast North Carolina in 1864 was to continue expansion of Union control to the west, and to disrupt the Confederate use of the railroad lines of communications between Weldon, Goldsboro, and Wilmington. General Peck’s vision was to gain control of both Goldsboro and Weldon, thereby restricting the Confederate movement by rail in eastern North Carolina. The Army’s second mission was coupled with the Navy’s; to provide the common defense of the Union bases of operation in New Bern, Washington, and Plymouth. By January the Confederate forces had closed in on each of these bases and had established encampments in Kinston on the Neuse River and Halifax on the Roanoke River. The Navy’s primary aim in January was to determine the status of and cause the destruction of the ironclad gunboat being built on the Roanoke River.

Throughout the month of January, the disposition of the ironclad vessel under construction in Halifax, North Carolina, remained a mystery. General Wessells discerned incorrectly from two travellers, that 25,000 pounds of iron plating was shipped to Halifax and that the ram neared completion. In fact, the 14 carload shipment did not arrive until March 7th and then the ram was towed from Edward’s Ferry to Halifax for the installation of the iron plating.{99}

Meanwhile, Confederate troops were closing on Plymouth, Washington, and New Bern. Reports reached Wessells that rebel soldiers were fortifying the area surrounding Windsor, less than 20 miles northwest of Plymouth. After obtaining this information, Flusser planned a joint expedition of 350 soldiers and 40 sailors that departed Plymouth on January 29th. Since Windsor is located on a shallow creek off the Roanoke River, the expedition had to march 16 miles over land to assault the town. By the time the

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