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Lenoir
County-Kinston Civil War Battlefields
Survey and National Register Project
Prepared for the
Historical Preservation Group
Prepared by
Mudpuppy & Waterdog, Inc.
Versailles, Kentucky
This project
was initiated by the Historical Preservation group and funded through a
grant from the American Battlefield Protection Program (ABPP).
The project has
several components:
- Locate the extant Civil War
resources in Kinston and Lenoir County
Battle of Kinston
Battle of Wyse Fork
Cultural and Natural Resources
- Prepare a National Register
nomination for the 1862 Kinston Battlefield
- Provide HPG Guidelines for
a future preservation and management plan
- Archaeology
Investigations
- Create a Brochure
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Lenoir County-Kinston
Survey and National Register Project
(Grant Number GA-2255-03-007)
Prepared for
Historical Preservation Group
1603 West Road
Kinston, North Carolina
by
Joe Brent
Mudpuppy & Waterdog, Inc.
129 Walnut Street
Versailles, Kentucky 40383
October 12, 2005
with
W. Stephen McBride, Ph. D.
McBride Preservation Service, LLC
1632 Courtney Avenue
Lexington, Kentucky 40505
and
Matt Jorenson
Funded by
The American Battlefield Protection Program
October 12, 2005
This material is based upon work assisted by a grant from
the Department of the Interior, National Park Service. Anyopinions, findings
and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of
the authors and do notnecessarily reflect the views of the Department of the
Interior. Images on the cover clockwise Battle of Wyse Fork, White
Rock Church, Cobb-King-Humphrey House.
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Lenoir County-Kinston Survey and National Register
Project
A CKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The efforts of three people went into the actual writing
of this document, but it was the work of the HPG and the funding by the ABPP
that made it possible. Mudpuppy & Waterdog, Inc. would like to thank
the following individuals for their help in the completion of this project:
American Battlefield Protection Program
Dr. Lawrence Babits
Dr. Lonnie Blizzard
Cindy Brochure
Dr. Charles Ewen
Dolores A. Hall
Dr. Lyle Holland
Matt Jorgenson
Tony Kelly
Jimmy Miller
John Mintz
Dr. Lee Novick
Jane Phillips
Donnie Taylor
Bob Tollar
John Wood
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Lenoir County-Kinston
Survey and National Register Project
T ABLE
OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements
...............................................................................................................i
Introduction...........................................................................................................................1
I. Battle of
Kinston................................................................................................................3
II. Battle of Wyse Fork
........................................................................................................16
III. Cultural and Natural Resources
....................................................................................26
IV. Archaeological Investigations
........................................................................................51
V. Preservation Plan Guidelines
...........................................................................................57
VI.
Recommendations............................................................................................................69
VII. Bibliography
...................................................................................................................74
VIII. Annotated Bibliography
................................................................................................80
IX. Appendix I: Prehistoric Artifacts from the Tower Hill
Site and Stringer Sites..............85
X. Appendix II: Funding Sources and Other Help
................................................................98
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Lenoir County-Kinston Survey and National
Register Project
INTRODUCTION
This project was initiated by the Historical Preservation
Group (HPG) and funded through a grant from the American Battlefield
Protection Program (ABPP). The project has several components: locate the
extant Civil War resources in Kinston and Lenoir County, prepare a National
Register nomination for the December 1862 Kinston Battlefield, provide HPG
with guidelines for a future preservation and management plan, archaeology,
and create a brochure. After the fall of New Bern in the spring of 1862,
Kinston became the first line of defense between the Union army on the North
Carolina coast and the Wilmington & Weldon Railroad, the main route between
North Carolina and Virginia. Geography put Lenoir County and Kinston on the
front lines, the frontier of the Civil War in North Carolina. The main
transportation routes from New Bern to Goldsboro, including the Atlantic &
North Carolina Railroad, ran through the county. The area between Kinston
and New Bern became a “no man’s land.” Both sides sent patrols and even
large scale incursions up and down the roads trying to seize control, though
neither side would alter the status quo until March 1865. As a result,
Lenoir County has two major Civil War battlefields: the December 1862 Battle
of Kinston and the March 1865 Battle of Wyse Fork. These two battlefields
were part of the Civil War Sites Advisory Commission (CWSAC) survey in the
early 1990s. This project was initiated as an outcome of that survey.
