Introduction: The Battle of New Bern (also known as the Battle of New Berne) was fought on March 14, 1862, near the city of New Bern, North Carolina, as part of the Burnside Expedition of the American Civil War (1861-1865). The Union Army's Coast Division, led by Brigadier General Ambrose E. Burnside and accompanied by armed vessels from the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, was opposed by an undermanned and rather poorly trained and armed Confederate force consisting of North Carolina soldiers and militia under the command of Brigadier General Lawrence O'B. Branch. Although the determined defenders would fight from behind protected breastworks that had been constructed long before the battle, the Southerners would form a thin gray line with a weak center that would soon be realized and exploited by the Federal soldiers. When the center of the line was penetrated, many of the militia broke, forcing a general retreat of the entire Confederate force. General Branch would not be able to reform his troops until they had retreated to Kinston, some 30 miles (about 50 km) away. New Bern, an objective in the Union Anaconda Plan, would remain under Union control for the remainder of the war. Next, the Federals would begin to push inland and destroy the Tar Heel State's infrastructure, including railroads, mills, depots, plantations, factories, and bridges.

Geography: New Bern lies on the right (southwest) bank of the Neuse River, about 37 miles (60 km) above its exit into Pamlico Sound. The river is quite broad in this vicinity, and is deep enough that vessels that can navigate the sound can also ply the river. In the colonial era, the town was quite important as a seaport, but by the time of the Civil War Morehead City and Beaufort had largely supplanted it. Nevertheless, New Bern was still a significant military target, as the railroad (Atlantic and North Carolina Railroad) that connected the coast with the interior passed through the city. A short distance further up, at Goldsboro (spelled Goldsborough in the 19th century), the line crossed the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad, noted for keeping the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia supplied throughout the war. Thus, if New Bern were to fall into Federal hands, an vital link in the supply chain of that army would be broken. See also North Carolina American Civil War Railroads.

Known as the Coastal Plain, the land in this part of North Carolina is low and rather flat, and is sometimes marshy. In 1862, it was mostly covered with open pine forest, although in places it was broken into low hills with deciduous forests, separated by ravines. It is crossed by many creeks that sometimes rise to the status of small rivers. One of these, the Trent River, separates New Bern from the land to its south. Another that is only a little smaller is Slocum's Creek, 16 miles (26 km) farther down the Neuse. It was to be the landing site for the attacking Federal forces. The entire action, aside from the takeover of the city itself, was confined to the land between these two streams. The railroad ran on a system of berms and occasional cuts about a mile (1.6 km) inland from the river. Between the tracks and the river was a county road connecting New Bern with Morehead City and Beaufort; in the manner of the time, the road was unpaved, as the Union soldiers learned to their sorrow.

Background: Following the secession of North Carolina from the Union, the defenses of the state were badly neglected by the Confederate government in Richmond. The War Department there, directed at first by Secretary Leroy P. Walker and later by Judah P. Benjamin, drained off its best-trained and best-equipped troops to take part in the campaigns in Virginia, which were regarded as more important. When Hatteras Island fell to Union forces in August 1862, only six regiments of infantry were available to defend the entire coast of the state. Already by that time the coastal defense had been divided into separate districts for command purposes; the northern part, from near Cape Lookout to the Virginia border, was assigned to Brig. Gen. Daniel H. Hill, who set up the defensive lines around New Bern expecting that the garrison would ultimately be increased in size, but he was transferred to service in Virginia before the hoped-for additional troops arrived. Shortly after he was succeeded by Brig. Gen. Lawrence O'B. Branch, the district was divided again. Branch's command extended from Cape Lookout north only to the limits of Pamlico Sound. From there to the Virginia border and beyond was assigned to Brig. Gen. Benjamin Huger, whose primary concern was the defense of Norfolk and environs. This meant in particular that Roanoke Island, between Croatan Sound and Roanoke Sound just north of Pamlico Sound, was not included in Branch's command.

Roanoke Island fell to a combined operation of the Union Army's Coast Division, under Brig. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside, and a Union gunboat flotilla assembled from the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, under Flag Officer Louis M Goldsborough, on February 7–8, 1862. That battle was rapidly followed up by the gunboats alone, who wiped out the Confederate Navy's Mosquito Fleet in an assault on Elizabeth City. Shortly afterward, Goldsborough had to leave the sounds for duties at Hampton Roads, and immediate command of the ships he left behind fell to Commander Stephen C. Rowan. As a result of the battles, Union forces could move at will in Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds. Every city and town accessible to those sounds hence became vulnerable to attack. The most important was New Bern, and Burnside soon resolved to take it.

