December 15-16, 1862 - Battle of Whitehall

December 15-16, 1862

Battle of Whitehall

present-day Seven Springs in Wayne County, NC 

Maj. Gen. John G. Foster

vs.

Brig. Gen. B. H. Robertson

* Foster heading toward the railroad bridge at Goldsboro, encounters the just-leaving Confederates at a bridge of the Neuse - and tries to destroy their ironclad. Returns the next day to try and slip past the Confederates, but it ends up being a long battle; Foster heads back to New Bern without getting the railroad bridge (don't worry - we'll get it later.

* Foster left 100 dead on the field for the Confederates to find! Northern newspapers did NOT appreciate that.   

* Roughly contemporaneous with the doomed Union assault at Fredericksburg, this was meant to keep the pressure on all along the line. 

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=207551

Battle of Whitehall

 On December 15-16, 1862, on a raid at Whitehall, Union troops led by Gen. J.G. Foster damaged the Confederate Ram "Neuse."

 

Erected 1970 by State Department of Archives and History. (Marker Number F-44.)

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=30542

The Battle of Whitehall

The War Between the States

—December 15-16, 1862—

On this site, Confederate and Union troops engaged in battle. Confederates took position N. side of river, after burning bridge. Union troops occupied S. side and hill above, destroying much of village. CSS Neuse damaged during shelling. After suffering a number of casualties, Union troops withdrew marching toward Goldsboro. Confederate losses were few.

Memorial in somebody's front yard. Who even erected this marker? I may have missed details on the back. The next set of pics is from literally across the street, still on this side of the river, which is just out of the shot on the other side of my car. 

*

IDK - dead Confederates? It was early. I was sick. The point is: I made it to Whitehall. 

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=30540

Engagement at Whitehall

A Sharp Action

— Foster's Raid —

Late in 1862, Union Gen. John G. Foster's garrison was well entrenched in New Bern and made several incursions into the countryside. On December 11, Foster led a raid from New Bern to burn the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad Bridge over the Neuse River at Goldsboro and to demonstrate in support of Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside's attack at Fredericksburg, Virginia. Foster's force consisted of 10,000 infantry, 650 cavalry, and 40 cannons.

Marching from New Bern on December 11, 1862, Foster captured Kinston on December 14 after a two-day fight. The next evening, he reached a point four miles from Whitehall (present-day Seven Springs), bivouacked for the night, and sent three companies of cavalry to reconnoiter toward the village. The Federals encountered Gen. Beverly H. Robertson's Confederates setting fire to the bridge over the Neuse River here and brought up artillery to drive them off.

The Federals returned to their bivouac, then resumed their advance the next morning, December 16. Finding Robertson's force well entrenched across the river and under cover of trees, brush, and timber cut to construct the Confederate ironclad Neuse, Foster stationed his artillery on a hill overlooking the Confederate line and opened fire. Roberson advanced infantrymen toward the river to simulate a crossing because the Union gunners lacked cover, and a sharp action ensued. Foster soon withdrew his force and continued the march to Goldsboro. The artillery barrage damaged the village and resulted in numerous casualties among the combatants.

Target CSS Neuse

On the night of December 15, to illuminate the Confederate position at the bridge, Foster's men produced a spectacular bonfire by torching 2,000 barrels of turpentine. CSS Neuse was under construction on the opposite shore. Pvt. Henry Butler swam across the river with a flaming plank from the bridge but was driven back before he could burn the vessel. The ship's hull was damaged by artillery fire, but not beyond repair.

Yesssss - Same, Foster. Same.

I am here. I WAS where those 9-NJ troops are located on this map. Next up, some (new?) non-documented, non-Civil War Trails markers at this same location. 

*

Geographically, I actually got to Kinston first, much like the aforementioned Confederates retreating West from New Bern. (It was even earlier in the morning: pre-dawn Civil War tourism!) It contain a bunch more about the CSS Neuse, which makes more sense appearing here than on the page for the actual battle of Kinston. I'm not sure what "remains" that marker refers to, but it might be in the museum that was obviously closed when I passed through; I certainly looked around one block North! Kinston, I learned here at the Lenoir County Courthouse, was a colonial city originally called Kingston, but they changed it after the Revolution so they didn't sound like Loyalists! 

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=70451

Confederate ironclad, built at Whitehall and floated down the Neuse. Grounded and burned by Confederates in 1865. Remains one block N.

I can't figure out whom Tiffany West Park is named for. Here it is, overlooking the Neuse River <not pictured>

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=270342

John Taylor Wood, CSN

And the Sinking of the USS Underwriter

In January 1864, General Robert E. Lee wrote to Confederate President Jefferson Davis that "a bold party" could descend the Neuse River to New Bern at night, capture Federal gunboats and use them to assist an assault on Union-held New Bern by a 5,000 man/16 artillery piece Confederate force from Kinston, under command of General George Pickett.

On January 31, 1864 a Confederate Navy raiding party left Kinston and rowed down the Neuse River to New Bern. CSN Commander John Taylor Wood, nephew of the Confederate President Jefferson Davis and grandson of former U.S. President Zachary Taylor, commanded the expedition. Previously, Wood commanded several other "cutting out" expeditions that captured and burned Federal ships. The Confederate handpicked naval force consisted of 250 to 300 men, 35 officers, 25 marines, and 14 boats.

