USA > Virginia > City of Portsmouth > City of Portsmouth > A record of events in Norfolk County, Virginia, from April 19th, 1861, to May 10th, 1862, with a history of the soldiers and sailors of Norfolk County, Norfolk City and Portsmouth, who served in the Confederate States army or navy > Part 24
USA > Virginia > City of Norfolk > City of Norfolk > A record of events in Norfolk County, Virginia, from April 19th, 1861, to May 10th, 1862, with a history of the soldiers and sailors of Norfolk County, Norfolk City and Portsmouth, who served in the Confederate States army or navy > Part 24
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General Huger was a man of high character, of undaunted courage, and an excellent ordnance officer, but lacked those pecu- liar qualifications which fit an officer to defend a post and com- mand troops in the field, and from this sprang an Iliad of woes to the Confederacy which brought down upon himself the censure of the Confederate Congress.
On the Sth of June the Virginia troops which up to that time had been serving under orders from Governor Leteher, were turned over to the Confederate States Army. General Huger's district extended over the eastern counties of North Carolina from Weldon to the ocean, but being unacquainted with the to- pography of his district, and on account of his age not possessing the necessary activity to familiarize himself with it from a per- sonal inspection, the Confederates suffered disaster after disaster, which possibly might have been avoided had proper precautions been taken. A perusal of the correspondence which passed be- tween the subordinate commanders in North Carolina and the headquarters in Norfolk and Richmond indicates that there was a lamentable lack of judgment on the part of those in authority, if we may judge by results.
A powerful fleet was being fitted out in the North in August, 1861, and was gathering at Fortress Monroe. It destination was known to be Hatteras Inlet, yet no material effort was made to strengthen the little fort there, nor to reinforce it, but it was left to a small force of undisciplined North Carolina troops, badly drilled, with no experience in the use of heavy guns and with only guns of short range and light caliber to resist almost the whole navy of the United States government and a heavy land force. There could be but one result, the fort surrendered after a two days' bombardment by the fleet, which, anchored beyond the range of the guns of the fort, was unhurt. The fort was so badly constructed that the men had no shelter from the shells,
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which penetrated its walls or fell inside. This disaster occurred on the 29th of August, 1861, and opened to the Federal navy the waters of Pamlico Sound.
The next move of importance in that section was not made until the following February, so that the Confederates had from August to that date, nearly six months, to guard against further disaster. Had there been machinery or armor plate in the Con- federacy with which to have equipped two iron-clad boats like the Albemarle, which was subsequently built, Hatteras could have been retaken and Norfolk held. The disasters at Roanoke Island, Newberne and Fort Macon would have been avoided, and the troops which were sent to oppose Burnside in Carolina could have been retained in Virginia against McClellan.
After the fort at Hatteras had been captured General Huger sent the 3d Georgia Regiment to reinforce it. There was a lamentable scarcity of transportation in that locality. Commo- dore Lynch of the navy being impatient at the want of suitable vessels for gunboats, got possession of nearly all of the tugs and small steamers in the sound and mounted guns upon them. They were valueless as gunboats, but might have been serviceable as army transports, but transposing them into so-called men-of-war deprived the army of their use, without adding anything to the strength of the navy, as subsequent events fully developed.
Colonel Wright of the Third Georgia Regiment, finding Fort Hatteras in possession of the enemy, stopped his regiment at Ro- anoke Island and began fortifying it to prevent the enemy from getting into Albemarle Sound, a movement which they were prevented from making at the time on account of the shallow- ness of the water in Pamlico Sound and the depth of the vessels in their fleet.
The importance of defending Roanoke Island, as the key to the defence of Norfolk, was urged upon General Huger and Sec- retary of War Benjamin in the summer and fall of 1861 by Gen- eral Gatlin and Governor Clarke of North Carolina, but their recommendations were almost wholly disregarded. In December, 1861, by an order from the War Department the island was placed under the orders of General Huger and General Wise was sent there to command it. General Wise, time and time again urged upon General Huger and Secretary Benjamin the necessity of putting it in a proper state of defence and of reinforcing it with additional troops, but nothing seems to have been done by either of them towards carrying out the recommendation. Gen- eral Huger had 15,000 well drilled and well armed troops around Norfolk, but it does not seem to have occurred to him that they could best protect Norfolk by being sent where the enemy was about to attack. In December he ordered the 3d Georgia back to Portsmouth, leaving on the island about 400 men of Wise's
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Legion and 1,800 raw levies of North Carolina troops, badly drilled, undisciplined and badly armed. In reply to General Wise's urgent call for reinforcements he wrote: "You want sup- plies, hard work and coolness and not men," and on the 13th of January, 1862, he wrote: "I do not consider large forees neces- sary for the defence of the island. If the batteries can keep off the gunboats and transports the infantry will have little opportu- nity to act." And in a letter of the 18th to the Secretary of War he wrote that he "had no personal knowledge of the positions on the island."
