N.C. Timeline, April 1863: Skirmishes and Engagements

Frtom the North Carolina Civil War sesquicentennial site.

I also found a listing of Union troops and ships involved in the actions at the N.C. Research Online site and have included it here.

Civil War events taking place in North Carolina 155 Years Ago.

APRIL--  Marcus Erwin and the Buncombe County militia flush 80 anti-Confederates from Laurel Valley.  Western part of the state.

APRIL 1--  Engagement at Rodman's Pond   (USS Commodore Hull)

APRIL 2--  Engagement at Hill's Point   (U.S. Navy)

APRIL 3--  Skirmish at White Forks   (3rd New York Cavalry)

APRIL 3--  Skirmish at Washington   (44th Massachusetts)

APRIL 4-5--  Engagement at Rosman's Pond   27th Mass, 3rd NY Cav,  USS Ceres)

APRIL 4-6--  Operations on the Pamlico    (5th Mass, 23rd Ind. Light Battery, 101st Pa, 175th Pa, USS Smithfield, USS Ceres, USS Whitehead, USS Seymour)

--Old B-Runner

May 22, 1862: The USS Whitehead Captures Another Ship

MAY 22ND, 1862:  The USS Whitehead, Acting master French, captured the sloop Ella D off Keel's Creek, N.C., with cargo of salt.

--Old B-Runner

May 21, 1862: Boat Expedition in North Carolina

MAY 21ST, 1862:  Boat expedition from the USS Hunchback, Acting Lt. Calhoun, and the USS Whitehead, Acting Master French, captured schooner Winter Shrub in Keel's Creek, North Carolina, with cargo of fish.

--Old B-Runner

April 10, 1862: Capturing Blockade-Runners

APRIL 10TH, 1862:  Gunboat USS Kanawha, Lt. John C. Febiger, captured blockade-running schooners Southern Independence, Victoria, Charlotte and Cuba off Mobile.

**  USS Whitehead, Acting Master Charles A. French, captured schooners Comet, J.J. Crittenden and sloop America in Newbegun Creek, North Carolina.  The sloop America was evidently not the yacht America of America's Cup fame.

**  USS Keystone State, Commander LeRoy, chased blockade-runner Liverpool, which ran aground outside North Inlet, S.C., and was destroyed by her crew.

--Old B-Runner

Supporting Sherman in North Carolina-- Part 1

APRIL 2, 1865:  Supporting General Sherman in North Carolina, Commander Macomb reported to Porter:  "In obedience to directions contained i9n your letter of the 28th ultimo, I started yesterday evening from Plymouth with the Shamrock, Wyoming, Hunchback, Valley City and Whitehead and proceeded up this river as far as the Stumpy Reach (about 10 miles from the mouth), where we came to anchor for the night.

"We had proceeded this far without dragging for torpedoes, in order to make quicker time (the river being broad and not suitable for torpedoes), but on starting this morning, we dragged the channel ahead of us, in which manner we advanced all day, and reached this place about 5 p.m. without having encountered any torpedoes....

"I have brought up three large flats, with which I ferry the regiment over.  I left orders at New Berne for the Commodore Hull and Shokokon to join me as soon as possible."

--Old B-Runner

Operations in North Carolina

JULY 29TH, 1864:  Tinclad USS Whitehead and Army steamers Thomas Colyer and Massasoit went on an expedition up the Chowan River in North Carolina, to confiscate contraband.  The steamer Arrow was captured at Gatesville with a cargo of cotton and tobacco.

JULY 30TH, 1864:  Much was made of keeping the ram CSS Albemarle out of action in North Carolina for fear of its loss and as a continued threat at Plymouth to the Union fleet.

However, on this date, Secretary Mallory wrote: "...she was not designed as a floating battery merely, and while her loss must not be lightly hazarded, the question of when to attack the enemy must be left to the judgement of the naval officer in command, deciding in view of the relation she bears to the defenses of North Carolina."

--Old B-Runner

150 Years Ago-- July 11-12, 1864: Another Salt Works Goes Down

JULY 11TH, 1864:  Landing party from USS James L. Davis destroyed Confederate salt works near Tampa, Florida.  The works were capable of producing 150 bushels of salt a day.  On 16 July, a similar raid near Tampa was carried out in which a salt work consisting of four boilers was destroyed.

JULY 12TH, 1864:  USS Whitehead and Ceres, in company with transport steamer Ella May, conducted a joint expedition up the Scuppernong River to Columbia, NC.

The Whitehead, a small tinclad, and Ceres, a 140-ton paddle-wheeler, landed troops near Columbia, and the soldiers succeeded in destroying a bridge and a quantity of grain.

USS Penobscot captured the schooner James Williams off Galveston with cargo including medicines, coffee and liquor.

--Old B-Runner

Saving the Bombshell

MARCH 1ST-2ND, 1864: At the request of General Wessells, Lt. Cmdr. Flusser, USN, took the double-ender USS Southfield and tinclad Whitehead up the Chowan River, NC, to aid the Army steamer Bombshell which had been cut off by Confederates above Petty Shore. //// Having been warned of torpedoes, Flusser stopped and engaged Confederate shore batteries as night fell, then dropped downriver to await morning. //// On 2 March, the ships kept up a constant bombardment and enabled the Bombshell to dash by later in the day. //// --Old B-Runner

Union Raid on Rainbow Bluff, NC

FEBRUARY 22ND, 1864: Tinclad USS Whitehead was ordered by Lt-Cmdr. Flusser to go up the Roanoke River in NC. The ship destroyed a corn mill used by Confederate troops near Rainbow Bluff. //// Torpedoes were reported to be planted in the river upstream of the bluff. All those torpedoes made Flusser believe that the Confederates were more worried about a Union advance than one of their own. There had been rumors of a massive Confederate attack downriver. //// Will They or Won't They? --Old B-Runner