CHAPTER V.

NEWBERN AND FORT MACON.

THE

THE second part of General Burnside's instructions contemplated the occupation of Newbern. As soon as affairs were sufficiently settled at Roanoke Island, and the necessary preparations had been made, it was the commanding general's intention to proceed at once to the main land. Not a long time was required for either labor. In the course of a week or two, the forts on Roanoke Island were put in proper order and condition for defence, and the 51st Pennsylvania and 5th Rhode Island regiments were detailed for a temporary garrison. These regiments were relieved, early in March, by the 9th New York and 6th New Hampshire, and Colonel Hawkins was appointed Post Commandant. Expeditions were sent out during the month of February, to reconnoitre the neighboring country. One or two regiments were sent over to Elizabeth City, and remained there for a short time. Winton, on the Chowan river, was examined on the 18th, and Old Currituck Inlet on the 19th. At these places, some public property and artillery were found and destroyed or captured. But these excursions were simply designed to distract the attention of the enemy, and to afford occupation to the troops while preparations were making to strike the heaviest blow of all. General Burnside was also engaged in administering the oath of allegiance to the inhabitants of the island and others who desired to renew their political relations with the United States. On the 18th, the commanding general, jointly with Flag Officer Goldsborough, issued a proclamation to the people of North Carolina, disabusing their minds of the false impressions which

the rebel government had sought to make respecting the objects of the war, and inviting them to return to their allegiance.* But the loyal sentiment of the people was not particularly strong, and the well-meant measures of reconciliation had but little effect. General Burnside was also occupied, during the month of February, in disposing of the prisoners that had fallen into his hands. He could not spare the transports which would be required to carry them North. He could not leave a large body of his troops on the island to guard them. He remembered the prisoners that had fallen into the hands of the enemy at the battle of Bull Run, and as he recalled the story of their sufferings, he resolved that he would leave no pretext to the enemy for a deferral of an exchange. Good policy and humanity alike dictated liberal terms to the vanquished. He determined, therefore, to parole his prisoners and release them. Lieutenant Colonel Osborne, of the 24th Massachusetts, was sent to Elizabeth City to confer with the enemy's officers near that point upon the subject. The result of the consultation was that the prisoners in our hands should be released, upon signing a parole not to take up arms against the United States, nor to give any information respecting our forces until regularly exchanged. In the meantime, the enemy was to make arrangements in good faith to exchange the prisoners in his hands, according to rank, or with certain equivalents, according to the rules of war. The prisoners were conveyed to Elizabeth City on the 20th, and there released. Lieutenant Colonel Osborne performed his duty with great acceptance, and General Burnside had the satisfaction of feeling that proper measures had been inaugurated for releasing from the enemy's hands our unfortunate men. His action was approved by the Secretary of War.

On the 26th of February, the troops-with the exception of the garrison at Roanoke-were ordered to be in readiness to embark. But it was not till the 6th of March that they commenced going on board the transports, and it was not till the * See Appendix.

The last regiment to

9th that all were in readiness to move. embark was the 4th Rhode Island, of General Parke's brigade. At ten o'clock on the evening of the 11th, the fleet anchored off the mouth of Hatteras Inlet, in Pamlico Sound, and on the morning of the 12th, the commanding general issued a general order, notifying his troops that they were on the eve of an important movement, which would greatly demoralize the enemy, and assist the Army of the Potomac in its contemplated operations against Richmond. It was a bright, warm, and beautiful day, and the expedition had every promise of success.

At this time, events were taking place in Hampton Roads which demanded the presence at that point of the Flag Officer of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron. The enemy's iron clad ship, called by the rebels the "Virginia "—fitted from the United States ship Merrimac, abandoned by us at the time of the evacuation of the Norfolk Navy Yard-ran out of the harbor of Norfolk, and approached our naval station near the Fortress. Several wooden tenders or consorts accompanied the iron clad. The particulars of the remarkable and disastrous naval battle that ensued are well known, and need not be repeated here. The powerlessness of our wooden ships to contend with the foe; the sinking of the Cumberland, her crew fighting her guns till the very last, and going down with the vessel with the flag still flying; the burning of the Congress; the disabling of the Minnesota by running aground; the timely arrival of the Monitor and the effectual punishing which she gave the audacious enemy, are familiar facts. The fear which such an almost invulnerable and invincible monster was liable to produce; the mischief which she might do, if she should succeed in getting out to sea, in dominating Chesapeake Bay and even the entire coast, and laying Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York and other northern cities under contribution, and the necessity of guarding against such a contingency, all required extraordinary vigilance. As it was, the enemy's ship came near neutralizing General McClellan's plan for a movement upon the Peninsula. One can readily imagine