In reply to a letter from General Wise to the Secretary of War for a supply of ammunition that officer wrote on the 12th of Jan- mary : "At the first indieation of an attack upon Roanoke Island a supply will be sent you." General Wise replied if they were to wait to be attacked before receiving powder from Richmond, the attack would be their capture, and defeat would precede the arrival of ammunition. This prediction was verified as to the navy.
A supply of ammunition for Commodore Lynch's fleet, sent to him from the Navy Yard, did not start until after the battle was over. Colonel Talcott of the Engineers reported to General Huger that the island was in an indefensible condition and needed guns, ammunition and men, but no action was taken upon his re- port. Early in December Commodore Forrest was applied to for pile drivers to drive piles across the channel to obstrnet the pas- sage of the Federal gunboats, and promised to send them, but Colonel Shaw, commanding the island, reported to General Wise that they had not arrived by the 30th and that Commodore For- rest's reason for the delay was that the men wanted to spend their Christinas holidays at home. One pile driver arrived on the 6th of January, and on the 7th of February, when the attack was made, there were still 1,700 yards of the sound open. All of the tugboats in the vicinity but one had been converted into gun- boats, and that one, with two large barges, which General Wise held for transportation, was ordered away from him by General Inger just as the battle was about to commence, which left him no means of retreating from the island in ease of defeat. Thus the garrison was shut up on the island and ordered to defend it, while they were denied the means with which to make the de- fence or of escape in case of defeat. The batteries were built on the west or Croatan side of the island, near the north end of it. The Governor of North Carolina applied to Secretary Mallory of the Navy for four rifled cannon for the defence of the island, but failed to get them, and, to add to the blunders which led to the disaster, General Huger's countermanding General Wise's order, lost the garrison the use of the six field pieees belonging to the Wise Legion. They were in Norfolk under command of Colonel
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Henningsen, and General Wise ordered him to charter a steamer in Norfolk to bring the guns and ammunition to the island, and to march the horses down the Currituck beach directly to Nag's Head, but General Huger countermanded General Wise's order, ordered Colonel Henningsen to hitch up his horses to his guns, march the battery to Powell's Point and transport them from there to the island, but upon reaching Powell's Point Colonel Henningsen found himself fifteen or twenty miles from Roanoke Island, with Albemarle Sound between them and no means of getting across. The result of this blunder was that the battle was fought, the island lost, and this important force was powerless to render any assistance to their comrades.
The enemy made their appearance before Roanoke Island on the 7th of February, 1862, with about thirty gunboats and a force of transports, and opened fire on the shore batteries, taking up a position upon which the batteries could bring only three guns to bear, one rifle and two smooth bore 32-pounders. They also landed 10,000 men on the island, below the batteries. The fire upon the batteries was kept up all day, but no damage was done to them. During the engagement Commodore Lynch's fleet of tugboats, from a position near the main land, made a gallant fight with a portion of the enemy's fleet, and after firing away all of their ammunition, and having two boats sunk, fell back to Eliza- beth City. The next morning the bombardment of the battery was resumed, and the land forces, marching up from the south end of the island, met the troops which were there to defend it, and, as might have been expected, defeated them, and, getting in rear of the batteries, compelled their evacuation, as they had no rear protection. Colonel Shaw fell back to the north end of the island, and finding there was no boat by which his garrison could be taken off, and knowing that his small, undisciplined force, badly armed and without artillery, could not successfully contend against the overwhelming force which was following them, de- cided to surrender, and thus was opened the gateway to the rear of Norfolk, which should have been kept closed, and would have been had the island been properly garrisoned and fortified. Lienten- ant William Selden of Norfolk was in the engagement of the 8th and was very favorably mentioned in the official report. He was in charge of a six-pounder boat howitzer and was shot in the fore- head by a minie ball just as he was firing his last round of ammu- nition at the enemy. The Confederate loss in the battle was 23 killed, 58 wounded and about 2,500 captured. The Federals lost 37 killed, 214 wounded and 13 missing.
