PAGE FOUR
f Jit***. * •
le-BECTION TWO
The Battle Os Sandy Point
(Continued From Page 1, Section 1)
fee early part of the year 1865
mat he was feeding at least one-1
Ijalf of Lee’s army as a result i
df the successful running of the |
federal blockade, which was
■jyT ’ I
then being vigorously pressed by I
the northern fleet against all I
sound and other inland water-!
ways of the eastern section of,
fee state.
; There were four military op- j
erations of primary importance'
within the state, namely the fed-1
eral conquest and retention of,
fee sound region of the Albe- J :
marie country; the capture of i
Fort Fisher and nearby Wil-':
mington; Stoneman’s raid and <
Sherman's invasion on his march i
to the' sea.
Having due cogniza«nce of the
great strategic importance of the
sound region, the North dis- 1
patched strong and well equip-'
ped naval and military forces
under the commands of Generals
Benjamin F. Butler and Ambrose 1
Burnside for the conquest of <
these points, all of which were j
poorly defended, due primarily ’
fe the fact that the great bulk •
of the soldiers from these sec- .
tions had hurried to Richmond i
and joined Lee’s army.
Consequently, the federal j
forces met with little difficulty!
in 'capturing ■ the weakly de- j 1
fended Hatteras Inlet (August 29, j
186&; Roanoke Island (February i
8); New Bern (March 14); Wash
ington (March 21); Fort Macon :
(April 26) and Plymouth on De-;
cerrtber 13 following.
By these actions the federal 1
forces were enabled to control,:
practically all of the coastal 1 ;
area of North Carolina through- j <
out most of the period of the |
conflict. This furnished the 1
northern forces an excellent base . 1
from' which to conduct raids, as 1
a consequence of which the <
southern forces considered the 1 <
position of Norfolk to be so vul- ]
nerable to attack that it was 1
subsequently evacuated by the ,
Confederate defenders. 1 ;
Moreover, this strategy on the 1
part of the federal forces con- 1
stituted a continuous threat to 1
the remainder of North Caro-,
lina-, as well as to the Wilming- i
ton & Weldon Railroad and like- 1
wise to Lee’s army in Virginia. 1
which so desperately needed I
supplies over this route. |,
Bging unable to send adequate l
land forces to North Carolina for
about two years, the North could ’
not fully exploit the strategy and
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inestimable value afforded by
j their bases in this state. Conse
jquently, the Confederate forces
| were able to hold back the
Northern forces sufficiently to j
! insure Lee’s safety, but they did'
inot have the necessary sinews of
! war to drive them from the 1
| state, despite the fact that the!
'civil population was suffering I
j untold hardships by reason of
the federal occupation. |
As a result, sharp criticism [
was directed to President Jeffer
j son Davis of the Confederate
, States, and so loud were the de
! rnands for the return of suffici
ent North Carolina troops from
i Virginia “to drive out the Yan
| kee invaders” that Davis and
Lee, in 1864, ordered General
Hoke to clear the state of the
enemy. j
Hoke formulated his plans and
in a surprise move captured the
town of Plymouth in a brilliantly
executed engagement on the 24th
of April, 1864
Meanwhile, the Confederate
ram “Albemarle” was being se-,
cretly built at a place called Ed-]
ward’s Ferry, up the Roanoke
River. Having a length of 152
feet, with a beam of 45 feet, she
was covered with armor plates of
! iron measuring two inches in
j thickness.
It was the strategy of General
Hoke that his army recapture
, Plymouth, while the ram Albe
marle drive the federal ships of
war down the Roanoke River, j
bombarding the fort erected at
points along the river, and sub- 1
sequently to rid the Albemarle
Sound and other coastal waters 1
of the Yankee fleet. J
Commanded by Captain J. W. j
Cooke, the “A'bemarle” steamed
down the Roanoke, fitting her
guns in place as she proceeded
on her urgent mission. The fed
eral fleet “got wind” of this
plan to break their blockade and
withdrew their warships to the
Albemarle Sound a few miles to 1
a point opposite Edenton Bay, I
where they confidently expected
to destroy her when she entered
the sound.
Meanwhile, there were some
old cannon which were brought,
to Edenton during the Revolu-1
tionary War from France on the !
vessel named ■ Holy Heart of
[Jesus, commanded at that time
by a Captain Borritz in the year
1776. These were ordered by
Thomas Benbury and Robert
Smith, acting as agents of Gov-
, ernor Caswell, but were never
used during that period.