The importance of New Bern was no more obvious to Burnside than it was to the Confederate authorities in Richmond, but they did little to secure it. Although more than a month passed after Roanoke Island fell before Burnside could mount an attack on the city, the local command received no reinforcements. One of General Branch's aides estimated that the lines would need at least 6,130 men to hold them, but he had only about 4,000 at his disposal, a number often reduced by sickness. Furthermore, many of the men were poorly-armed militiamen. The disparity between necessity and reality persuaded Branch to draw his lines in, abandoning some of the strong breastworks erected by his predecessor. The principal defense would be a line based on Fort Thompson, a work of thirteen guns facing the Neuse River. The fort was strong, but only three of its thirteen guns would bear on the landward approach.

The Fort Thompson breastworks that were set up by General Hill extended only from the river to the railroad. They ended on the right in a brickyard that would figure prominently in the fighting. Because the land farther to the right was fairly firm and would allow his position to be flanked, General Branch decided to extend the line beyond the railroad and end it in a swamp. This just about doubled the length of the defensive line. He made a major blunder in laying out the line, however. In haste to complete the extension and faced with an exasperating shortage of labor, he decided to use a small creek as a natural part of the line. This creek intersected the railroad at a point some 150 yards (135 meters) up from the brickyard. The line of breastworks therefore had a dogleg in its center.

Opposing Forces

Union Order of Battle

Coast Division of the US Army (Brig. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside)

First Brigade (Brig. Gen. John G. Foster)

10th Connecticut

24th Massachusetts

25th Massachusetts

27th Massachusetts

Second Brigade (Brig. Gen. Jesse L. Reno)

9th New Jersey

21st Massachusetts

51st New York

51st Pennsylvania

Third Brigade {Brig. Gen. John G. Parke)

8th Connecticut

11th Connecticut

4th Rhode Island

5th Rhode Island

Unassigned units:

1st New York Marine Artillery (detachment)

99th New York (Union Coast Guard) (Company B)

Army gunboat Picket

US Naval Forces in Pamlico Sound (Commander Stephen C. Rowan)

Philadelphia

Stars and Stripes

Louisiana

Hetzel

Underwriter

Delaware

Commodore Perry

Valley City

Commodore Barney

Hunchback

Southfield

Morse

Lockwood

Henry Brinker

Confederate Order of Battle

Pamlico District of the Department of North Carolina (Brig. Gen. L. O'B. Branch)

7th North Carolina

19th North Carolina (cavalry)

26th North Carolina

27th North Carolina

28th North Carolina

33rd North Carolina

35th North Carolina

37th North Carolina

North Carolina Heavy Artillery (company)

Special Battalion, North Carolina Militia 

Advance: The soldiers of the Coast Division clambered into their transports at Roanoke Island on March 11, 1862, and got under way early the next morning, accompanied by 14 Navy gunboats and one gunboat of their own. One of the navy vessels was detached to guard the mouth of the Pamlico River, where it was incorrectly rumored that the Rebels were preparing two ships to cut off transports that might become separated from navy protection. The main force traversed Pamlico Sound, entered the Neuse River, and anchored near the mouth of Slocum's Creek at dusk. At dawn on March 13, the troops began to disembark. A small Rebel unit that was intended to contest the landing was quickly driven away by fire from the gunboats, and the morning was spent getting men and equipment ashore. With the infantry came six boat (navy) howitzers and two army howitzers. Because of the weather, Burnside decided to land his other artillery closer to the enemy lines, but dense fog soon closed in, and he could not communicate with the fleet. His remaining guns were not landed.

A little after noon they began to move toward the Confederate lines, and at about the same time the rains began. The road was soon turned into mud, and the mere act of walking required great exertion. The gunners with the howitzers accompanying the infantry soon were exhausted trying to move their pieces, so a regiment of foot soldiers were detailed to help them. Many of those foot soldiers long remembered this as the most arduous part of the battle. As they made their slow progress, the gunboats kept a short distance ahead, shelling places where Rebels might be waiting. Late in the day, the advance forces came upon a line of Confederate breastworks that looked formidable, but was discovered on closer inspection to have been recently abandoned. General Branch had ordered his men out of this line, known as the Croatan Works, because he believed that Union naval supremacy would allow Burnside to land his soldiers behind the works and take them in reverse. He could not defend the entire six miles of river bank between the line and New Bern with the number of men he had available.