The Confederate Congress appointed a committee to investi- gate the disaster, and their report says the cause of the disaster and defeat was "the want of necessary defences on the island, the want of necessary field artillery, armament and ammunition, and
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the great and unpardonable deficiency of men, together with the entire want of transportation by which the whole command might have been conveyed from the island after the defeat at the bat- tery." After exonerating General Wise from blame the report goes on to say : "But the committee cannot say the same in ref- erence to the efforts of the Secretary of War and the command- ing officer at Norfolk, General Huger. It is apparent that the island of Roanoke is necessary for the defence of Norfolk, and that General Huger had under his command at that point up- wards of 15,000 men, a large supply of armament and amnmini- tion, and could have thrown in a few hours a large reinforcement upon Roanoke Island, and that himself and the Secretary of War had timely notice of the entire inadequacy of the defences, the want of men and munitions of war, and the threatening attitude of the enemy. But General Huger and the Secretary of War paid no practical attention to those urgent appeals of General Wise, sent forward none of his important requisitions, and per- mitted General Wise and his inconsiderable force to remain and meet at least 15,000 men well armed and equipped. If the Sec- retary of War and the commanding General at Norfolk had not the means to reinforce General Wise why was he not ordered to abandon his position and save his command? But, on the con- trary, he was required to remain and sacrifice his command, with no means in his insulated position to make his escape in case of defeat. The committee, from the testimony, are therefore con- strained to report that whatever of blame and responsibility, is justly attributable to any one for the defeat of our troops at Roa- noke Island on February 8th, 1862, should attach to Major Gen- eral B. Huger and the late Secretary of War, J. P. Benjamin."
The fall of Roanoke Island has been treated of so extensively in this connection for the reason that to it was due the evacuation of Norfolk and Portsmouth by the Confederates the May follow- ing. It opened up to the incursions of the enemy the whole of Eastern North Carolina and compelled the Confederates to main- tain a large army there to protect the Weldon and Wilmington railroad. This large detachment of troops from the army in Vir- ginia weakened it so that it was impossible, in the opinion of the Confederate authorities in Rielmond to spare troops enough to protect Norfolk both in front from Fortress Monroe and in rear from the direction of Elizabeth City, Edenton and the Blackwater river, hence it was abandoned.
It will be remembered that the 3d Georgia Regiment was sent by General Huger to Hatteras too late to be of service there, and that Colonel Wright stopped at Roanoke Island. On the 14th of October Colonel Wright, with 150 men from his regiment, em- barked on three vessels from Commodore Lynch's fleet, the Ra- leigh, Curlew and Junalnska, under the Commodore, and started
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towards Chicamicomico. The expedition captured the tug Fanny and forty-seven prisoners. The Fanny was armed with two rifle guns, and Commodore Lynch added her to his fleet. On the 4th Colonel Wright started again with his regiment to capture the 20th Indiana Regiment, which had advanced from Hatteras to Chicamicomico, and effected a landing, but the Indianians ran so swiftly that by the utmost efforts of the Georgians they could not overtake them. A number of stragglers were picked up in the chase, and the Georgians lost one man, who died from exhaustion in his effort to overtake the fleeing foe. General Wool reported to General Seott that the Indiana Regiment "completely de- feated" the Georgians. So much for official reports.
About the 1st of December the 3d Georgia Regiment was or- dered back to Portsmouth and its place on Roanoke Island was taken by a newly organized regiment of North Carolina troops.
During the summer and fall of 1861 no effort was made by the Confederates to recapture Fort Hatteras, though it was weakly garrisoned, and though Governor Clarke of North Carolina was constantly urging it. On the 19th of September the Federal gar- rison consisted of only 946 men. General Wool, too, was expect- ing them to recapture it, and was constantly urging upon the Fed- eral government the importance of strengthening the garrison if it was intended to hold the place. But General Huger had his eye fixed upon Fortress Monroe, and could see nothing but an ex- pected landing of Federals at Ocean View On the 5th of Sep- tember Adjutant General Cooper telegraphed to know if he could not spare the sailors at the Navy Yard to be sent to the North Carolina Sounds, and he replied that he could not spare a single man, that he needed two more regiments. On the 30th of November his muster rolls showed an aggregate present of 13,- 451, and on the rolls, absent and present, 15,143. January, 1862, he had present 15,352. Present and absent, 16,761. He had also 24 field pieces and 192 heavy guns, of which 46 were in the vicinity of Suffolk.
