Aug. 28-29, 1861 - Battle of Hatteras Inlet Batteries; USS Minnesota bombards Forts Hatteras and Clark

August 28–29, 1861

Battle of Hatteras Inlet Batteries (or Battle of Forts Hatteras and Clark)

Outer Banks off North Carolina, near Cape Hatteras


Major General Benjamin F. Butler (Department of Virginia): Col. Rush Hawkins (9th New York Infantry Regiment; 220 men), Col. Max Weber ( 20th New York Infantry Regiment; 500 men), Cpt. William Nixon (99th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment ["Union Coast Guard"]; 100 men), Lt. Frank H. Larned (Detachment, 2nd US Artillery Regiment; 60 men)

&

Flag Officer Silas H. Stringham (Atlantic Blockading Squadron): USS Monticello (1859). USS Harriet Lane, USS Minnesota (1855), USS Wabash (1855), USS Susquehanna (1850), USS Cumberland (1842), USS Pawnee (1859), and the Fanny.

vs.

Col. William F. Martin (17th North Carolina Infantry Regiment), Col. Andrews (Fort Hatteras Garrison), and  unspecified naval volunteers, including Flag Officer Samuel Barron


* "the first combined operation of the Union Army and Navy in the American Civil War"; or "America's 1st Amphibious Assault of the Civil War"

* "the first application of the naval blockading strategy"

* Yep, I drove to the Outer Banks of North Carolina, not to go to the beach, but to take a picture of a historical marker in a parking lot (of a museum I didn't even go to) where there was a confederate battery in 1861. #1861 Completist [Summer 2025]


https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=253140
Fort Clark

Hatteras Inlet, defended by Forts Clark and Hatteras, was a strategic port of entry for troops and supplies providing deep water access to the vital intercoastal waterways. In later May of 1861, the Federal Blockade Board of Strategy began implementing General Winfield Scott's "Anaconda Plan" intending to constrict the South's warfare capability. Initially, they regarded the "...sterile, half drowned shores of North Carolina" as unimportant; less than one month later, they acknowledged this same coast as being "...the most dangerous stretch of shore in the whole Confederacy." All along the coast, lighthouses were "blacked out," channel buoys were sunk, and forts were constructed to defend navigable inlets.




The Bombardment of Fort Hatteras

After North Carolina joined the Confederacy, Hatteras became a principal port of privateering. With Cape Hatteras Lighthouse serving as a lookout tower, privateers freely passed through Hatteras Inlet taking dozens of ships and millions of dollars in cargo. Once more, the distinction between pirating and privateering became vague and depended upon the allegiance of the individual. Northern losses were so great, the nation's largest maritime insurance companies demanded the destruction of the "nest of pirates" and smugglers at Hatteras. In response to corporate and public outcry, and in desperate need of an easy victory, the first joint military operation of the war was authorized by the United States Navy. Hatteras and its defenses fell on August 29, 1861 after two days of naval bombardment.


https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=67576

Confederate Forts

 Fort Hatteras and Fort Clark, 2 miles s.west, fell to Union troops on Aug. 29, 1861, after two days of heavy naval bombardment.


https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=146058

America's 1st Amphibious Assault of the Civil War

On the morning of August 28, 1861, a Union force of 318 men landed near here under protective cover of a Federal fleet commanded by Commodore Silas Stringham. Despite losing their landing craft in heavy surf, the men advanced on Fort Clark, shown in the background on the right. Earlier, Confederate troops had spiked the fort cannons and retreated to nearby Fort Hatteras amidst intense shelling. Attacking from left to right are the Union warships: Minnesota, Harriet Lane, Cumberland, Wabash and Susquehanna. This action, depicted by A. Waud Esq., occurred about 800 yards southeast of this marker.

&

Island Veterans of the Civil War

1st Regiment North Carolina Infantry

(Names not transcribed)


Soldiers of the 17th, 32nd or 33rd Regiments North Carolina Troops

(Names not transcribed)

*

Aug. 28, 1861

USS Minnesota bombards Forts Hattera and Clark

Hatteras, North Carolina


* "first time the United States Navy employed the tactic of having ships sail in a single oval formation"

* I actually only took a picture of the other side of the marker, but trust me - it's there.


Photographed by Mike Wintermantel, August 16, 2011

Flagship USS Minnesota

USS Minnesota, a wooden steam frigate built in 1855, was the flagship for the Atlantic Blockading Squadron commanded by Flag Officer Silas H. Stringham. Seven United States Navy warships bombarded Forts Hatteras and Clark, August 28-29, 1861. This was the first time the United States Navy employed the tactic of having ships sail in a single oval formation. Using Stringham's innovative maneuver, the fleet rained down a continuous barrage of several thousand shells. Seven African American sailors manned the forward gun on the USS Minnesota firing on these Confederate fortifications. This black crew was mustered in at Boston, Massachusetts and included: William Brown, Charles Johnson, George Moore, George H. Roberts, George Sales, William H. White and Henry Williams.

*

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=46190

Hotel de Afrique

The 1st Safe Haven for African Americans in North Carolina during the Civil War 

The New York Times Friday, January 29, 1862: "Capt. Clark has erected a very commodious wooden house on the beach for the use of fugitives who have recently arrived from Roanoke Island. It is christened "Hotel de Afrique." Franklin Tillet, the older man who last arrived, came down from Roanoke Island in a boat, bringing with him fifteen of his household... They are very expert boatmen, and are very useful in pulling about the inlet and working along the shore." 

As the demands for safe haven continued to increase, this small structure, along with nine wooden barracks built behind Fort Clark, became the predecessor to the Freedman's Colony on Roanoke Island. The Hotel was approximately 1-1/2 miles west of this location.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Hatteras_Inlet_Batteries

https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/barron-samuel-1809-1888/

https://www.nps.gov/caha/learn/historyculture/civilwar.htm


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