Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1913-04-15

twelve FOUNDER rife and q 100 pound.
er rifle and had proved a match for
the best gunboats in the Confederate
mosquito fleet by running down and
sinking it's flagship, the Sea Bird. in
battle in February. 1863. Flusser took
her for his flagship.
The object Of Confederate enterprise
south Of James river In the spring OF
1868 was to recover all that had been
lost the year before. Plymouth. on
Roanoke river; Washington. on Tar
river and Newbern. on the Neuse.
were the principal port towns inviting
recapture. Washington lies about thir-
ty miles south of Plymouth. with no
water connection except by circuitous
route through two rivers and Pamlico
and Albemarle sounds. New Berne is
thirty-six miles south Of Washington.
but has shorter water connection with
that point than has Plymouth.
The Federals controlled the waters
in the spring Of 1868. but the Confed-
crates controlled railroads running
from the great military centers Of
ootH NHSIHIu anu ANoiIu Suioilud W
within reasonable marching distance
of all three places.
Longstreet's Big Enterprise.
Up to this date fifty years ago the
two principal armies contending for
the mastery in Virginia had never met
without General James Longstreet's
presence on the Confederate side.
From Bull Run to Fredericksburg
Longstreet's brigade or divisions or
corps had given hard blows to some
opposing unit in the Army Of the PO-
tomac In February. 1868. two divi
sions of the corps which he then COM
manded disappeared from Lees win
ter quarters on the Rappahannock.
Rumors spread throughout the north
placed Longstreet at various points
other than where he was. Kentucky
and Tennessee were said to be in dan
ger of invasion by his renowned leg
ions. Not until he was heard from
south of James river in March could
"old warehouse" for any project not
bearing directly on his own campaign
in northern Virginia.
The fact was that Lee supposed that
Hooker would transfer his army from
the Rappahannock to the James river
and try to attack Richmond on the
'south side route. He sent Long
street to Petersburg to prepare to meet
such move. When Longstreet learned
that the region to the south of him was
fat in army supplies he ordered the
troops to make general advance and
get possession of them.
Siege of Washington, N. c.
division Of Confederates led by
General J. j. Pettigrew had attacked
Newbern ON March IA without sue
cess. The move appeared to be feint
to cover a more formidable operation
against Washington. conducted by Gen
eral d. H. Hill. Pettigrew marched
from Newbern to Washington. which
was garrisoned by only 1000 Federals.
The troops for this campaign had
marched from Goldsborough. fifty-sev-
en- miles distant.
The Federal commander of the de-
partment, General ]. G. Foster. kept
his headquarters at Newbern.- Hear
ing Of the Confederate move on Wash
ington, he started by water to re-en-
force the slender garrison and direct
the defense. His vessel ran aground
in Tar river and delayed the expedition
until It was too late to fOreStall Hill.
Hills force surrounded the town on
March 30 and during the next three
days planted batteries on the river
bank at different points to repel the
advance Of Federal gunboats. With the
aid Of gunboat fire Fosters ship got
through the blockade Of batteries. and
the general was able to prepare a
strong defense.
General Hill was not enthusiastic in
this particular crisis. He delayed at
tack until the Federal position was