The Fight for the Old North State: The Civil War in North Carolina, January-May 1864
Winner: Richard Barksdale Harwell Award

On a cold day in early January 1864, Robert E. Lee wrote to Confederate president Jefferson Davis “The time is at hand when, if an attempt can be made to capture the enemy’s forces at New Berne, it should be done.” Over the next few months, Lee’s dispatch would precipitate a momentous series of events as the Confederates, threatened by a supply crisis and an emerging peace movement, sought to seize Federal bases in eastern North Carolina. This book tells the story of these operations—the late war Confederate resurgence in the Old North State.

Using rail lines to rapidly consolidate their forces, the Confederates would attack the main Federal position at New Bern in February, raid the northeastern counties in March, hit the Union garrisons at Plymouth and Washington in late April, and conclude with another attempt at New Bern in early May. The expeditions would involve joint-service operations, as the Confederates looked to support their attacks with powerful, homegrown ironclad gunboats. These offensives in early 1864 would witness the failures and successes of southern commanders including George Pickett, James Cooke, and a young, aggressive North Carolinian named Robert Hoke. Likewise they would challenge the leadership of Union army and naval officers such as Benjamin Butler, John Peck, and Charles Flusser. Newsome does not neglect the broader context, revealing how these military events related to a contested gubernatorial election; the social transformations in the state brought on by the war; the execution of Union prisoners at Kinston; and the activities of North Carolina Unionists.

Lee’s January proposal triggered one of the last successful Confederate offensives. The Fight for the Old North State captures the full scope, as well as the dramatic details of this struggle for North Carolina.
1129800075
The Fight for the Old North State: The Civil War in North Carolina, January-May 1864
Winner: Richard Barksdale Harwell Award

On a cold day in early January 1864, Robert E. Lee wrote to Confederate president Jefferson Davis “The time is at hand when, if an attempt can be made to capture the enemy’s forces at New Berne, it should be done.” Over the next few months, Lee’s dispatch would precipitate a momentous series of events as the Confederates, threatened by a supply crisis and an emerging peace movement, sought to seize Federal bases in eastern North Carolina. This book tells the story of these operations—the late war Confederate resurgence in the Old North State.

Using rail lines to rapidly consolidate their forces, the Confederates would attack the main Federal position at New Bern in February, raid the northeastern counties in March, hit the Union garrisons at Plymouth and Washington in late April, and conclude with another attempt at New Bern in early May. The expeditions would involve joint-service operations, as the Confederates looked to support their attacks with powerful, homegrown ironclad gunboats. These offensives in early 1864 would witness the failures and successes of southern commanders including George Pickett, James Cooke, and a young, aggressive North Carolinian named Robert Hoke. Likewise they would challenge the leadership of Union army and naval officers such as Benjamin Butler, John Peck, and Charles Flusser. Newsome does not neglect the broader context, revealing how these military events related to a contested gubernatorial election; the social transformations in the state brought on by the war; the execution of Union prisoners at Kinston; and the activities of North Carolina Unionists.

Lee’s January proposal triggered one of the last successful Confederate offensives. The Fight for the Old North State captures the full scope, as well as the dramatic details of this struggle for North Carolina.
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The Fight for the Old North State: The Civil War in North Carolina, January-May 1864

The Fight for the Old North State: The Civil War in North Carolina, January-May 1864

by Hampton Newsome
The Fight for the Old North State: The Civil War in North Carolina, January-May 1864

The Fight for the Old North State: The Civil War in North Carolina, January-May 1864

by Hampton Newsome

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Overview

Winner: Richard Barksdale Harwell Award

On a cold day in early January 1864, Robert E. Lee wrote to Confederate president Jefferson Davis “The time is at hand when, if an attempt can be made to capture the enemy’s forces at New Berne, it should be done.” Over the next few months, Lee’s dispatch would precipitate a momentous series of events as the Confederates, threatened by a supply crisis and an emerging peace movement, sought to seize Federal bases in eastern North Carolina. This book tells the story of these operations—the late war Confederate resurgence in the Old North State.

Using rail lines to rapidly consolidate their forces, the Confederates would attack the main Federal position at New Bern in February, raid the northeastern counties in March, hit the Union garrisons at Plymouth and Washington in late April, and conclude with another attempt at New Bern in early May. The expeditions would involve joint-service operations, as the Confederates looked to support their attacks with powerful, homegrown ironclad gunboats. These offensives in early 1864 would witness the failures and successes of southern commanders including George Pickett, James Cooke, and a young, aggressive North Carolinian named Robert Hoke. Likewise they would challenge the leadership of Union army and naval officers such as Benjamin Butler, John Peck, and Charles Flusser. Newsome does not neglect the broader context, revealing how these military events related to a contested gubernatorial election; the social transformations in the state brought on by the war; the execution of Union prisoners at Kinston; and the activities of North Carolina Unionists.

Lee’s January proposal triggered one of the last successful Confederate offensives. The Fight for the Old North State captures the full scope, as well as the dramatic details of this struggle for North Carolina.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780700630370
Publisher: University Press of Kansas
Publication date: 07/30/2020
Series: Modern War Studies
Pages: 480
Sales rank: 616,785
Product dimensions: 5.90(w) x 8.80(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Hampton Newsome is the author of Richmond Must Fall: The Richmond-Petersburg Campaign, October 1864.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations and Maps

Preface

Part One: The War in North Carolina

1. Taking the Coast

2. Liberation, Discontent, and the Friends of Peace

Part Two: Military Plans for North Carolina

3. Lee’s Design for North Carolina

4. Grant’s Suffolk Plan

Part Three: The New Bern Expedition

5. On to New Bern

6. Bachelor Creek

7. Fort Anderson and Brice’s Creek

8. The Underwriter

9. Beech Grove and Newport Barracks

10. Decisions at New Bern

Part Four: Carolina Winter

11. The Kingston Hangings

12. The Politics of Peace

13. Ransom’s Raid

14. Preparing for the Spring

Part Five: Hoke’s Attack on Plymouth

15. Plymouth is the Target

16. The Attack on Plymouth

17. Fort Gray and Fort Wessells

18. The Albermarle

19. Hoke Presses the Advantage

20. The Final Attack at Plymouth

21. Confederate Victory at Plymouth

Part Six: Back to New Bern

22. Washington

23. New Bern, May 1864

Conclusion: The Confederate Resurgence Considered

Acknowledgments

Appendix A: New Bern Order of Battle

Appendix B: Plymouth Order of Battle

Appendix C: Plymouth Casualty Estimates

Notes

Bibliography

Index

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