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Battle of Roanoke Island, NC
in the American Civil War
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Union Battle Summary |
| Roanoke Island, NC, Feb. 8, 1862. Part of Gen.
Burnside's Army and Goldsborough's Fleet. Roanoke island is bounded by
the four sounds, Albemarle on the north, Roanoke on the east, Pamlico
on the south and Croatan on the west, the last named separating it
from the mainland. In the early part of 1862 it was held by the
Confederates, who had erected three forts on the western side of the
island to guard Croatan sound. Near the north end, at Weir's point,
was Fort Huger, mounting 12 guns; about 2 miles below on Pork point
was Fort Bartow mounting 9 guns; some 1,200 yards south of Fort Huger
was Fort Blanchard with 4 guns. All the guns were 32-pounders, except
one 68-pounder at Fort Bartow and 2 of the same caliber at Huger. At
Ballast point, on the east side of the island was a 2-gun battery,
known as Fort Ellis, to prevent the landing of troops in the vicinity
of Shallowbag bay, and near the center of the island was a 3-gun
battery, stationed across the road, facing southward and flanked by
earthworks for a quarter of a mile on each side. At Redstone point, on
the mainland opposite Fort Huger, was another fortification called
Fort Forrest, which mounted seven 24-pounders. A post report, made ten
days before the attack, stated that the defense of the island was
forty 32-pounders, 7 rifled guns, and five days' ammunition. According
to Confederate reports the effective force on the island numbered
1,434 men of the 8th, 17th and 31st NC and 46th and 59th Va., under
command of Col. H.M. Shaw. Brig.-Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside, commanding
the Department of North Carolina, selected for the expedition against
the island his 1st, 2nd and 3rd brigades, respectively commanded by
Brig.-Gens. John G. Foster, Jesse L. Reno and John G. Parke. This
force, with the 1st N.Y. marine artillery and Co. B, 99th N.Y., was
embarked on transports at Hatteras inlet on the morning of the 5th and
started for the island. The transports were accompanied by the
gunboats Picket, Huzzar, Pioneer, Vidette, Ranger, Lancer and
Chasseur, and were preceded by the fleet under Flag-Officer L.M.
Goldsborough, consisting of the gunboats Stars and Stripes, Louisiana,
Hetzel, Underwriter, Delaware, Commodore Perry, Valley City, Commodore
Barney, Hunchback, Southfield, Morse, Whitehead, Lockwood, Brincker,
Seymour, Ceres, Putnam, Shawsheen and Granite. At the south end of
Croatan sound is a group of small islands known as the Marshes. This
point was reached on the forenoon of the 6th, but owing to a heavy fog
the attempt to pass through the narrow channel was postponed until the
next morning. At 9 a.m. on the 7th the fleet got under way and passed
through the channel, closely followed by the transports and army
gunboats. An hour and a half later the foremost of the vessels came
within sight of 8 Confederate gunboats drawn up in line behind a
double row of piles and sunken vessels stretching across the main
channel of the sound on a line running from Fort Forrest toward Fort
Bartow, and by 11 o'clock the leading gunboats, the Confederate fleet
and the guns of Fort Bartow were engaged in a spirited bombardment.
This continued until after 4 p.m., when 5 of the enemy's vessels,
apparently seriously injured, withdrew behind Fort Huger, where the
troops on board of them were landed. About 5 o'clock the Confederate
batteries and boats again opened fire, but in a short time the gun
boats were forced to retire, one of them, the Forrest, in a disabled
condition, taking refuge under the guns at Redstone point. At the
beginning of the action the transports anchored some 3 miles in the
rear of the fleet and preparations were made for landing. Ashby's
landing, the place which had been selected, was found to be in
possession of a detachment of the enemy, and Gen. Foster, who had
charge of this part of the operations, directed his course toward the
Hammond house. Here some of his men were put ashore and moved against
the enemy at Ashby's. At the same time the Delaware drew up and sent a
few 11-inch shrapnel into the Confederates at that point, causing them
to withdraw in some haste. By 10 p.m. the greater portion of the
12,000 land forces were on the island, bivouacked about a mile and a
half from the 3-gun battery, which was to be the first point of
attack. Early on the morning of the 8th the troops moved forward in
three columns - Foster in the center, with the 23rd, 25th and 27th
Mass and 10th Conn.; Reno on the left, with the 51st N.Y., 9th N.J.
and 51st Pa., and Parke on the right with the 4th and 5th R.I. and 9th
N.Y. In front of the battery the road was a narrow causeway through an
almost impassable swamp, the trees having been cut down for a distance
of 700 yards to give a clear sweep to the guns. Foster's advance, the
25th Mass., drove in the enemy's pickets and followed them on the run
to the edge of the clearing. Foster then deployed his brigade in line
of battle and brought up 6 light Dahlgren howitzers to reply to the
guns of the battery. As soon as these dispositions were made the
brigade advanced directly upon the enemy's works. Simultaneously Reno
worked his way through the swamp and the mass of fallen trees on the
left until he reached a point where he could take the enemy in flank,
Parke executing a similar movement on the right of the road. Here the
obstacles were so great as to cause serious delay, and seeing that the
enemy was beginning to waver under Reno's attack, the order was given
for the 9th N.Y. to turn to the left and charge directly up the road.
"Fix bayonets and charge!" rang out the voice of Col. Rush C. Hawkins
as soon as he received the order, and with a yell the regiment rushed
up the road directly in the face of the enemy's fire. But the
Confederates did not wait for the charge. Before the New Yorkers could
reach the intrenchments they abandoned everything and fled in
confusion toward the north end of the island. Just at this juncture
the 24th Mass. arrived fresh on the field and took up the pursuit. The
4th R.I. and 10th Conn. were sent to attack Fort Bartow on the rear,
but it was found evacuated, the garrison having joined in the retreat.
Fort Huger was also abandoned and the entire Confederate force was
concentrated in two camps near the north end of the island, where,
after a slight resistance, it surrendered. Burnside reported the
number of prisoners at 159 officers and over 2,500 men. In addition to
these Shaw reported a loss of 23 killed, 58 wounded and 62 missing.
During the action reinforcements came to the enemy, arriving just in
time to become prisoners of war. The Union loss in the land forces was
37 killed, 214 wounded and 12 missing; in the navy, 6 killed, 17
wounded and 2 missing. Winter quarters for 4,000 men, 42 pieces of
artillery, a large amount of ammunition for the same, 3,000 stands of
small arms, and a large quantity of lumber, utensils, etc., fell into
Federal hands. But the greatest advantage gained by the capture of
Roanoke island was its strategic importance as a coaling station and a
base from which to operate against the rest of the coast.
Source: The Union Army, Volume 6, Cyclopedia of Battles,
1908 |
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