On the 6th of December orders were received from Richmond to make all of the batteries around the harbor bomb proof, and on the 7th of January, 1862, General Huger reported to the Sec- retary of War the following naval officers on duty in the batte- ries, with their respective ranks under the act of Congress allow- ing army rank to naval officers on duty with the army.
Commander R. F. Pinkney, commanding Fort Norfolk and inspector of batteries, with the rank of Lientenant-Colonel.
Commander Charles F. MeIntosh, commanding Fort Nelson, Lieutenant-Colonel.
Commander W. L. Manry, commanding Seawell's Point bat- tery, Lieutenant-Colonel.
Lieutenant G. W. Harrison, commanding Pinner's Point Bat- tery, Major.
-
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Lieutenant R. R. Carter, commanding Pig Point battery, Ma- jor.
Lieutenant B. P. Loyall, assigned to Roanoke Island, Captain. Lieutenant J. S. Taylor, assigned to Roanoke Island, to rank as Major
The Monitor, iron elad, was expected to arrive at Fortress Mon- roe the latter part of February, and General Mcclellan desired General Wool to make use of her to capture Norfolk. General Wool informed the Secretary that with 20,000 men and four bat- teries in addition to the force he then had at Fortress Monroe, of 11,000 men and two batteries, with the co-operation of the navy and of General Burnside's forces from North Carolina op- erating on its rear, he thought he could capture it. Mcclellan urged upon him specially to capture the batteries at Seawell's Point and spike the guns.
On the 16th of February, 1862, General Burnside sent an ex- pedition up the Chowan river for the purpose of burning the Sea- board and Roanoke railroad bridges across the Blackwater and Nottoway rivers. It reached Winton on the 17th and had an en- gagement with the 1st North Carolina Battalion, under Lieuten- ant-Colonel Williams, and a battery of artillery, and fell back. During the night Lieutenant-Colonel Williams also fell baek, and the next day the gunboats returned and burned Winton. The Richmond authorities then became very apprehensive for the safety of Norfolk and Portsmouth, and on the 27th General Hu- ger was ordered to put the two cities under martial law, to enroll all the militia capable of doing military duty, and to make ar- rangements to remove the women and children and all other persons who would embarrass their defence in case of a siege.
General Burnside continued active in his demonstrations in North Carolina, and General Lee continued apprehensive of a joint movement from Edenton and Newport News upon Suffolk, and about the 1st of March the 14th and 53d Virginia, 2d Lonis- iana, 15th North Carolina, and 16th Georgia Regiments and Cobb's Georgia Legion, with Moseley's battery of artillery, were conveyed to that town from General Magruder's army on the Pe- ninsula. They took steamers from King's Mill for City Point, and were conveyed thenee by rail to Suffolk, reaching there on the 4th. The detachment numbered about 5,000 men, and on the 8th General Huger erossed the 3d Alabama from Norfolk to Portsmouth, near the Seaboard railroad, to be accessible in case there should be need at Suffolk.
On the Sth and 9th of March the iron-clad Virginia (Merrimac) had her battles in Hampton Roads, and the result of the second day's battle, the battle between the Virginia and Monitor, alarmed both General Huger and the Federal authorities. General Huger recommended that the narrow passage left in the channel below
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Lambert's Point be closed with obstructions, so as to prevent the Monitor from coming up to Norfolk, and Secretary Wells of the United States Navy, wanted General Wool to tow some vessels loaded with stone to Seawell's Point and sink them in the chan- nel there to prevent the Virginia from coming out again. Gen- eral Huger's recommendation was disapproved by the Secretary of War at Richmond, who told him that the Federals were so alarmed about the Virginia that they would not venture to enter the harbor. The Secretary of War was correct, and the Federals abandoned the idea of attacking the harbor from that side. As- sistant Secretary of the Navy G. V. Fox wrote to General Mc- Clellan on the 13th as follows:
" The Monitor is more than a match for the Merrimac, but she might be disabled in the next encounter. I cannot advise so great dependence on her. Burnside and Goldsboro are very strong for the Chowan river route to Norfolk, and I brought up maps, &c., to show you. It turns everything, and is only twenty- seven miles to Norfolk by two good roads. The Monitor may, and I think will, destroy the Merrimac in the next fight, but this is hope, not certainty."