The cannon were mounted on
the water front at Edenton to
command the Edenton Bay ent
rance to the harbor in 1862, but
were spiked by the federal
forces by breaking off their
trunnions, rendering them use
| less, since they could no longer
,be swiveled, or turned in differ
ent directions.
j However, during the spring of
1864, in order to delay any more
on the part of the federal fleet,
: the men of Edenton again mount
|ed some of these old cannon on
,the water front overlooking
Edenton Bay for the dual pur
pose of preventing or discourag
ing the landing of northern
troops for occupation on Edenton,
as well as to otherwise occupy
the attention of the Yankee
naval forces until the ram Albe
, marie could arrive in the sound
asnd give them battle.
| After several days, the federal
forces landed a party of Marines
on Hayes Plantation .near Eden
ton, who accordingly marched
into town. They were much
chagrined to learn upon arriv
ing at the site of the cannon
that they could not be fired, for
' the reason that there was ,no one
remaining in town save old men
and the women folk, all young
men of military age having gone
to Richmond where they joined
Lee’s arfy. Also, that there was
no ammunition. The officer in
charge of the Marine contingent
remarked that the cannon were
more dangerous to the men be
hind them than to those march
-1 ing in front.
:! This ruse proved very effec
| tive. for it bought time so badly
' needed by the Albemarle, which
'fought its way down the Roan
| oke River and emerged into the
j Albemarle Sound, where it en
gaged the federal squadron of
seven gunboats and double
enders in a furious battle oppo
site Sandy Point, about five
miles east of Edenton at the
place where the present highway
bridge connects the counties 'of
'Chowan and Washington.
This battle, on the afternoon |
of May 5, 1864, raged unabated
for about three hours in a
strange combat between the iron
and the wood. Some of the fed
, eral men of war, as well as the
! Southern ram Albemarle were;
’equipped with long sharp booms
’ which extended out beyond their
bow, whereby the attacking ves
sel might lam a hole in the de
fending ship.
The federal ship Sassacus at
tempted to ram the Albemarle,
THE CHOWAN HERALD. EDOfTOW. NOfrTH CAROLINA, THURSDAY, MARCH 30, IMI.
then to engage her crew in a
! man-to-man struggle, with the
| intention of sinking her by
! means of a torpedo and, finally,
'to throw a keg of gunpowder
down her smokestack,
j These plans proved of no avail,
I due to the armor plates on the
Confederate ship, which inflict
ed crippling punishment upon
| the enemy vessels by means of
| her heavily armored prow, as
well as her guns. The „ram
smashed and sank one Union
gunboat, set fire to another with
her cannon, forcing the remain
ing ships to flee in great haste
and disorder.
As the sun slowly sank- into
the west as a great ball of fire, a
fantastic contrast to the flames
shooting from some of the fed
eral ships, the ram Albemarle
proudly made her way in the
closing twilight back .up the Ro
anoke River and Plymouth, hav
ing to uti'ize bacon and lard as
fuel, it’s supply of wood being
exhausted.
Meanwhile, with the federal
blockade of the inland waters of
the area having been broken by
this brilliant action on the part
of the ram Albemarle. General
Hoke’s Confederate troops were
enabled to recapture Washing
ton, North Carolina, and launch
ed an attack on New Bern when
his army was summoned to Vir
ginia to assist General Lee in
his losing struggle with Grant’s
forces.
In the hope of preventing this
eventuality and the resulting
loss of the region’s water a.nd
rail facilities, the federal forces
made desperate efforts to rid
themselves •of this seagoing
“monster,” but all in vain. Fin
ally. a young Yankee Jieutenant
named William Barker Cushing
appeared with a vow that he
would “get another stripe or
I’ll get a coffin.” He suggested
that he would destroy the ram
Albemarle with a torpedo pro
jected some 14 feet in front of
his boat by means of a hinged
spar, or boom.
Cushing’s proposal was ap
proved. whereupon he secured a
small steam launch about 30 feet
long. The boom was attached
and a 150-pound mine was fas
tened to the end of same. To
successfully explode the mine, it
was necessary that the launch
run up close to its intended tar
get, lower the boom and the
mine under the hull of the enemy
ship and trigger the explosive,
thus creating an exceedingly
hazardous, if not fatal' situation
for the attacking crew of the
launch. To survive at all de
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1 pended upon their sneaking upon
I the Albemarle without being de-
I tected.