In addition to the two battlefields, which retain good integrity, there are
numerous tangible remains of the Civil War in Lenoir County. Thousands
of feet of earthworks associated with the two battles and the Confederacy’s
attempts to defend the city are extent. There are also several antebellum
houses and churches that served as field hospitals or headquarters. The hull
of the gunboat CSS Neuse is also in Kinston and is housed at the CSS Neuse
and Caswell Memorial State Historic Site. The HPG has purchased 57 acres of
the Wyse Fork Battlefield. They also control 126 acres of the December 1862
Battle of Kinston; a circumstance that indirectly arose from the impact
Hurricane Floyd had in the area. In 1999 Hurricane Floyd hit eastern North
Carolina, causing devastating flooding. Due to the extent of the damage, the
Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) chose to buy out certain
areas in order to prevent future floods from damaging human habitation. As a
result, 126 acres of the December 1862 Battle of Kinston landscape is being
reclaimed. Lenoir County government has leased this land to the HPG. The
North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources has determined that the land
does not have sufficient integrity for National Register listing and that
the disturbance to the area caused by the removal of homes from the area,
which was a subdivision, will make battlefield archaeological investigations
difficult at best. However, the land is well situated and it can be
interpreted. Kinston and Lenoir County are in the process of creating a
heritage tourism program. One focus of that program will be the Civil War.
Lenoir County is part of the
North Carolina Civil War Trails
program, which is an adjunct to the
Virginia Civil War Trails program. This project could help with that program
by providing more sites that can be preserved and interpreted for the
public. This project will also provide the information necessary for the HPG
to initiate their interpretive program.
Lenoir County-Kinston
Survey and National Register Project
Page 2
I NTRODUCTION
Methodology
Over the course of this project, four trips were made to
North Carolina. In all, 45 person days were spent in the field, in archival
repositories, and in local and state government offices securing the
information necessary to complete this project. As per the scope of work,
one day of noninvasive archaeology was undertaken in the project area. W.
Stephen McBride, Ph.D. and Joseph E. Brent conducted a pedestrian survey and
metal detecting at two sites associated with the December 1862 Battle of
Kinston. The results of these archaeological investigations are detailed in
Chapter V. In addition, Dr. McBride and Mr. Brent met with Dr. Charles Ewen
of East Carolina University, whose students have conducted research in the
area. All earthworks and other significant features that were located were
mapped. GPS coordinates and map locations were checked with the historic
records, when available. Research for this project was conducted at numerous
repositories, among them the Southern History Collection at University of
North Carolina, Duke University Library, J. Y. Joyner Library at East
Carolina University, North Carolina State Archives, Heritage Place at Lenoir
Community College, Kinston Public Library, University of Kentucky Library,
and the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The Allen County
Public Library has one the largest genealogical collections in the country.
It holds numerous regimental histories, narratives, and other documentation
pertaining to the Civil War. HPG members, some of whom have conducted
extensive research concerning the battles, provided additional material.
Copies of all of the research gathered, several hundred pages, will be
turned over to the HPG at the conclusion of the project. The guidelines for
a preservation plan are based on Mr. Brent’s experience in writing ABPP
funded preservation plans in Kentucky, Tennessee, and North Carolina and on
the resources themselves. Having spent time in Lenoir County and having
become familiar with the resources it became evident that the resources in
Lenoir County are numerous and merit preservation. The brochure was created
using PageMaker 6.5. The purpose in creating a brochure was to promote the
wealth of Civil War resources in Kinston/Lenoir County and to inform
citizens and local officials about those resources in order to solicit their
aid in preserving those resources. Without preservation there can be no real
interpretation and without interpretation there will be no growth in the
heritage tourism that city and county officials want to develop.
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Lenoir County-Kinston Survey and National
Register Project
Page 3
C HAPTER
I
B ATTLE
OF KINSTON
Overview
In February 1862, Gen. Ambrose Burnside was sent by the
Union command to take and hold easternNorth Carolina. Burnside’s operation
was successful. He captured Roanoke Island and occupied Elizabeth City and
Edenton. His forces burned the town of Winton, blocked the Dismal Swamp
Canal, and captured New Bern. All that prevented Burnside from capturing
Goldsboro was his recall to Virginia, along with 7,000 Union soldiers.
Burnside’s departure left Gen. John G. Foster in command of the Union
Department of North Carolina with a single brigade, not enough men to hold
the fortifications at New Bern let alone go on the offensive.
Figure
1: John Gray Foster, Union Commander
John Gray Foster was a
native of New Hampshire. He graduated fourth in his class at West Point in
1846 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers.
