14 Mar 61, New Bern, NC - Battleground 5: Antietam

14 March 1862, New Bern, NC [Curt Cabbage]

The soldiers of the Coast Division clambered into their transports
at Roanoke Island on 11 March 1862 and got under way early the
next morning, accompanied by 14 Navy gunboats and one gunboat
of their own. One of the Navy vessels was detached to guard the
mouth of the Pamlico River, where it was incorrectly rumored
that the Rebels were preparing two ships to cut off transports
that might become separated from Navy protection. The main force
traversed Pamlico Sound, entered the Neuse River, and anchored
near the mouth of Slocum's Creek at dusk. Branch was aware of
their presence, and immediately ordered his forces to take up
defensive positions. He sent Col. James Sinclair's 35th North
Carolina Infantry to the landing at Otter Creek, in front of
the Croatan work, with instructions to oppose enemy landings
at that site. Colonel Zebulon Vance's 26th North Carolina was
ordered into the Croatan work. Other units guarded the river
upstream, and reserves were assembled at the intersection of
the railroad and the Beaufort road. All units were instructed
that if they were forced from their positions, they should fall
back on the Fort Thompson line.[16] At dawn on 13 March, the
Federal troops began to disembark. A small Rebel unit trying
to contest the landing was quickly driven away by fire from the
gunboats, as Col. Sinclair interpreted his orders to defend against
a landing at Otter Creek narrowly.[17] Burnside spent the morning
getting men and equipment ashore. With the infantry came six
boat (Navy) howitzers and two Army howitzers. Because of the
weather, he decided to land his other artillery closer to the
enemy lines, but dense fog soon closed in, and he could not communicate
with the fleet. His remaining guns were not landed.[18] A little
after noon the Union soldiers began to move toward the Confederate
lines, and at about the same time the rains began. The road was
soon turned into mud, and the mere act of walking required great
exertion. The gunners with the howitzers accompanying the infantry
soon were exhausted trying to move their pieces, so a regiment
of infantry (51st Pennsylvania) were detailed to help them. Many
of those foot soldiers long remembered this as the most arduous
part of the battle.[19] As the soldiers made their slow progress,
the gunboats kept a short distance ahead, shelling places where
Rebels might be waiting. Col. R. P. Campbell, in command of the
Confederate right wing, interpreted the naval gunfire as preliminary
to another landing that would take the Croatan work in reverse,
so he ordered a general pullback to the Fort Thompson line. Thus,
when the Federal army came upon the first Confederate breastworks,
they found them abandoned.[20] The Coast Division soon resumed
its march. Leaving the Croatan work, First (Foster's) Brigade
moved on the right, following the county road, while Second (Reno's)
Brigade followed the railroad on the left. Third (Parke's) Brigade
followed after the First. They continued until they came in contact
with enemy pickets, about a mile and a half (2 km) away from
the Fort Thompson line held by the Rebels. Daylight having been
exhausted, Burnside ordered a halt and had the brigades bivouac
in the order of their march: First Brigade on the right near
the road, Second Brigade on the left near the railroad, and Third
Brigade to the rear of the First. The howitzers did not arrive
until 0300 the next morning.[21] The fight[edit] Battle
of New Bern as illustrated in Harper's Weekly. 5 April 1862 The
field was covered by a dense fog on the morning of 14 March.
Burnside ordered his forces to form and advance on the Rebel
works. The Yankees did not have complete information concerning
their opponents' disposition at this time; so far as they knew,
the Confederate line extended only from the river to the brickyard.
In keeping with this belief, Burnside ordered the First Brigade
to engage the enemy left, while the Second Brigade would try
to turn their right, at the brickyard. The eight howitzers were
deployed across the county road. Third Brigade was held as a
reserve.[22] The Army also got some dubious support from the
gunboats under Commander Stephen C. Rowan, who shelled the Rebel
positions although they were hidden by intervening forests. This
gunfire greatly disturbed the North Carolinians, but it was inaccurate
enough that Burnside eventually asked Cowan to change direction.[23]
Meanwhile, on the other side, General Branch had put his regiments
into the line. From his left, at Fort Thompson, to the brickyard
on his right, were the 27th, 37th, 7th, and 35th North Carolina
regiments. His reserve was the 33rd Regiment. The right flank
of the 35th was anchored in a brickyard kiln that was loopholed
for artillery. The entire line beyond the railroad was occupied
by a single regiment, the 26th North Carolina, plus a few companies
of cavalry. The gap in his line created by the dogleg at the
railroad was covered only by his weakest unit, a militia battalion
with only two weeks of training, and armed with shotguns and
hunting rifles. To give them additional support, he ordered up
a two-gun battery of 24-pounders to the kiln, but they were not
mounted when they came under attack.[24] The First Brigade of
the Union Army opposed them from the river to the railroad; right
to left, the units were the 25th, 24th, 27th, and 23rd Massachusetts,
and the 10th Connecticut. The Beaufort Road ran through the center
of this line, and here General Foster placed the howitzers that
had been dragged along.[25] On the Federal left, General Reno,
still unaware of the extension of the enemy lines beyond the
railroad, ordered a part of the 21st Massachusetts to charge
the brick kiln, while the 9th New Jersey and the 51st New York
would engage the enemy in support. The 51st Pennsylvania was
held in reserve. The charge was successful at first, but they
then found themselves under fire from the whole line and were
forced to pull back.[26] Burnside at this time ordered his reserve,
the Third Brigade, into the line to support Reno's Second Brigade.
The 4th Rhode Island replaced the 21st Massachusetts, which had
used up its ammunition. While trading places, Colonel Isaac P.
Rodman of the 4th Rhode Island was told by Lieutenant Colonel
William S. Clark of the 21st Massachusetts that he thought that
another attack on the brick kiln would be successful. Rodman
sent a courier to General Parke informing him that he was taking
responsibility, then formed his regiment and ordered them to
charge. Armed with better knowledge of the enemy, this charge
was successful. The 4th Rhode Island captured nine brass field
pieces, and found themselves in rear of the Rebel entrenchments.[27]
At this point, the Confederate line broke. The rupture started
when the inexperienced militiamen fled and exposed the units
on both of their flanks. Branch ordered his reserves to plug
the gap, but they did not arrive in time. As the line was rolled
up on both wings, each regimental commander in succession pulled
his unit back to escape being slaughtered. General Branch ordered
a retreat, which soon became a rout. The fleeing North Carolinians
dashed across the bridge over the Trent River into New Bern,
then burned the bridge so precipitately that some of their compatriots
were left behind and were captured. They also burned a fire raft
in the river, which soon drifted against the railroad bridge
and destroyed it.[28] While the battle was in progress, Commander
Rowan's ships had moved up the river to assist. They received
only minor damage in passing the lower barrier, and then positioned
themselves to shell Fort Thompson. When the fort was abandoned,
they immediately passed the second barrier and moved on to New
Bern. Because Branch's order to retreat included all of the Confederate
river batteries, their guns were spiked and they were abandoned
to the fleet. At the city, the fleet shelled the retreating Confederate
troops, denying them the opportunity to regroup. The retreating
units could not reform until they had fled all the way to Kinston.
With both bridges destroyed, Burnside's soldiers had to be ferried
across the river by the gunboats.[29] Branch had lost 64 killed,
101 wounded, and 413 captured or missing, compared to Burnside's
90 killed, 380 wounded, and a single man captured.[