Selecting the night of October
,27, 1864, for his hazardous and,
as many believed, suicidal at
tempt, when the Roanoke River
was shrouded in a dense fog
from the great swamps border
-1 ing the river for most of its ap- 1
1 proximate eight miles from! Ply-
I mouth to the mdtath of the riv-
I er, which empties into the up
per Albemarle Sound, the launch,
containing himself and 14 vol
unteers silently made its way
past a guard post and arrived
within a few yards from the
[ Confederate ram.
I The crew of the Albemarle
I had chained boom logs around
j their ship as proteettion against
floating mines, which might rush
down the river by means of the
swift tide which is usually .pre
valent. Feeling thereby a sense
of security, all but a few guards
had gone ashore. About this
time someone lighted a large
bonfire on shore, to the conster
nation of Cushing and his crew.
A guard on the Albemarle, de-'
tecting the presence of the fed
eral launch, gave the alarm. A
! hail of bullets and buckshot be-
I gan riddling the small boat,
'tearing the clothing of Cushing
and even ripping his shoe. Un
daunted, he ordered the launch
full speed ahead, forcing her on
top of the boom logs, sliding
I over them, thus placing his boat [
'sufficiently close whereby he 1
was able to lower the boom and
push the mine under the ram.
Cushing then pulled the lanyard, j
exploding the mine with a thun
derous noise, which shook every
timber in the Southern ship. |
Both the Albemarle and the
I launch sank almost immediate
ly. All of Cushing’s crew, ex
cept himself and one other, per
ished either by the explosion or
drowning. Cushing and his re
maining crewmen swam across
the river, which is very .narrow,
then trudged their tortous way
along its shore through almost
impenetrable swamp and marsh
until daybreak. They were then
picked up by another federal
launch and taken to their Ship.
For his great and daring feat,
'he was promoted to the rank of
lieutenant commander, thus
achieving his avowed intention
of “getting another stripe.” He
was only 21 years of age at the
time.
I North Carolina was reluctant
to secede from the Union, only j
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i joining fee Confederacy after
' President Lincoln had issued his
call for troops to fight against
the South* a great many of her
citizens considering it an unne
cessary and tragic mistake, be
lieving that a common ground
for resolving their differences
could be found short of war.
| However, when the die was
once cast, the people of this
State made every possible sacri
fice for the Soufeem cause. Her
troops were at the forefront in
every major battle from Bethel
on June 10, 1861, to Johnston’s
surrender in April, 1865. Some
historian once said that Tar Heel
troops were “First at Bethel,
fartherest at Gettysburg and
Chickamauga and last at Appa
matox.”
Many deeds of heroism were
never recorded. There were
cases of father being arrayed
against son, and brother against
brother in What has come to be
known as the greatest tragedy,
and the only cloud upon the his
tory of our great and beloved
nation.
! iDuring the Battle of Roanoke
Island in Dare County on Feb
ruary 8, 1862, an event occurred
which one might call the irony
of fate. A Confederate soldier
named Absalom Williams —a
great-uncle of this writer was
captured by the federal Ma
rines. He was taken aboard
their ship, with a number of
j other prisoners and forced to
‘carry wood from the deck to the
hold of the gunboat for use as
fuel. In the course of his en-
J forced labor, a shell from one of
his own shore batteries landed on
deck, killing him instantly.
{ Such is warfare, but Sherman
had a more vivid description for
it, as was witnessed by those in
his path on his famous march to
the sea, when he adopted a
policy of the scorched earth. He
claimed that by creating such
great hardships on the populace,
the end of the struggle would be
hastened.
This article is respectfully
dedicated to those brave men
and women on both sides of the
historic and tragic struggle, for
the courage of their convictions,
right or wrong, and who were
willing to lay down their lives
for the cause in which they hon
estly believed.
Therefore, nonp should view
this centennial as one of glorifi
cation, but rather in humble and
reverent commemoration of an
! historic event, to the end that
the recollection thereof might be
an ever present reminder that all
differences should be resolved
around the conference table,
rather than upon the battlefield.
, Very Unkind
A very small man married a
widow who was unusually tall
and large. A few weeks after
the wedding one of his friends
came upon him looking' very,
glum.
“What’s the matter?” asked
the friend. “Isn’t your new wife
agreeable?”
“She’s kindness itself,” said
the small one sadly.
“Isn’t she a good housekeeper
—a good cook?”
“None better in the world,”
said the groom drooping a little
more.
| “Then, what’s the matter?”
“I’d be perfectly happy,” blurt
ed the little man, “if people
didn’t call me the widow’s mite.”
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