Complex sentence: Due to the continuous occupation by the Union troops, New Bern avoided some of the destruction of the war years, but there was much social disruption because of the occupation, and the thousands of freedmen in the camp near the city.
Split into simpler sentences: Due to the continuous occupation by the Union troops, New Bern avoided some of the destruction of the war years. There was much social disruption because of the occupation, and the thousands of freedmen camped near the city.