Foster was chief engineer of the fortifications of Charleston when
hostilities began. He was part of the garrison at Fort Sumter, where he
survived the Confederate bombardment. In the fall of 1861 he was promoted to
the rank of brigadier general. Foster was part of Burnside’s force during
the spring 1862 North Carolina campaign.2
After the Union army captured
New Bern, the Confederates fell back to Kinston where they fortified the
city and the roads leading into it from the south. Kinston became the
first line of defense between the Federal troops in New Bern and the
Wilmington & Weldon Railroad at Goldsboro. The Wilmington & Weldon was the
main line of supply for the Confederate army in Virginia, the main
Confederate army in the east. Protecting this railroad was of primary
concern for the Confederacy.3
Confederate engineers built a
series of fortifications around Kinston and along the approaches to
the city from the New Bern area, fortifying both land approaches and those
from the Neuse River. The fortifications were designed to take advantage of
the natural terrain. The Neuse River flows just south of the city.
Southwest Creek flows south of and parallel to the Neuse for much of its
length before turning sharply north and flowing into the Neuse. The
road system between New Bern and Kinston ran almost due west between
the Trent River and Dover Swamp before turning north toward the city,
crossing Southwest Creek at several points before crossing the Neuse
into the city proper. Confederate engineers constructed earthworks on either
side of bridges crossing the creek, anchoring them on the swamps. No doubt,
the engineers believed that no one could or would try to cross the swamps
and would be forced to assault the works head on.
North of Kinston, a ring of earthworks was constructed stretching from the
river north and east to the Atlantic & North Carolina Railroad. Some of
these earthworks may have been part of a fortified encampment that was
constructed south of the city and then adapted to protect the southern
approach. In addition
Page 4
Figure 2: Left - Official Records Map of the
Kinston/New Bern Area showing the route of Foster’s Raid, engagements and
the Confederate fortifications.

Figure 3: Below -
Koerner’s 1863 Confederate map of the Kinston area showing Camp Pool and the
Confederate fortifications west of the city and the Neuse River. No mapping
was done south of the Neuse as that was not within Koerner’s department.
Lenoir County-Kinston Survey and National Register
Project
Page 5
to the fortifications defending the city, a large
fortified encampment, Camp Pool, was established southeast of the city.
These fortifications were armed with heavy artillery to protect the approach
to the city via the Neuse River. In addition to the fortifications and heavy
artillery, obstructions were placed in the river, forcing boats to
pass through a narrow channel (Figure 3).In late October 1862, thousands of
nine-month volunteers, mostly from Massachusetts, arrived in New Bern. This
influx of troops provided Gen. Foster with sufficient force, some 10,000
men, for an offensive operation. By November the new soldiers were settled
into New Bern and Foster was planning an attack. 4Gen.
John G. Foster’s plan called for a large infantry force to march from New
Bern, take Kinston, take Goldsboro and cut the Wilmington & Weldon Railroad,
and then to march to Wilmington and shut down the last open Confederate port
in North Carolina. Union Navy gunboats would back up his land force. Foster
was counting on Union operations in Virginia to tie up any possible
Confederate reinforcements that might disrupt the raid, which was basically
the same operation that Burnside had planned in the summer of 1862.5
Foster’s Raid
On December 11, 1862 Foster left New Bern with
10,000 infantry, 40 pieces of artillery, 640 cavalry, 300 Pioneers [a
detachment of contraband (escaped slave) laborers] under the command of
Henry Wilson, a civilian, and 160 wagons. The navy sent a flotilla of nine
gunboats and armed transports up the Neuse River toward Kinston in support
of Foster’s movements.6Foster’s
men left New Bern around 7 AM on December 11 and marched along the Trent
Road, the main road to Kinston. After about 14 miles, the army encountered
felled trees blocking the road. The soldiers camped there for the night
while the Pioneers cleared away the trees. The Union army continued the
march north reaching the outskirts of Kinston on December 13, 1862.
The First Day - December 13, 1862
The Naval Engagement at Camp Pool
The Navy left New Bern on December 12 and steamed
upriver. The vessels anchored for the night down river of Kinston. On the
afternoon of December 13, 1862, as the two armies were fighting near
Southwest Creek, several miles to the west, four Union vessels came within
two miles of Kinston. Here those vessels encountered fire from Confederate
artillery. The armed Union transports
Allison,
Port Royal,
Wilson,
and
Ocean Wave
rounded a bend in the river. They were in
narrow channel, about 100-feet wide, left them little room to maneuver, the
boats could only continue forward or backup they could not turn around. As
the Union boats attempted to navigate the narrow passage, a ten-gun battery
opened fire. The firing began around sunset, about the time the fighting was
drawing to a close on Southwest Creek (Figure 4).
