'We are straining to send forces to you,' Seddon replied to one of Vance'sĬries for help. The Federal attacks also weakened the Confederate war effort by drawing troopsĪway from battlefields and other vital areas in order to defend North Carolina's towns, railroads,Īnd supply centers. ,' 6 The panic among white NorthĬarolinians was enhanced by the large number of potentially vindictive slaves liberated by the Them to avoid exciting any panic among the people. Hill, ConfederateĬommander in eastern North Carolina, that 'I have addressed a note to the City Editors urging Threat of yet another raid, Vance on April 23 wrote to Gen. 5 That same fear depleted the morale of the state'sĬitizens and undermined their support for a war of Southern independence. Seddon in anticipation of a raid in January. 'Let me beg you to send every available man, as IĪm sure the crisis is upon us in North Carolina,' Governor Vance wrote Sec. War Department in Richmond for protection. Interior of North Carolina created panic, even among the state's leaders, who pleaded with the Although the overall physical damage of the attacks to theĬonfederate war effort was minimal, they nevertheless had a profound tactical and psychologicalĮffect that weakened the Confederacy's ability to wage war. Historians have underestimated the significant impact that such raids had on the conduct and To provide a proper defense against the sudden and swift attacks by Union troops. The few regiments of Confederate troops in the region were too widely scattered Much of the eastern part of the state was either under Union control or within the range of Spreading, and North Carolinians feared that the Federal army would immediately seek toĮxploit its advantage by striking into the heart of the state from its stronghold in the east. News of the disastrous Confederate losses at Vicksburg and Gettysburg in early July was Judge Howard and his Tarboro neighbors were justified in their worst expectations of a Union Wilmington and Weldon Railroad was a major objective of the Union army in North Carolina. Medicine-that had been brought into Wilmington through the Union blockade. Wilmington and Weldon Railroad, which supplied General Lee's army in Virginia with NorthĬarolina foodstuffs and a variety of war materiel including weapons, ammunition, and Martin, the ConfederateĬommander of the District of North Carolina, was responsible for protecting the vital Of the Union navy's blockade of Confederate shipping on the East Coast. His attention on defending Wilmington, which had become the South's busiest port as a result Of North Carolina consisted of two districts: In July 1863 the Confederate military's Department The boundaries and commanders of the Confederate militarty departments and districtsĬhanged with aggravating frequency. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the UnionĪnd Confederate Armies, Ser. George Howard to his wife, July 14, 1863, George Howard Papers, East Carolina ManuscriptĬollection, East Carolina University Library, Greenville, N.C. Whiting was the Confederate commander of both theĭepartment of North Carolina and the District of the Cape Fear. As one newspaperman wrote, North Carolina was not left withĮnough troops to 'protect a potato patch. . . And, although North Carolina was providing theĬonfederacy with more troops than any other state, the majority of Tar Heel soldiers were in The corn, wheat, and pork of eastern North Carolina had become Virginia had been ravaged by two years of war, and her farms could not supply enough food to Lee has been subsisting for months' were inadequately protected. Neuse, embracing the richest corngrowing regions of the state, upon which the army of Vance warned the Confederate secretary of war that 'the Roanoke, the Tar, and the Periodically launched raids deep into the interior of North Carolina's Coastal Plain.

Plymouth, Washington, and New Bern since the spring of 1862, and from these strong points they Terribly frightened-all her boasted courage has oozed out of her fingers' ends.' Prominent NorthĬarolina jurist and superior court judge George Howard, who was in Tarboro attending to hisįamily's properties, hastily wrote these lines to his wife in July 1863.

Mother is very nervous about affairs and Alice is And I am attempting to so arrange matters that theįamily can all leave in case of an emergency. Here this Fall, probably this summer. . . 'The Yankees Have Been Here!': The Story of Brig. I am indebtedĪrticle and sending it to me for inclusion in the 12th NY Cavalry web site. Historian and writer living in Greenville, North Carolina. Norris was copied from 'THE NORTH CAROLINA Potter's Raid on Greenville, Tarboro, and Rocky Mount, July 19-23, 1863

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