American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

Battle of Roanoke Island The opening phase of what came to be called the Burnside Expedition, the Battle of Roanoke Island was an amphibious operation of the American Civil War, fought on February 7–8, 1862, in the North Carolina Sounds a short distance south of the ...

Pasquotank River The Pasquotank River
, from the North Carolina Collection's website at the

Elizabeth City Elizabeth City is a city in Pasquotank County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 18,629. Elizabeth City is the county seat and largest city of Pasquotank County. It is the cultural, economic and educ ...

,

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

. The participants were vessels of the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

's

North Atlantic Blockading Squadron The Union blockade in the American Civil War was a naval strategy by the United States to prevent the Confederacy from trading. The blockade was proclaimed by President Abraham Lincoln in April 1861, and required the monitoring of of Atlantic ...

, opposed by vessels of the

Confederate Navy The Confederate States Navy (CSN) was the Navy, naval branch of the Confederate States Armed Forces, established by an act of the Confederate States Congress on February 21, 1861. It was responsible for Confederate naval operations during the Amer ...

's

Mosquito Fleet The term Mosquito Fleet has had a variety of naval and commercial uses around the world. United States In United States, U.S. naval and maritime history, the term has had ten main meanings: #The United States Navy's fleet of small gunboats, lead ...

; the latter were supported by a shore-based battery of four guns at Cobb's Point (now called Cobb Point), near the southeastern border of the town. The battle was a part of the campaign in North Carolina that was led by

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Ambrose E. Burnside Ambrose Everett Burnside (May 23, 1824 – September 13, 1881) was an American army officer and politician who became a senior Union general in the Civil War and three times Governor of Rhode Island, as well as being a successful inventor ...

and known as the Burnside Expedition. The result was a

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

victory, with Elizabeth City and its nearby waters in their possession, and the Confederate fleet captured, sunk, or dispersed.

Background

At the outset of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, the

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

sought to implement its

Anaconda Plan The Anaconda Plan is the name applied to a strategy outlined by the Union Army for suppressing the Confederacy at the beginning of the American Civil War. Proposed by Union General-in-Chief Winfield Scott, the plan emphasized a Union blockade of ...

to isolate and defeat the Confederacy. The crucial first step was to

blockade A blockade is the act of actively preventing a country or region from receiving or sending out food, supplies, weapons, or communications, and sometimes people, by military force. A blockade differs from an embargo or sanction, which are le ...

the Confederate coast to prevent access to Europe; this was relatively easy, as the pre-war navy was almost entirely from the Union states. The Union then sought to use its naval advantage to advance the rest of the Anaconda Plan by cutting parts of the Confederacy off from one another. Elizabeth City lies near the mouth of the Pasquotank River, where it flows into

Albemarle Sound Albemarle Sound () is a large estuary on the coast of North Carolina in the United States located at the confluence of a group of rivers, including the Chowan and Roanoke. It is separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Currituck Banks, a ba ...

from the north. North of the city is the

Dismal Swamp Canal The Dismal Swamp Canal is a canal located along the eastern edge of the Great Dismal Swamp in Virginia and North Carolina in the United States. Opened in 1805, it is the oldest continually operating man-made canal in the United States. It is par ...

. To the east is the southern segment of the

Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal The Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal was built by a corporation in 1856-1860 to afford inland navigation between the Chesapeake Bay and the Albemarle Sound. It is really two canals, thirty miles (50 km) apart, one eight and one-half miles (13. ...

, separated from the Pasquotank River by only a narrow neck of land. Much of the food and forage delivered from North Carolina to southeastern Virginia was transported along these two canals. In particular,

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...

depended upon continued access to the canals for its subsistence. So long as the North Carolina Sounds remained in Confederate hands, Norfolk could be well supplied despite the blockading efforts of the Union Navy at the mouth of the

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the ...

. That changed, however, in early February 1862. In a battle fought on 7–8 February, the joint operation of a Union Army division under

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Ambrose E. Burnside Ambrose Everett Burnside (May 23, 1824 – September 13, 1881) was an American army officer and politician who became a senior Union general in the Civil War and three times Governor of Rhode Island, as well as being a successful inventor ...

and a naval flotilla under Flag Officer

Louis M. Goldsborough Louis Malesherbes Goldsborough (February 18, 1805 – February 20, 1877) was a rear admiral in the United States Navy during the American Civil War. He held several sea commands during the Civil War, including that of the North Atlantic Blockadi ...

captured

Roanoke Island Roanoke Island () is an island in Dare County, North Carolina, Dare County, bordered by the Outer Banks of North Carolina, United States. It was named after the historical Roanoke (tribe), Roanoke, a Carolina Algonquian people who inhabited the ar ...