7
The three vessels in the rear were ordered to
back out, leaving the
Allison to take the brunt of
the fire. The Allison
fired her main gun at one of the
Confederate batteries and silenced it temporarily. The Confederate artillery
fire damaged the Allison
but she was able to withdraw.
The Union boats retreated beyond the bend of the river where they were out
of sight of the Confederate shore batteries. The action at Camp Pool ended
the involvement of the navy in the battle. The Union sailors and marines
aboard the vessels engaged with the Confederates suffered casualties,
including several killed and wounded.8
Page 6

Figure 4: Map shows the engagement at Camp Pool. Of the nine
vessel Union flotilla only four ships, got with
range of the shore batteries at Camp Pool. Of those only the Allison took
hits. The position of the Union vessels is approximate. The blue outline of
Camp Pool is based on the 1863 Koerner map. The red lines indicate extant
earthworks. Map is based on the Kinston USGS quad map north is the top of
the map. Scale is one inch = 24,000 feet.
Lenoir County-Kinston Survey and National Register
Project
C HAPTER
1
Page
7
Companies B, G, & H of the 1 st
North Carolina Artillery manned the
guns at Camp Pool. These soldiers effectively fired at the approaching Union
boats, forcing the flotilla to retreat. Although the Confederate batteries
successfully drove off the Union attack, only part of the Federal squadron
had reached Camp Pool. Those vessels that made it were light draft armed
transports. The gunboats could get no closer than 15 miles from Kinston due
to low water and did not participate in the combat. Although the navy put a
good spin on the operation, it was a Union defeat. It would be days before
the flotilla returned to New Bern. Of the nine vessels sent upriver, six
were damaged or sunk. Two boats had their rudders knocked off, three ran
aground, and a snag sank another. Union reports make it clear that most of
the damage was the result of river conditions rather than Confederate
artillery. Regardless, the fleet limped back to New Bern.9
As far as can be ascertained, the
naval engagement took place in the late afternoon hours of the first day of
the conflict, probably as the Confederates near Southwest Creek were
retreating northward. After the fight with the Union navy the Confederates
abandoned Camp Pool, leaving most of the artillery. The fall of
Kinston on December 14 left the 1st
North Carolina Artillery little
choice; they retreated with the rest of the Confederate army. Union soldiers
later captured four field pieces and destroyed two other large guns, a 32-
pounder and an 8-inch Columbiad. They also blew up the magazine.
10
The Engagement at Southwest Creek – December 13, 1862
The Confederate forces in and around Kinston,
approximately 2,000 men, were under the command of Brig. Gen. Nathan G.
“Shanks” Evans. Evans, a native South Carolinian, was a West Point
graduateand had been in the regular army when the war broke out. He resigned
his commission and joined the Confederate army. Evans commanded a brigade at
First Manassas and his actions at that battle helped the Confederates turn
the tide. Evans held various commands in the eastern theater before being
placed in command of the troops around Kinston. In December 1862 Evans
deployed his men throughout the region, placing soldiers in Kinston and
Greenville and along the roads leading from New Bern. 11
The movement of Foster’s force from
New Bern caught the Confederates at Kinston completely off-guard. When news
of the Federal advance reached Kinston on December 12, General Evans was on
an inspection trip to Greenville. In Evans’ absence, Col. James D. Radcliffe
of the 61st
North Carolina was in command. Radcliffe,
alerted to the Federal advance, moved six pieces of artillery, the 17th,
22nd,
and 23rd
South Carolina and the 61st
North Carolina two miles south of
Kinston to Hine’s Mill on Southwest Creek. Radcliffe destroyed the bridge
over the creek and deployed in line of battle behind earthworks on the north
side of the creek (Figure 6).12
The Battle of Kinston began on the
morning of December 13, 1862. Foster sent his cavalry, the 3rd
New York, ahead to probe the
Confederate positions. The New Yorkers found Radcliffe’s position. The
troopers dismounted and began skirmishing with the Confederates.
Radcliffe was north of Southwest Creek, whereearthworks had been constructed
straddling the Wilmington Road (US 258). Foster’s infantry reached the

Figure 5: Brig. Gen. Henry W. Wessells
Lenoir County-Kinston Survey and National Register
Project
Page8

Figure 6: Map showing engagement at Southwest Creek,
Battle of Kinston, December 13, 1862. Map is based on Deep Run and Rivermont
USGS quads. Scale is one inch = 24,000 feet.