At New Bern the Confederates found the USS Underwriter, a side-wheel steamer 186 feet long, carrying two 8-inch shell guns with a 30-pound and a 12-pound Howitzer. The Underwriter was one of the largest federal gunboats in North Carolina waters and had seen extensive duty as part of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron. Wood divided his force into two divisions - one under his command, the other under Lieutenant Benjamin P. Loyall. At 2:30 a.m. on the morning of February 2, 1864 the Confederates boarded the Underwriter and, after 10 minutes of brutal hand-to-hand fighting, captured the ship. Unable to move the Underwriter because its coals were banked, and coming under fire from nearby Union Fort Stevenson on the South Bank and Fort Anderson on the North Bank of the Neuse River, Wood ordered the ship burned and the raiders returned to their launches. A few minutes later, Wood sent Lt. Francis Hoge back on board the Underwriter to make sure it was indeed on fire. Once that task was completed, the Confederates made their escape back up the Neuse River to Kinston. At 4:30 a.m., the Underwriter exploded. The Confederates lost five killed, 15 wounded, and four missing; and captured 26 Union prisoners. The Federals lost approximately nine killed and 20 wounded.

Lt. Loyall was later promoted to the commander of the CSS Neuse ironclad ship then being outfitted at Kinston. Lt. Hoge was later appointed executive officer of the CSS Neuse. Sixteen days after the attack, James Wickes, a CSS enlisted man on the Underwriter expedition, died on the submarine H.L. Hunley when it sank the USS Housatonic in the Union blockade of Charleston, S.C.

The wreckage of the Underwriter remains in the Neuse River and its location was pinpointed in 1964.[!]

Erected by Lenoir County Battlefields Commission.

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=270338

Cat Hole

Finishing CSS Neuse

The Confederate ironclad ram Neuse was constructed at Whitehall (present-day Seven Springs) beginning in October 1862. In late spring 1863, having survived Union Gen. John G. Foster's raid and the engagement at Whitehall the previous December[,] Neuse arrived in Kinston and moored on the Neuse River near the foot of Caswell Street to receive its iron fittings and machinery. It was later moved downriver about 100 yards to deeper water near the bridge in front of you, then into a slough for laborers to complete the work. A ship's officer, 2nd Lt. Richard H. Bacot, wrote letters home referring to the docking site here as the Cat Hole.

The riverbank adjacent to the Cat Hole was steep allowing the ship's machinery to be lowered easily into the hull. Because of a lack of iron and men, as well as other difficulties, it was more than a year before Neuse was ready for service. On April 22, 1864, the new ship steamed out of the Cat Hole toward New Bern ready for action only to become stuck on a sandbar half a mile downriver. According to Bacot, the ship was afloat again in July of that year and returned to the Cat Hole where more work was done on the iron plating.

On March 12, 1865, the ship fired on advancing Union troops after the Battle of Wyse Fork. A short time later, the crew set Neuse afire to prevent its capture. An explosion in the port bow sent the ship to the bottom of the river, where it remained until salvaged early in the 1960s. The vessel's remains are displayed inside the CSS Neuse Civil War Interpretive Center, one block north of you, on the corner of Queen and Caswell Streets.

(captions)

Lt. Richard H. Bacot's sketches of Neuse and armor plating

CSS Neuse under construction, painting by Stephen McCall. 

Both images courtesy of CSS Neuse Civil War Interpretive Center

Those white lights to the left are on the bridge;
the darkness to the right is the river. 

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=30538

CSS Neuse 

Confederate Ironclad Gunboat

Moored near the King Street Bridge, the Confederate States Ship Neuse, and ironclad gunboat, was outfitted in Kinston in late 1863 and early 1864.

(Left):

An April 1864 attempt to take her downriver in a concerted attack on New Bern failed.

(Back):

The CSS Neuse was scuttled to prevent capture by Union forces on March 12, 1865 approximately one quarter mile downstream from this location.

(Right):

The ship remained on the river bottom until her recovery in 1863.

 

*

Bonus material: Kinston is not just famous as the birthplace of the Neuse, but unfortunately gains notoriety for some late-war deserter hangings. I found the following entirely relevant information from a marker that, while still documented in the database, no longer exists in the real world. Actually: it might be in a museum, but I think there's something shady going on here! (The Historical Preservation Group doesn't exist anymore, despite being made up in 2003.) OH so this historical marker we can move without controversy?! I wonder why. 

And yes, it was "foppishly vain" George Pickett that did the hanging - still trying to regain the glory he lost way back at Gettysburg. Nobody thought his vengeance here was a good idea, much less legal. 

Kinston Hangings

In February 1864, in this vicinity, 22 white soldiers from the Kinston area were hanged in three groups by Confederate authorities. The executed men had been captured while serving in the Union army by troops under the command of Maj. General E. Pickett during operations around New Bern, N.C., and were deemed rightly or wrongly deserters from the Southern ranks.

In February 1864, twenty two white men, who had deserted the Confederate Army and joined the Union Army, were captured by Confederate Forces under the command of General George Pickett at Beech Grove near New Bern. In the presence of all the confederate troops and the town's people these soldiers were hung in this vicinity.

Amos Armyett • William O. Haddock • A.J. Britton • David Jones • John J. Britton • Joseph Haskett • Joel Brock • William J. Hill • John Brock • Calvin Huffman • Lewis Bryan • William Irving • Mitchell Busick • Stephen Jones • Charles Cuthrell • William Jones • W.C. Daugherty • Elijah Kellum • John Freeman • John Stanley • Lewis Freeman • Jesse Summerlin

Erected 2003 by Historical Preservation Group and Lenoir County Battlefields Commission, Written by Gerard A. Patterson.

Photographed by Richard Phillips, November 1, 2010

Sources/ Suggested reading:

Williams, L. George. "Whitehall, Battle of." NCpedia. State Library of NC. 2006. https://www.ncpedia.org/whitehall-battle.

https://societyofthewhitfields.com/battle-of-whitehall%3A-1862