, a position in

Croatan Sound Croatan Sound is an inlet in Dare County, North Carolina. It connects Pamlico Sound with Albemarle Sound, and is bordered to the east by Roanoke Island; Roanoke Sound is on the other side of the island. Its name comes from the Croatan Indians who ...

that had previously shielded the sounds from Federal encroachment. Earlier, Union ships trying to enforce the blockade on the canals would have had to enter

Pamlico Sound Pamlico Sound ( ) is a lagoon in North Carolina which is the largest lagoon along the North American East Coast, extending long and 15 to 20 miles (24 to 32 km) wide. It is part of a large, interconnected network of lagoon estuaries that in ...

through

Hatteras Inlet Hatteras Inlet is an estuary in North Carolina, located along the Outer Banks, separating Hatteras Island and Ocracoke Island. It connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Pamlico Sound. Hatteras Inlet is located entirely within Hyde County. History ...

, then pass several Confederate batteries on Roanoke Island before they could get into Albemarle Sound. With the elimination of the batteries, however, all that stood in the way of the Union Navy was the

Mosquito Fleet The term Mosquito Fleet has had a variety of naval and commercial uses around the world. United States In United States, U.S. naval and maritime history, the term has had ten main meanings: #The United States Navy's fleet of small gunboats, lead ...

of the Confederate States Navy.

Prelude

Defense: the Mosquito Fleet

The first shots of the Burnside Expedition were fired on 7 February 1862, in the

Battle of Roanoke Island The opening phase of what came to be called the Burnside Expedition, the Battle of Roanoke Island was an amphibious operation of the American Civil War, fought on February 7–8, 1862, in the North Carolina Sounds a short distance south of the ...

. On that first day of the two-day battle, a force of 19 Union gunboats bombarded, rather inconclusively, four Rebel forts facing Croatan Sound and eight ships of the Confederate States Navy. The Federal ships were parts of the

North Atlantic Blockading Squadron The Union blockade in the American Civil War was a naval strategy by the United States to prevent the Confederacy from trading. The blockade was proclaimed by President Abraham Lincoln in April 1861, and required the monitoring of of Atlantic ...

, commanded by Flag Officer Goldsborough. The Confederate vessels were drawn from a unit led by Flag Officer

William F. Lynch Captain William Francis Lynch (1 April 1801 – 17 October 1865) was a naval officer who served first in the United States Navy and later in the Confederate States Navy. Personal life William F. Lynch was born in Virginia. On 2 June 1828, on ...

, termed the

Mosquito Fleet The term Mosquito Fleet has had a variety of naval and commercial uses around the world. United States In United States, U.S. naval and maritime history, the term has had ten main meanings: #The United States Navy's fleet of small gunboats, lead ...

, intended to serve on Albemarle Sound and nearby waters. Two vessels of the Mosquito Fleet were not present: CSS ''Appomattox'' had been sent away to Edenton for supplies and did not return in time for the battle, and schooner CSS ''Black Warrior'' was left out, presumably because she lacked the mobility that steam power gave the rest of the fleet. The gunnery duel lasted from noon until sunset. The only significant casualty among the fleets was the loss of CSS ''Curlew'', holed at the waterline and beached to avoid sinking; when Roanoke Island was surrendered the next day, she was burned in order to keep her out of Federal hands. One other ship was damaged, but not by enemy action: CSS ''Forrest'' damaged her screw by running on a submerged obstacle, and was thereafter unable to move under her own power. The remainder of the Mosquito Fleet suffered only minimal damage. They had to retire at the end of the day, with ''Forrest'' in tow, solely because they had nearly run out of ammunition. Flag Officer Lynch took his fleet to

Elizabeth City Elizabeth City is a city in Pasquotank County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 18,629. Elizabeth City is the county seat and largest city of Pasquotank County. It is the cultural, economic and educ ...

, to resupply and to repair ''Forrest''. Failing to find ammunition to replenish his magazines, he sent

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

Thomas T. Hunter, former captain of CSS ''Curlew'', to Norfolk. He later sent CSS ''Raleigh'' up the Dismal Swamp Canal for the same purpose. Hunter returned with enough to resupply only two ships; Lynch divided it among all of his remaining serviceable ships. ''Raleigh'', however, was not able to return in time. No further changes of status affected the Mosquito Fleet. On the eve of battle, Lynch had at his disposal six ships in the water, each with only enough shot and powder to be able to fire ten times.ORN ser. I, v. 6, p. 596. His flagship, ''Sea Bird'', carrying two guns, was a converted sidewheel steamer. Three of his other vessels were former tugs: ''Appomattox'' and ''Ellis'', each with two guns, and ''Beaufort'', with only one. ''Fanny'', with two guns, had been a transport vessel used by the United States Army until she was captured by Confederate forces near Cape Hatteras. The last vessel, ''

CSS Black Warrior ''Black Warrior'' is the name of a Confederate two-masted schooner that participated in the defense of Roanoke Island in North Carolina during the Civil War. Its brief wartime career ended with its burning at Elizabeth City, North Carolina. ...