Lenoir County-Kinston Survey and National Register
Project
Page 9
high ground above Southwest Creek around 11 AM. He found
the bridge destroyed and the Confederates in a strong defensive
position with artillery. The creek was too deep to ford and Foster had no
choice but to give battle at this location. 13
Around 10 AM General Evans arrived
and took command, putting Radcliffe in command of the left flank. In the
meantime, three companies of the 61st
North Carolina and four companies of the
17th
South Carolina with several pieces of
artillery were sent to man the earthworks across Southwest Creek at the
Upper Trent Road (NC 58 at Patterson’s Chapel).14
The Confederate position on the
Wilmington Road was strong; the earthworks covered the road and were
anchored in the swamp. The Union attackers had to either wade the swamp or
repair the bridge under fire if they were to attack the Confederates. Foster
brought up Gen. Henry W. Wessells Brigade and began to probe the Confederate
line. According to one account, a member of the 9th
New Jersey found an unguarded
milldam on the Union left. The New Jerseymen made quick use of the milldam.
The Union soldiers crossed the dam and flanked the Confederates, starting a
brisk firefight. On the other side of the road, companies B and D of the 85th
Pennsylvania, under the command of
Capt. George H. Hooker, worked their way down the hill and waded across the
swamp. They were aided in their efforts by the pioneer corps, who cut trees
that were used to make a temporary bridge. The 85th
Pennsylvania and the 9th
New Jersey attacked the
Confederates on either flank.15
The flanking move by the Union
soldiers eventually forced the Confederates to withdraw from their line on
the Wilmington Road. The sheer force of the Union numbers forced General
Evans to pull his men outof the line and fall back. Capt. Nathan A. Ramsey
of the 61st
North Carolina described the fighting:
“The firing seemed to be
rapid and terrific. Mini balls whistled through the air by front and cross
firesfrom the enemy . . .. For some time we held our ground but were forced
to fall back by the enemy advancing upon us in overwhelming numbers.”
One Confederate cannon and several
men were captured during the fight.16
The accounts indicate that
the two armies fought for about ten hours onDecember 13. A portion of that
fighting took place at the earthworks on Southwest Creek at the Wilmington
Road, the remainder occurred as the Confederates withdrew northward. A post
war history of the 9th
New Jersey confirms that the fighting
continued: “The Ninth,
however, did not advance very far without molestation, as the Confederates,
recovering from their fright, had taken a new position, a thousand yards
away when they reopened with musketry and artillery.”17
Once the light began to fail, both
sides disengaged and bivouacked for the night. The Confederates fell back to
near the present-day intersection of US 258 and CR 1342. There they spent a
cold night on the field, “sleeping on their arms.” The Union soldiers
encamped on the high ground near Woodington. The following morning, the
Confederates marched to the defenses just south of Kinston with the Federals
in EVANS Fig 8
 
Figure 7 Figure 8: Gen. Nathan
“Shanks” Evans
Lenoir County-Kinston Survey and National Register
Project
Page 10
The Second Day - December 14, 1862
The Engagement at Upper Trent Road – December 14, 1862
A second, smaller force of Confederate soldiers was
positioned at a fortified position near present-dayPatterson Chapel, at the
point where Upper Trent Road (present-day NC 58) crossed Southwest Creek.
General Evans placed a portion of the 61 st
North Carolina, 25th
and 17th
South Carolina and one piece of
artillery at these earthworks. No doubt, he hoped to slow the Union advance
upon his main line in front of the Neuse River and Kinston18
(Figure 9).
On the morning of December 14, a detachment of the 46th
Massachusetts, a company of the 3rd
New York cavalry, and a battery of
the 24th
New York artillery moved up the Upper Trent
Road (NC 58) toward Kinston. At Southwest Creek the Union soldiers
encountered the Confederates behind earthworks straddling the road that,
like those across the Wilmington Road, were anchored on a swamp. The
Confederates had burned the bridge and were determined to hold the position.19
According to one account, there
were 1,000 Confederates with artillery behind the earthworks. This seems
unlikely as Evans only had about 2,000 troops. Regardless of the number of
Confederates, the 3rd
New York dismounted, deployed as
skirmishers and, along with the Massachusetts infantry, attacked. The
account of the 24th
New York Artillery states:
“The cavalry dismounted, deployed,
and, with their carbines, acted as a support to the battery. Our boys then
opened on them with shell.” The
Union artillery fired into the Confederate position. After about an hour of
fighting the Union soldiers drove the Confederates from the position.
