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Battle of New Bern Battle of New Berne North Carolina Coast Union Navy Blockade Capture
Fort Clark Hatteras Battery Hatteras Inlet Batteries Civil War Battle of Roanoke Island Fort Huger Fort Macon
Battle of New Bern
Other Names: New Berne
Location: Craven County, North Carolina
Campaign: Burnside's North Carolina Expedition (February-June 1862)
Date(s): March 14, 1862
Principal Commanders: Brig. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside [US]; Brig.
Gen. Lawrence O’B. Branch [CS]
Forces Engaged: Expeditionary Force and Foster’s, Reno’s,
and Parke’s Brigades [US]; 5 regiments, militia [CS]
Estimated Casualties: 1,080 total
| Civil War Battle of New Bern, North Carolina |
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| (New Berne, NC) |
Description:
On March 11, Brig. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside’s command embarked from Roanoke Island to rendezvous with Union gunboats at Hatteras Inlet for an expedition against New Bern. On March 13, the fleet sailed up the Neuse River and disembarked infantry
on the river’s south bank to approach the New Bern defenses. The Confederate defense was commanded by Brig. Gen. Lawrence
Branch. On March 14, John G. Foster’s, Jesse Reno’s, and John G. Parke’s brigades attacked along the railroad
and after four hours of fighting drove the Confederates out of their fortifications. The Federals captured nine forts and
41 heavy guns and occupied a base which they would hold to the end of the war, in spite
of several Confederate attempts to recover the town. The capture
of New
Bern reflected another accomplishment towards the fulfillment of General Winfield Scott's "Anaconda Plan." (See Battle of New Bern: Detailed and Battle of New Bern: A History: includes pictures, battle and battlefield history.)
Result(s): Union victory
The Fall of New Bern
Occupation of the City of New Bern by Union troops essentially cut off
rail and naval supply lines to the North, isolating the Confederate Army of Virginia.
Founded in 1710, New Bern is the
second-oldest city in the state, founded by German and Swiss adventurers. Prior to the American Revolution, Royal Gov. William
Tryon made this seaport his colonial capitol and commissioned the construction of Tryon
Palace in 1770.
| Forts protecting Wilmington Weldon Railroad |
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| New Bern, North Carolina: A Vital Civil War Port City |
By August 1861, the Union army had secured the Pamlico Sound inlets after defeating the Confederate forces and capturing Forts Clark and Hatteras. By winter 1862, Gen. A. E. Burnside and Commodore L. M. Goldsborough had seized the Confederate positions on Roanoke Island and New Berne (as it was originally spelled). Union control of the inner coastal position tightened the
blockade of the North Carolina coast, but the state didn't capitulate until April 26, 1865,
when Gen. Joseph Johnston surrendered the last major Confederate army to Gen. William T. Sherman near Durham, North Carolina.
The Battle of New Berne, as
it was known then, was fought on March 14, 1862, near the city of New Bern, as part of
Burnside's North Carolina Expedition. On March 11, Brigadier General Ambrose Burnside’s command launched from Roanoke
Island to rendezvous with Union gunboats at Hatteras Inlet for an attack on New Bern. The defending Confederate commander
was Brigadier General Lawrence Branch. On March 13, the fleet progressed the
Neuse River
and disembarked on the river's south bank only a few miles from the city's defenses. On March 14, three brigades under
John G. Foster, Jesse L. Reno and John G. Parke attacked along the railroad and drove the Confederates out of their fortifications.
The Federals captured nine forts and 41 heavy guns, and despite several Confederate attempts to retake the town, it remained
a Union occupied base until the end of the war. The ensuing occupation of the City of New
Bern essentially cut off rail and naval supply lines to the North, isolating the Confederate Army of
Virginia.
New Bern National Cemetery was officially established Feb. 1, 1867,
and many of the burials at New Bern are reinterments of remains from the surrounding area, including Beaufort, Hatteras and
locations along the coast. Over 1,000 unknowns are buried in a separate section. New Bern National Cemetery was listed on
the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.
"Passing the barricade, the gunboats are advancing the river to New Berne." March 14, 1862
Paintings National Archives Pictures
| Artist's Depiction of the Fleet at New Berne, NC |
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| Civil War Strikes New Bern, North Carolina |
Sources: National
Park Service; Fort Raleigh National Historic Site; Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies; U.S. Department
of Veterans Affairs; North Carolina Civil War
Tourism Council, Inc; New Bern Historical Society; North Carolina Museum
of History.