'', a schooner that had been pressed into service only four days before the battle, was armed with two 32-pounder guns. In addition to the eleven guns of his fleet, Lynch counted on the four guns of the Cobb's Point battery for support.

Offense: the Union fleet

The surrender of Roanoke Island on 8 February included all the Rebel forts that had faced on Croatan Sound, so they would no longer be able to prevent passage of Union ships from

Pamlico The Pamlico (also ''Pampticough'', ''Pomouik'', ''Pomeiok'') were American Indians of North Carolina. They spoke an Algonquian language also known as ''Pamlico'' or ''Carolina Algonquian''. Geography The Pamlico Indians lived on the Pa ...

into Albemarle Sound. Flag Officer Goldsborough therefore ordered his gunboats to pursue the Mosquito Fleet and destroy it. Although none of his vessels had been seriously hit in the bombardment of the preceding day, some were damaged enough that he decided not to include them in his order. Fourteen ships remained, however, and they carried a total of 37 guns. Goldsborough himself did not accompany the pursuit; in his stead was Commander Stephen C. Rowan.Browning, ''From Cape Charles to Cape Fear,'' p. 28. The fourteen were all, like their Confederate counterparts, converted from civilian vessels in the first days of the war. Rowan's flagship , , , , , and had all been sidewheel steamers before being acquired by the navy. was also a sidewheel steamer, and like two of her opponents was a former tug. Two other sidewheel vessels, and , had been ferries. The remaining five ships, , , , , and were screw steamers. If Captain Lynch had known that the Federal fleet faced a shortage of ammunition very much like his own, he perhaps would have altered his tactics, although the outcome would likely have been the same. As it was, Rowan ordered the captains in his fleet to conserve their ammunition. They were told to use ramming and boarding, so far as was possible, to disable or capture the enemy ships. On 9 February, Rowan's gunboats passed the now-silent guns of Croatan Sound and crossed Albemarle Sound. Darkness fell as they approached Elizabeth City, so they anchored for the night.

Battle

Lynch used the time that the Union flotilla was anchored to arrange his own ships for the coming battle. He decided to base his position on the battery of four guns at Cobb's Point, placing schooner CSS ''Black Warrior'' opposite the point, and his five remaining steamships in line across the river a short distance upstream. He took this position because he expected the Union to try to reduce the battery before proceeding, as they had done three days previously in the opening phase of the Battle of Roanoke Island. His final instructions to his captains included the order not to let the ships fall into enemy hands; if all else failed, they should try to escape, or else destroy their vessels. At dawn on 10 February, Lynch made his first visit to the Cobb's Point battery, to coordinate its defense with his fleet. He found it manned by only seven militiamen and a single civilian. Because the battery was the strong point of his planned defense, he was constrained to order Lieutenant Commander

William Harwar Parker William Harwar Parker (October 8, 1826 – December 30, 1896) was an officer in the United States Navy and later in the Confederate States Navy. His autobiography, entitled ''Recollections of a Naval Officer 1841–1865'', provides a unique insigh ...

, captain of CSS ''Beaufort'', to come ashore with most of his crew to man the guns. He left only enough on the ship to take her up the canal. With the additional men, only three of the four guns could be manned. When battle was joined, the militiamen promptly deserted; henceforth, only two guns could be used against the enemy. The battery turned out to be irrelevant. Because his ammunition was low and his mission was to destroy the Rebel fleet, Rowan ordered his ships to bypass the battery. Parker and his men got off a few wild shots that did no harm, but they found that their guns would not bear once the Federal fleet was upstream. They therefore could only watch as their ships were destroyed by the attacking Federal fleet. First of the Confederate fleet to be lost was schooner ''Black Warrior''. She was fired on by the entire attacking force as they passed the Cobb's Point battery, so her crew abandoned her and set her afire. Likewise, ''Fanny'' was run ashore and burned. A boarding party from captured CSS ''Ellis'' in hand-to-hand combat. Her captain would have blown up ''Ellis'' but a coal heaver discovered the charges and revealed them to the boarding party. CSS ''Sea Bird'' attempted to escape, but was run down and sunk by . CSS ''Beaufort'' and ''Appomattox'' made good their escape into the Dismal Swamp Canal. There, ''Appomattox'' was found to be too wide to pass through a lock, so she was burned. CSS ''Forrest'', on the stocks to repair the damaged screw she had sustained on 8 February, was burned, along with an unnamed and uncompleted gunboat. CSS ''Raleigh'' was still at Norfolk, so she was not harmed. She and ''Beaufort'' were the only vessels in the Mosquito Fleet to escape either capture or destruction. Casualties were modest. The attacking Federal fleet lost two men killed and seven wounded, while the Rebels lost in all four killed, six wounded, and 34 captured. Quarter Gunner John Davis was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions on board the during the engagement.