20
The Confederates retreated to the main line of works at Kinston. The Union
soldiers rebuilt the bridge and followed. The Federals did not arrive in
Kinston until about 4 PM, after the main Confederate army had been driven
from the field.21
The Engagement at
Kinston – December 14, 1862
The last engagement of the battle occurred just south of
Kinston. The Confederate main force was behind a series of earthworks that
had been constructed south of the Neuse River and the main bridge into
Kinston. Union forces assaulted the Confederate works south of Kinston on
the morning of December 14. The main Union force marched up the Wilmington
Road (US 258) and deployed into line of battle just south of SR 1900 (Figure
10).
General Evans had deployed his infantry and artillery at the earthworks. On
the right of the main road, Evans placed four pieces of artillery, Col.
Peter Mallett’s Battalion, the 61 st
North Carolina, and the Holcombe
Legion. Starr’s North Carolina battery held the center. The 17th,
22nd,
and 23rd
South Carolina were left of the
road. With all of the troops he could gather, Evans had just over 2,000 men;
Foster had about 10,000.22
The 9th
New Jersey moved on the Confederate
skirmishers on the right of the road early in the morning,beginning the
fighting. The New Jersey regiment forced the Confederates to retreat to
their main line. Gen. Henry W. Wessells’ Brigade soon joined the lone Union
regiment. Wessells was in command of six regiments of infantry, the 9th
New Jersey, 85th,
92nd,
and 96th
New York, and the 85th,
101st,
and 103rd
Pennsylvania. He deployed the rest of his
infantry on either side of the road, placed a battery of artillery in the
road,
Lenoir County-Kinston Survey and National Register
Project
Page 11

Figure 9: Map of Engagment at Upper Trent Road and
Southwest Creek, Battle of Kintson, December 14, 1862. Map based on
Rivermont USGS quad. Scale one inch = 24,000 feet.
Lenoir County-Kinston Survey and National
Register Project
Page12
The 85 th
New York, 101st
Pennsylvania, and the 96th
New York joined the New Jerseymen
and formed in line of battle on the right of the road. As Wessells was
deploying, Col. Thomas J. C. Amory and Col.Thomas G. Stevenson brought up
their brigades, an additional nine regiments. These brigades were divided,
with regiments placed on either side of the road. With Amory’s and
Stevenson’s infantry and artillery now engaged, the Union army began a slow
deliberate push on the Confederates.24
The Confederates, behind a
formidable line and with a swamp in their front, braced for the Union
assault.General Evans’ plan was to hold out as long as possible, then fire
the bridge and retreat across the river into Kinston.
For a while the Confederate strategy worked. Rebel guns found their mark and
pinned down the 45th
Massachusetts, 10th
Connecticut, and the 103rd
Pennsylvania.
“The rebel guns (cannon) opened upon
their flank, raking their position. The fire of these guns was so
concentrated and powerful that it cut a perfect path, two rods wide, for
some distance through the forest.”
The plight of the three regiments was short
lived as the 92nd
and 96th
New York flanked the Confederate battery
forcing them to retreat.25
Union and Confederate
artillery fired at the opposing infantry. The outnumbered and outgunned
Confederates held for several hours. Sometime after noon, probably around
3:00, General Evans ordered his troops to cross the bridge into Kinston and
to burn the bridge behind them. Evans also ordered the artillery on the
north side of the river to fire on the Union positions on the Confederate
right. Hundreds of Confederate soldiers were still on the right, having
never received the order to retreat across the bridge. Unaware that their
comrades had retreated, they continued to fight. Finally, under fire from
both sides, the men retreated to the bridge only to find it engulfed in
flames. As a result, their retreat turned into a panic.26
To make matters worse, when
the Confederate soldiers reached the bridge some of them were ordered to
recross it. According Col. S. D. Goodlett, 22nd
South Carolina, some of his men had
crossed the bridge when one of Evans’ aides, whom Goodlett described as
drunk, ordered them to recross the bridge and charge the Yankees. David
Jackson Logan of 17th
South Carolina wrote in his diary:
“We are ordered to cross the
bridge. We get across safely, are ordered to go back again, find everything
babel [sic] . . . confusion on the bridge. Orders given & countermanded
every minute cussing and swearing.”27
As the panicked Confederates
tried to cross the burning bridge, the 17th
Massachusetts and 9th
New Jersey, who had turned the
Confederate left flank, charged the soldiers at the bridge. Those
Confederates that did not get across the bridge were either killed or
captured. In all, about 400 men were captured during the melee at the
bridge. The burning bridge did not slow the Federals from immediate pursuit.