See what a train of events followed the failure of Secretary Mallory to take the advice of Naval Constructor John L. Porter in June, 1861, to import armor iron and steam engines for iron- clad gunboats. Two of them in Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds would have been worth more than 30,000 men.
On the 10th of February, two days after the fall of Roanoke Is- land, the 6th Virginia Regiment, under Colonel Thos. J. Cor- prew, was sent to Currituck Bridge, the eastern entrance to the Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal, and the 3d Georgia Regiment was sent back to South Mills, the Carolina end of the Dismal Swamp Canal. 'A day or two afterwards, General Wise, falling back from Nag's Head with the remnant of his brigade, met the 6th Virginia Regiment at Currituck Bridge, took command and fell back to Great Bridge, taking the 6th Regiment with him. General Huger found him there, and requested the Secretary of War to detach him and his brigade from the division. Accord- ingly, on the 18th, General Wise was ordered to report with his infantry to General Joseph E. Johnston, at Manassas, and on the 20th turned over the post at Great Bridge and his artillery to General Mahone.
Colonel Wright pushed on towards Elizabeth City, and formed a junction with McComas' Battery of the Wise Legion, the Sonth- ampton Cavalry, Captain Gillett, and two companies of North Carolina militia, and on the 19th of April fought the battle of South Mills, or Sawyer's Lane, or Camden. General Reno, with five regiments, the 21st Massachusetts, 51st Pennsylvania, 6th New Hampshire, and 9th and 89th New York, and a detachment
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of the 1st New York Marine Artillery, with six boat howitzers, the whole numbering about 4,000 men, landed at Elizabeth City and started towards South Mills to destroy the canal locks to pre- vent the passage of iron elads, which, it was reported to them, were nearly ready at the navy yard at Portsmouth, for service in the North Carolina sounds. Colonel Wright formed six compa- nies of his regiment in an advantageous position across the main road, with his flanks protected by a thick wood and swamp, placed two of McComas' guns in the road, and awaited the approach of the enemy. There was a large open field in front, and in this the battle was fought. Colonel Wright sent the rest of his command ' to the rear as a reserve and to guard a bridge across the Pasquo- tank river, in case there should be any attempt to cross from that direction to his rear. The enemy began the attack about 12 o'clock, and continued it, with occasional intermissions, as their assaults were repulsed, for about four hours. Several attempts to turn the flanks, as well as to attack in front, were defeated by the firing of artillery and infantry, and after the final repulse of the enemy, Colonel Wright fell baek to his entrenchments, about two miles in the rear, and the enemy retreated to Elizabeth City and embarked immediately. Three of their regiments reached Roa- noke Island the next morning, and the two others were conveyed to Newberne. The next day Colonel Wright was reinforced by the 1st Louisiana and the 32d North Carolina Regiments, and later by the Portsmouth Rifle Company and Grimes' Battery, under command of General Blanchard, who assumed command of the brigade. Colonel Wright's loss in the engagement was six killed, nineteen wounded and three missing. Among the killed was Captain McComas, of the artillery. The Federal loss, as per their official report, was thirteen killed, 101 wounded, and thirteen captured.
The uncertainty of the point of attack in North Carolina and the many exposed points required the withdrawal from Virginia of a large portion of General Johnston's army, and so great was this drain that in April, 1862, the muster rolls of General Holmes' command in North Carolina showed a force of nearly 25,000 ef- fective men, and the only troops who could be taken to fill their places were those under command of General Huger, in the vicin- ity of Norfolk and Portsmouth. General Johnston announced his decision on the 28th of April to fall back from Yorktown and recommended the evacuation of Norfolk and Portsmouth, and General Lee, who had for some time apprehended a movement of the Federals upon Suffolk, and doubted the ability of the Confed- erates to detach troops enough to resist it, eoncurred in the move- ment, and orders were issued to General Huger to remove every- thing moveable, preparatory to marching away the troops, whom he was ordered to concentrate on Petersburg. The evaenation of
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