Hatteras Inlet, NC: Expedition arrives
- The Outer Banks of North Carolina
are a series of long, narrow islands that separate Pamlico Sound from the
Atlantic Ocean, and Hatteras Inlet is the only deep-water passage
connecting the two. In the first months of the war, the Outer Banks have
provided perfect conditions for surreptitious Confederate blockade runners
and raiders. From a vantage point atop the Hatteras lighthouse,
Confederate privateers can see the Gulf Stream which Northern ships use to
increase speed traveling to Northern ports. Privateers lay in wait until
ships appear on the horizon and then overhaul them. Northern insurance
adjusters have put pressure on the Lincoln Administration’s War Department
to do something about the losses. During the summer of 1861, the CSS Winslow has wreaked havoc on Union
shipping off North Carolina, and Federal naval and army officials combined
forces to bring the area under control. To protect Hatteras Inlet, the
Confederates have built two fortresses of sand and wood, garrisoned with
350 soldiers. Today the United States Expeditionary Force under command of
General Benjamin Butler and Flag Officer Silas Stringham which left
Hampton Roads, Virginia, yesterday, arrives off Cape Hatteras in view of
Forts Hatteras and Clark with preparation for battle in the morning./1861
- Skirmishes occur at
Antietam Iron Works, Maryland, and in Virginia at Ball’s Cross Roads and Bailey's
Cross Roads./1861
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