The Coast Division soon resumed its march. Leaving the Croatan Works, First (Foster's) Brigade moved on the right, following the county road, while Second (Reno's) Brigade followed the railroad on the left. Third (Parke's) Brigade followed after the First. They continued until they came in contact with enemy pickets, about a mile and a half (2 km) away from the Fort Thompson line held by the Rebels. Daylight having been exhausted, Burnside ordered a halt and had the brigades bivouac in the order of their march: First Brigade on the right near the road, Second Brigade on the left near the railroad, and Third Brigade to the rear of the First. The howitzers did not arrive until 0300 the next morning.

The Fight: The field was covered by a dense fog on the morning of March 14. Burnside ordered his forces to form and advance on the Rebel works. The Yankees did not have a complete report concerning the Confederate disposition at this time. From what the Federals believed, the Confederate line extended only from the river to the brickyard. In keeping with this knowledge, Burnside ordered the First Brigade to engage the enemy left, while the Second Brigade would try to turn their right, at the brickyard. The eight howitzers were deployed across the county road. Third Brigade was held as a reserve. The army also got some dubious support from the gunboats under Commander Cowan, who shelled the Rebel positions although they were hidden by intervening forests. This gunfire greatly disturbed the North Carolinians, but it was inaccurate enough that Burnside eventually asked Cowan to change direction.

Meanwhile, on the other side, General Branch had put his regiments into the line. From his left, at Fort Thompson, to the brickyard on his right, were the 27th, 37th, 7th, and 35th North Carolina Regiments. His reserve was the 33rd Regiment. The right flank of the 35th was anchored in a brickyard kiln that was loopholed for artillery. The entire line beyond the railroad was occupied by a single regiment, the 26th North Carolina, plus a few companies of cavalry. The gap in his line created by the dogleg at the railroad was covered only by his weakest unit, a militia battalion with only two weeks of training, and armed with shotguns and hunting rifles.

On the Federal left, General Reno, still unaware of the extension of the enemy lines beyond the railroad, ordered a part of the 21st Massachusetts to charge the brick kiln, while his other units would engage the enemy in support. The charge was successful at first, but they then found themselves under fire from the whole line and were forced to pull back.

Burnside at this time ordered his reserve, the Third Brigade, into the line to support Reno's Second Brigade. The 4th Rhode Island replaced the 21st Massachusetts, which had used up its ammunition. While trading places, Colonel Isaac P. Rodman of the 4th Rhode Island was told by Lieutenant Colonel William S. Clark of the 21st Massachusetts that he thought that another attack on the brick kiln would be successful. Rodman sent a courier to General Parke informing him that he was taking responsibility, then formed his regiment and ordered them to charge. Armed with better knowledge of the enemy, this charge was successful. The 4th Rhode Island captured nine brass field pieces, and found themselves in rear of the Rebel entrenchments.

At this point, the Confederate line broke. The rupture started when the green militiamen fled and exposed the units on both of their flanks. Branch ordered his reserves to plug the gap, but they did not arrive in time. As the line was rolled up on both wings, each regimental commander in succession pulled his unit back to escape being slaughtered. General Branch ordered a retreat, which soon became a rout. The fleeing North Carolinians dashed across the bridge over the Trent River into New Bern, then burned the bridge so precipitately that some of their compatriots were left behind and were captured. Even in New Bern, however, they were not safe, as the Union warships were there ahead of them, so the retreating units could not reform until they had fled all the way to Kinston.

Branch had lost 64 killed, 101 wounded, and 413 captured or missing, compared to Burnside's 90 killed, 380 wounded, and a single man captured. Casualty figures, however, for this battle vary slightly.

Aftermath: New Bern fell and was occupied. It remained in control of the Union Army for the rest of the war. Immediately following the battle, Burnside turned his attention to his next important objective, getting control of the port at Beaufort, which was defended by Fort Macon. The Rebels did not defend Morehead City, which was occupied immediately by the Yankees, or Beaufort, which was taken on March 25. The siege of Fort Macon began at that time.

References: National Park Service; Browning, Robert M. Jr., From Cape Charles to Cape Fear: the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron during the Civil War. Univ. of Alabama, 1993; Campbell, R. Thomas, Storm over Carolina: the Confederate Navy's Struggle for Eastern North Carolina. Cumberland House, 2005; Davis, George B., Leslie J. Perry, and Joseph W. Kirkley, Atlas to accompany the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Government Printing Office, 1891–1895; reprint, Arno, 1978; Johnson, Robert Underwood, and Clarence Clough Buel, Battles and Leaders of the Civil War. Century, 1887, 1888; reprint ed., Castle, n.d; Trotter, William R., Ironclads and Columbiads: The Coast. Joseph 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; Microsoft Virtual Earth (2D) and Microsoft Virtual Earth (3D); Department of Veterans Affairs.