Graveyard of the Atlantic Traditional Cache

Graveyard of the Atlantic

The Atlantic coast of North Carolina is protected for much of its length by a series of barrier islands. Control of these islands and the bodies of water west of them known as "sounds" was crucial for both sides. Early in the war Union forces moved to occupy the islands in order to choke off Southern-friendly shipping and control the deep-water rivers that fed the sounds. Losing the coast put most of Confederate eastern North Carolina in danger and threatened the critically important supply line on the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad.

Realizing the importance of eastern North Carolina, Union Gen. Ben Butler launched an amphibious attack against Confederate-manned forts located at the southern tip of Hatteras Island. The forts fell Aug. 29, 1861. A similar Union attack in February 1862 toppled Confederate defenses on the strategically located Roanoke Island. The Roanoke expedition, planned and led by Gen. Ambrose Burnside, resulted in Union control of several of the sounds and coastal rivers.

A little more than a month later, on March 14, 1862, New Bern fell. Federal troops used the town as a base for the remainder of the war. Fort Macon, a brick structure guarding the approach to Beaufort, was surrendered by the Confederates April 25.

The loss of most of the North Carolina coast and coastal waterways was a blow both to Confederate morale and the young nation's ability to supply its armies in the field. By late spring 1862, Union soldiers occupied the towns of Plymouth, Washington and New Bern. But aside from a few raids from those bases, the Union forces went no farther until the very end of the war when Sherman entered North Carolina in March–April 1865.

The one bright spot for the Confederates along the coast was Wilmington. Protected by strong fortifications at the mouth of the Cape Fear River, the port remained open, shipping supplies to Lee's army in Virginia until the forts fell in early 1865.