what destruction she might cause among a fleet of transports. The duty of providing for the preservation of our fleet and our army must be committed to no inferior. Flag Officer Goldsborough accordingly left the waters of North Carolina, and did not appear in that quarter again during the war. He had cordially coöperated with General Burnside while the two officers were together, and had rendered most efficient service to the country. His administration of naval affairs had been judicious, and he had acted the part of a gallant and patriotic sailor. He had been especially fortunate in his subordinates, chief among whom Commander Rowan and Lieutenant Flusser had already given promise of the distinction which they afterwards acquired. Commander Rowan was left in command of the coöperative fleet.

Before proceeding to Newbern, General Burnside had made himself somewhat acquainted with the enemy's force and means of defence. His scouts had visited the town and the fortifications, and had brought back full reports. It was known that the enemy had batteries planted along the west bank of the Neuse, and that extensive fortifications were built upon or near the railroad connecting Beaufort with Newbern, a mile or two south of the Trent river, and extending west from the Neuse a distance of three miles. On the river bank, a large fort was constructed, mounting thirteen guns, and completely commanding the river channel on the one side and the line of works on the other. From this fort, the works extended to the centre, defended by a moat in front, and terminating in a bastion. Beyond was the railroad, which was itself fortified, and beyond that was a sytem of redoubts, thirteen in number and a mile in length, erected upon six little mounds or hills which rose conveniently to the main work, furnishing admirable sites for defensive works.* Along this fortified line were mounted forty-six guns of different calibres, some of which were field

These last named works, however, were not known to the scouts or to our officers. They were doubtless hastily thrown up in the interval between the report of the scouting party and the day of battle.

artillery. Three miles below these works was a shore battery, Fort Ellis, mounting eight guns, and two miles below this was Fort Dixie, garrisoned by light artillery. From these two works extended lines of defences running across the road and into the country in the rear. About three miles in the rear of the main line ran the river Trent, spanned by a railroad and a turnpike bridge, of seven hundred feet or more in length, which connected the adjacent country with the city of Newbern. General Burnside's scouts had at one time attempted to burn these bridges, but with indifferent success. Against the formidable works of the enemy, garrisoned by eight thousand men, under the command of General L. O'B. Branch, General Burnside was to lead his infantry regiments, supported only by eight small naval howitzers for artillery, and by the gunboats in the river.

On the morning of March 12th, the fleet of transports, escorted by a fleet of fourteen gunboats under the command of Commander S. C. Rowan,* got under way from Hatteras and sailed across the placid waters of Pamlico Sound, heading for the mouth of the Neuse river. The Sound was as smooth as a mirror. Scarcely a ripple stole over its bosom. The light winds that were blowing from the North could barely flutter the ensigns and pennants. The sun was shining, and the command was hopeful of victory. At noon, the sky began to be clouded, and when the fleet, after pushing up the Neuse, anchored at nightfall off the mouth of Slocum's Creek, about fifteen miles below Newbern, the heavens were dark with portents of rain and storm. The signs were not deceptive, and the next morning opened cheerless and rainy enough to dispirit men of ordinary courage. But at eight o'clock, the clouds broke, the sun shone out once more, and the troops in high spirits prepared to

* The naval vessels in this expedition were the Philadelphia, Stars and Stripes, Louisiana, Hetzel, Delaware, Commodore Perry, Valley City, Underwriter, Commodore Barney, Hunchback, Southfield, Morse, Brinker, and Lockwood. They were commanded by the same officers as when in the movement against Roanoke Island, with the exception of the Underwriter, which was now under the command of Lieutenant A. Hopkins.