The Confederates pulled back and regrouped, ending the battle. During the
night, the Confederates retreated to White Hall. The next day, the Union
army proceeded to White Hall and, from there, to Goldsboro.28
A civilian in Kinston, Mrs. Martha
Ellen Miller, wrote relatives in Massachusetts a description of the
fighting.Confederate soldiers had urged the family to leave the house, as
they felt it would be destroyed, but Dr. Miller, at first, refused to leave.
“The house was shaken to the foundation by the artillery, and the musketry
rattled like corn in a “popper.” The Yankees stood in the low ground between
the bridge and Mrs. Hill’s; the rebels occupied the ridge and opposite side
of the bridge, where they had a battery. About 3 ˝
[3:30 PM]
the shout went up that our forces
were retreating; and soon they came
Lenoir
County-Kinston Survey and National Register Project
Page 13

Figure 10: Final engagement Battle of Kinston December
14, 1862. Scale is one inch = 24,000 feet. Map is based on Rivermont USGS
quad.
Lenoir County-Kinston Survey and National Register Project
Page 14
pouring through the town. They set fire to the bridge
after crossing and expected to make another stand . . . but the Federals put
out the fire in a few moments, and were too close upon their heels to permit
them any more fight . . ..” 29
Lieut. Andrew McConnell of the 17th
South Carolina agreed to some
degree with Mrs. Miller’s report of the battle. In his diary McConnell
wrote: “Today
[December 14, 1862]
about 10 o’clock A.M. our forces
commenced to firing on the enemy. About 2 o’clock P.M. a pretty general
engagement took place on the opposite side of the river from Kinston. The
enemy outnumbered us by great odds. We had the bridge ready to set on fire
provided we were overpowered and had to retire to the Kinston side of the
river. This we had to do, as we were greatly outnumbered. The Holcombe
Legion was the last in crossing the bridge. It was fired sometime before
they reached it. Some of the men got smartly burnt in crossing and several
wounded as the enemy had line of battle formed some 200 yards below the
bridge and fired into them as they were crossing. After crossing to this
side we formed in line of battle on this side and returned fire. We fired
for some time but finally had to retire . . .”30

Figure 11: Col.
Thomas I. Amory
The Battle of Kinston was a
Confederate defeat and Kinston was lost briefly to the Union army of General
Foster. However, Foster did little damage to the town and even in defeat
Evans managed to delay the Union advance long enough for some reinforcements
to arrive. Foster defeated the Confederates at White Hall and inflicted
minor damage the unfinished CSS Neuse. They fought again at Goldsboro, where
Union soldiers burned the Wilmington & Weldon Railroad bridge. However,
Foster did not press his advantage. The Confederate victory at
Fredericksburg, Virginia on December 13 allowed reinforcements to be sent
down the railroad to Goldsboro. In the end, Foster was forced to retreat to
New Bern.31
Ultimately, the raid did
nothing to alter the status quo in the New Bern-Kinston area. The
Confederates repaired the railroad bridge within two weeks. Foster’s
ninety-days soldiers soon returned home and the two sides continued to
skirmish in the “no man’s land” between Kinston and New Bern. It would be
1865 before the balance of power in the region shifted in the Union’s favor.
E ND
NOTES
1
DeWitt Boyd Stone, editor,
Wandering to Glory:
Confederate Veterans Remember Evans’ Brigade,
University of SouthCarolina Press, Columbia, SC, 2002, p. 81 and Richard A.
Sauers, “A
Succession of Honorable Victories” TheBurnside Expedition in North Carolina,
Morningside House, Dayton, OH, 1996, pp. 442-447 and 479.
2 Ezra
J. Warner, Generals in
Blue: Lives of the Union Commanders,
Louisiana State University Press, Baton Rouge, LA,1992, p. 157.
3 John
G. Barrett, The Civil
War in North Carolina,
University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, NC, 1963, p. 133.
4 John
G. Gammons, The Third
Massachusetts Regiment Volunteer Militia In the War of the Rebellion,
Snow & Farnham,Providence, MA, 1906, pp. 22-25.
