Battle of South Mills

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South Mills Battle of Camden South Mills Pictures   

Other Names: Camden

Location: Camden County

Campaign: Burnside's North Carolina Expedition (February-June 1862)

Date(s): April 19, 1862

Principal Commanders: Brig. Gen. Jesse Lee Reno [US]; Col. Ambrose Wright [CS]

Forces Engaged: 21st Massachusetts and 51st Pennsylvania [US]; 3rd Georgia [CS]

Estimated Casualties: 150 total (US 120; CS 30)

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Description: Learning that the Confederates were building ironclads at Norfolk, Burnside planned an expedition to destroy the Dismal Swamp Canal locks to prevent transfer of the ships to Albemarle Sound. He entrusted the operation to Brig. Gen. Jesse Lee Reno’s command, which embarked on transports from Roanoke Island on April 18. By midnight, the convoy reached Elizabeth City and began disembarking troops. On the morning of April 19, Reno marched north on the road to South Mills. At the crossroads a few miles below South Mills, elements of Col. Ambrose Wright’s command delayed the Federals until dark. Reno abandoned the expedition and withdrew during the night to the transports at Elizabeth City. The transports carried Reno’s troops to New Berne where they arrived on April 22.

Result(s): Inconclusive (Federals withdrew.)

The Great Dismal Swamp and the American Civil War

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Courtesy southmillsbattle.home.coastalnet.com

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

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