Aftermath

When they learned of the destruction of their fleet and the surrender of the Cobb's Point battery, Confederate troops retreating from Roanoke Island set fires in Elizabeth City, acting under orders from

Brigadier General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

Henry A. Wise Henry Alexander Wise (December 3, 1806 – September 12, 1876) was an American attorney, diplomat, politician and slave owner from Virginia. As the 33rd Governor of Virginia, Wise served as a significant figure on the path to the American Civil W ...

to destroy the town. About two blocks had been consumed when sailors from the Union flotilla arrived and were able to save the rest. The Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal was blocked near its entrance at the North River. The retreating Rebels started the obstruction. It was completed by the victorious Federal forces, acting under the orders of Flag Officer Goldsborough. CSS Albemarle

The town of

Edenton Edenton is a town in, and the county seat of, Chowan County, North Carolina, United States, on Albemarle Sound. The population was 4,397 at the 2020 census. Edenton is located in North Carolina's Inner Banks region. In recent years Edenton has b ...

was taken without bloodshed on 12 February by four of Commander Cowan's gunboats. Two schooners were captured and another destroyed, and eight cannon were seized.ORN ser. I, v. 6, p. 637. More generally, there was no longer a Confederate presence on Albemarle Sound. It remained so for most of the rest of the war; the only significant challenge to Union dominance was the short-lived experiment of CSS ''Albemarle'' in the summer of 1864. Although Norfolk was not attacked, it was isolated and increasingly worthless to the Confederate Army. In May, the city was abandoned.

Order of battle

Confederate:
CSS ''Sea Bird'', sidewheel steamer, flagship
CSS ''Fanny'', tug boat
CSS ''Appomattox'', tug boat
CSS ''Ellis'', tug boat
CSS ''Beaufort'', tug boat
CSS ''Black Warrior'', schooner Union:
USS ''Delaware'', sidewheel steamer, flagship
USS ''Hetzel'', sidewheel steamer
USS ''Isaac N. Seymour'', sidewheel steamer
USS ''John L. Lockwood'', sidewheel steamer
USS ''Ceres'', sidewheel steamer
USS ''Shawsheen'', sidewheel steamer
USS ''Commodore Perry'', sidewheel steamer
USS ''Morse'', sidewheel steamer
USS ''Louisiana'', screw steamer
USS ''Underwriter'', screw steamer
USS ''Valley City'', screw steamer
USS ''Whitehead'', screw steamer
USS ''Henry Brinker'', screw steamer

Notes

Abbreviations used in these notes: :ORA (Official records, armies): ''War of the Rebellion: a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate Armies.'' :ORN (Official records, navies): ''Official records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion.''

References

*Browning, Robert M. Jr., ''From Cape Charles to Cape Fear: the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron during the Civil War.'' Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama, 1993. *Campbell, R. Thomas, ''Storm over Carolina: the Confederate Navy's struggle for eastern North Carolina.'' Nashville, TN: Cumberland House, 2005. *Parker, William Harwar, ''Recollections of a naval officer, 1841–1865.'' New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1883; reprint ed., Annapolis: United States Naval Institute, 1985. *Trotter, William R., ''Ironclads and columbiads: the coast.'' Winston-Salem: John F. Blair, 1989. *US Navy Department, ''Official records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion.'' Series I: 27 volumes. Series II: 3 volumes. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1894–1922. * US War Department, ''A compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate Armies.'' Series I: 53 volumes. Series II: 8 volumes. Series III: 5 volumes. Series IV: 4 volumes. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1886–1901. {{DEFAULTSORT:Elizabeth City

Elizabeth City Elizabeth City is a city in Pasquotank County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 18,629. Elizabeth City is the county seat and largest city of Pasquotank County. It is the cultural, economic and educ ...

Camden County, North Carolina

Elizabeth City Elizabeth City is a city in Pasquotank County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 18,629. Elizabeth City is the county seat and largest city of Pasquotank County. It is the cultural, economic and educ ...

Pasquotank County, North Carolina 1862 in North Carolina 1862 in the American Civil War

Elizabeth City Elizabeth City is a city in Pasquotank County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 18,629. Elizabeth City is the county seat and largest city of Pasquotank County. It is the cultural, economic and educ ...

February 1862 events