5 David
A. Norris, “Foster’s March to the Sea [Almost],”
Civil War Times Illustrated,
August 2002, pp. 38-39.
Figure 11: Col. Thomas I. Amory
6
Norris, “Foster’s March,” p. 39.
7 David
D. Porter, The Naval
History of the Civil War,
reprint edition, Castle Books, Secaucus, NY, 1984, pp. 414-415.
8
Porter, Naval History,
p. 415.
9
Official Records of the Union
and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion,
Series I Vol. 8, pp. 288-290 (hereaftercited as ORN) and Louis H. Manarin,
North Carolina
Troops, 1861-1865: A Roster Vol. 1,
State Department of Archives and History, Raleigh, NC, 1966, p. 51.
10
Official Records of the Union
and Confederate Armies in the War of the Rebellion,
Series I Vol. 18, p. 56 (hereafter citedas OR) and Manarin,
North Carolina Troops,
p. 51.
11 John
H. Silverman, et. al.,
Shanks: The Life and Times of General Nathan George Evans, C.S.A.,
Da Capo Press,Cambridge, MA, 2002, p. 121 and Ezra J. Warner,
Generals in Gray: Lives of the
Confederate Commanders,
LouisianaState University Press, Baton Rouge, LA, 1987, p. 84.
12
Silverman, Shanks,
p. 121.
13
OR,
Series I Vol. 18, p. 55.
14
Weymouth T. Jordan,
North Carolina Troops 1861-1865: A Roster Vol. XIV,
Division of Archives and History, Raleigh,NC, 1998, p. 595.
15 J.
Madison Drake, The
History of the Ninth New Jersey Veteran Vols.,
Journal Printing, Elizabeth, NJ, 1889, p. 99; LutherS. Dickey,
History of the Eighty-Fifth
Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry,
J.C. & W. E. Powers, NY, 1915, pp.
211-214 and Richard Sauers, Editor,
The Bloody 85th:
The Letters of Milton McJunkin, a Western Pennsylvania Soldier in the Civil
War, Schroeder
Publications, 2000, p. 136.
16
Jordan, North Carolina
Troops Vol. XIV, p.
595.
17
Drake, The History of
the Ninth New Jersey,
p. 99.
18
Jordan, North Carolina
Troops Vol. XIV, p.
595; Mark Collins, Map 2 “Engagement at Kinston, N. C. December 14,1862” and
David Jackson Logan Diary, December 14, 1862, typescript on file at Heritage
Place, Lenoir Community College, Kinston, NC.
19 J.
W. Merrill, Records of
the 24th
Independent Battery New York
Light Artillery,
Ladies Cemetery Associates, Perry, NY,1870, p. 189.
20
Ibid.
21
OR,
Series I Vol. 18, p. 69.
22
Samuel N. Thomas, Jr. and Jason H. Silverman, editors,
“A Rising Star of Promise”
The Civil War Odyssey of DavidJackson Logan,
Savas Publishing Company, Campbell, CA, 1998, p. 63 and Jordan,
North Carolina Troops,
pp. 597-599.
23
OR,
Series I Vol. 18, pp. 91-92 and 95-96.
24
OR,
Series I Vol. 18, p. 75 and Thomas Kirwan,
Seventeenth Regiment
Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry,
The SalemPress Co., Salem, MA, 1911, p. 150.
25
Albert W. Mann, History
of the Forty-Fifth Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Militia,
Wallace Spooner, Boston,Massachusetts, 1908, p. 106.
26
Jordan, North Carolina
Troops,
Vol. XIV,
p. 597 and Stone,
Wandering to Glory,
pp. 91-93.
27 Col.
S. D. Goodlett to Robert B. Hughes, January 7, 1863, Hughes Family Papers,
Southern Historical Collection,University of North Carolina and Logan
Letters, diary of David Jackson Logan, Heritage Place, Lenoir Community
College.
28
Kirwan, Seventeenth
Massachusetts, pp. 149-150
and Jordan, North
Carolina Troops Vol. XIV,
p. 597.
29
Martha Ellen Miller, “Historical Notes,”
North Carolina Historical
Review, Vol. V, No. 3,
July, 1923, p. 454.
30 Andrew
McConnell, “Diary,”
Recollections and Reminiscences 1861-1865 through World War I, Vol. 4.,
SouthCarolina Daughters of the Confederacy, 1993, p. 505.
31 David A. Norris,
“Foster’s March to the Sea [Almost],”
Civil War Times Illustrated,
August, 2002, p. 52. |
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