JANUARY 12TH, 1862: The Union amphibious expedition to Roanoke Island, North Carolina, departed Fort Monroe under Flag Officer L.M. Goldsborough and General Burnside. Seizure of Hatteras Inlet by the Navy the previous August allowed Federal control of Pamlico Sound, but heavily fortified Roanoke Island dominated the narrow connection between Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds, the latter of which Confederates used for active blockade running.
Capture of strategic Roanoke Island, which one Confederate general termed "that post which I regard as the very key of the rear defenses of Norfolk and the navy yard," would give the Union control of Albemarle Sound and the waters penetrating deeply into North Carolina, over which passed important railroad bridges south of Norfolk.
--Old B-Runner
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