The
Battle of South Mills was the only battle near the canal. However, wartime activity left the canal in a deplorable condition.
The Dismal Swamp Canal,
opened to waterway traffic in 1805, became a "prize of war" during the Civil War. In the early months of war, southerners
used the canal to transport much-needed supplies. W. F. Lynch, Commander of the C.S.S. Sea Bird, a side-wheel steamer,
received naval supplies via the canal when he was in charge of a tiny fleet defending Roanoke Island. After Roanoke Island fell into Union hands on February 8, 1862, Lynch decided to take a position at Elizabeth City. However, on February 10th,
units of Admiral Goldsborough's fleet captured Elizabeth City and the Sea Bird was rammed and sunk by the U.S.S. Commodore Perry.
Two other ships fled northward up the Pasquotank River
to the Dismal Swamp Canal en route to Norfolk. While C.S.S. Beaufort made it safely through the canal
to Norfolk, C.S.S. Appomattox was two inches too wide
to enter the locks. Rather than let his ship be captured by the enemy, the captain set it on fire.
Union forces did not attempt to destroy the
locks of the Dismal Swamp Canal
until two months later. According to The Rebellion Record, Frank Moore, Editor, it was known that "Rebel entrenchments
and batteries to protect the canal" had been installed at South Mills. Also, this was the
time of the "ironclads," with the battle between the Monitor and the Merrimack
at Hampton Roads on March 9, 1862. Word reached General Burnside, who had established a position in New Bern, that Confederates were building ironclads in Norfolk and intended to bring them south through the Dismal Swamp and Currituck
Canals. Therefore, General Burnside ordered General Jesse L. Reno to move troops to South Mills and blow up its locks, then
proceed to the Currituck Canal
and destroy its banks.
General Reno moved his command of 3,000 men from
Roanoke Island on April 17th and transported them by water to Elizabeth
City. From there, they marched north to South Mills, accompanied by three
wagons loaded with explosive materials to be used on the locks. After an exhausting all-night march, at noon Reno's men encountered the Third Georgia Regiment, commanded by Colonel A. R. Wright, about
three miles below the locks. The two sides engaged at the edge of the woods at the north end of Sawyers Lane. On April
19th for five hours the 750 defenders withstood all Union assaults until their artillery commander, C.S. Captain
W. W. McComas, was killed. Running low on ammunition and to avoid being flanked, Wright withdrew his troops to a new position
behind Joy's Creek, about a mile away. Unaccustomed to the oppressive heat and after sustaining numerous casualties, the Union
forces did not pursue and, in fact, rapidly withdrew back to their transports near Elizabeth
City, leaving their dead and wounded behind and the Canal intact.
Soon afterwards, however, Norfolk surrendered on May 10, 1862, and Union troops transported goods on the Canal. Leroy
G. Edwards, Collector of Tolls for the Dismal Swamp Canal Company, testified: "In the latter part of the summer of 1862, the
U.S. forces took possession of the work.
They gave us much trouble ... goods were carried through under military permits. I asked payment of tolls, which were refused."
During this time, a sizable number of Confederate
sympathizers and deserted soldiers were in hiding in the Swamp, making periodic raids on Federal boats. Official Army records
document that on December 5, 1863, Brigadier General Edward A. Wild led forces from Norfolk
to South Mills and Camden Court House to capture these rebel forces. However, the two small steamers carrying supplies for
his forces were by "some unaccountable blunder ... sent astray through the wrong canal" and did not catch up with General
Wild until he arrived at Elizabeth City.
In the vastness of the Great Dismal Swamp, the Rebels eluded this expedition. All settlements discovered on this march were
burned and confiscated, innocent men were hanged and women were taken as hostages. North Carolina Governor Zebulon B. Vance
referred to General Wild's actions as a "disgrace to the manhood of the age. Not being able to capture soldiers, they war
upon defenseless women. Great God! What an outrage!" The Union forces returned to Norfolk
on December 24, leaving a trail of destruction behind them.
Following the surrender at Appomattox on April 9, 1865, the Canal was returned to its owners in a deplorable condition.
Sources: albemarle-nc.com/camden/history/civilwar; southmillsbattle.home.coastalnet.com;
National Park Service