Recommended
Reading: The Civil War in the Carolinas (Hardcover). Description: Dan Morrill relates the
experience of two quite different states bound together in the defense of the Confederacy, using letters, diaries, memoirs,
and reports. He shows how the innovative operations of the Union army and navy
along the coast and in the bays and rivers of the Carolinas affected the general course of
the war as well as the daily lives of all Carolinians. He demonstrates the "total war" for North Carolina's vital coastal railroads and ports. In the latter
part of the war, he describes how Sherman's operation cut
out the heart of the last stronghold of the South. Continued below...
The author
offers fascinating sketches of major and minor personalities, including the new president and state governors, Generals Lee,
Beauregard, Pickett, Sherman, D.H. Hill, and Joseph E. Johnston. Rebels and abolitionists, pacifists and unionists, slaves
and freed men and women, all influential, all placed in their context with clear-eyed precision. If he were wielding a needle
instead of a pen, his tapestry would offer us a complete picture of a people at war. Midwest Book Review: The Civil War in the Carolinas by civil war expert and historian
Dan Morrill (History Department, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and Director of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historical
Society) is a dramatically presented and extensively researched survey and analysis of the impact the American Civil War had
upon the states of North Carolina and South Carolina, and the people who called these states their home. A meticulous, scholarly,
and thoroughly engaging examination of the details of history and the sweeping change that the war wrought for everyone, The
Civil War In The Carolinas is a welcome and informative addition to American Civil War Studies reference collections.
Recommended
Reading: The
Civil War on the Outer Banks: A History of the Late Rebellion Along the Coast of North Carolina from Carteret to Currituck
With Comments on Prewar Conditions and an Account of (Hardcover: 243 pages). Description: The ports at Beaufort, Wilmington, New Bern and Ocracoke, part of the Outer Banks (a chain of barrier islands that
sweeps down the North Carolina coast from the Virginia Capes to Oregon Inlet), were strategically vital for the import
of war materiel and the export of cash producing crops. From official records, contemporary newspaper accounts, personal journals
of the soldiers, and many unpublished manuscripts and memoirs, this is a full
accounting of the Civil War along the North Carolina coast.
Recommended
Reading: Ironclads and Columbiads:
The Coast (The Civil War in North Carolina)
(456 pages). Description: Ironclads
and Columbiads covers some of the most important battles and campaigns in the state. In January 1862, Union forces
began in earnest to occupy crucial points on the North Carolina
coast. Within six months, Union army and naval forces effectively controlled coastal North Carolina
from the Virginia line south to present-day Morehead
City. Union setbacks in Virginia, however, led to the withdrawal of many
federal soldiers from North Carolina, leaving only enough Union troops to hold a few coastal strongholds—the vital ports
and railroad junctions. The South during the Civil War, moreover, hotly contested the North’s ability to maintain its
grip on these key coastal strongholds.
Recommended
Reading: The
Civil War in Coastal North Carolina (175 pages) (North Carolina Division of Archives and History). Description: From the drama of blockade-running to graphic descriptions of battles on the state's islands and sounds,
this book portrays the explosive events that took place in North Carolina's coastal region during the Civil War.
Topics discussed include the strategic importance of coastal North Carolina,
Federal occupation of coastal areas, blockade-running, and the impact of war on civilians along the Tar Heel coast.
Recommended
Reading: Storm over Carolina: The Confederate Navy's Struggle for Eastern
North Carolina. Description: The struggle for control of the eastern waters of North Carolina
during the War Between the States was a bitter, painful, and sometimes humiliating one for the Confederate navy. No better
example exists of the classic adage, "Too little, too late." Burdened by the lack of adequate warships, construction
facilities, and even ammunition, the South's naval arm fought bravely and even recklessly to stem the tide of the Federal
invasion of North Carolina from the raging Atlantic. Storm Over Carolina is the account of the Southern navy's struggle in North Carolina waters and it is a saga of crushing defeats interspersed with moments of
brilliant and even spectacular victories. It is also the story of dogged Southern determination and incredible perseverance
in the face of overwhelming odds. Continued below...
For most of
the Civil War, the navigable portions of the Roanoke, Tar, Neuse, Chowan, and Pasquotank rivers were
occupied by Federal forces. The Albemarle and Pamlico sounds, as well as most of the coastal towns and counties, were also
under Union control. With the building of the river ironclads, the Confederate navy at last could strike a telling blow against
the invaders, but they were slowly overtaken by events elsewhere. With the war grinding to a close, the last Confederate vessel
in North Carolina waters was destroyed. William T. Sherman
was approaching from the south, Wilmington was lost, and the
Confederacy reeled as if from a mortal blow. For the Confederate navy, and even more so for the besieged citizens of eastern
North Carolina, these were stormy days indeed. Storm Over Carolina describes their story, their struggle, their history.
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