Battle of New Bern The Battle of New Bern ( also known as the Battle of New Berne ) was fought on 14 March 1862 , near the city of New Bern , North Carolina , as part of the Burnside Expedition of the American Civil War . The US Army ' s Coast Division , led by Brigadier General Ambrose E . Burnside and accompanied by armed vessels from the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron , were opposed by an undermanned and badly trained Confederate force of North Carolina soldiers and militia led by Brigadier General Lawrence O ' B . Branch . Although the defenders fought behind breastworks that had been set up before the battle , their line had a weak spot in its center that was exploited by the attacking Federal soldiers . When the center of the line was penetrated , many of the militia broke , forcing a general retreat of the entire Confederate force . General Branch was unable to regain control of his troops until they had retreated to Kinston , more than 30 miles ( about 50 km ) away . New Bern came under Federal control , and remained so for the rest of the war . Background . New Bern lies on the right ( southwest ) bank of the Neuse River , about 37 miles ( 60 km ) above its exit into Pamlico Sound . The river is broad in this vicinity , and is deep enough that vessels that can navigate the sound can also ply the river . In the colonial era , the town was quite important as a seaport , but by the time of the Civil War Morehead City and Beaufort had largely supplanted it . Nevertheless , New Bern was still a significant military target , as the railroad ( Atlantic and North Carolina Railroad ) that connected the coast with the interior passed through the city . A short distance further up , at Goldsboro ( spelled Goldsborough in the 19th century ) , the line crossed the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad , noted for keeping the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia supplied throughout the war . Thus , if New Bern were to fall into Federal hands , an important link in the supply chain of that army would be broken . The land in this part of North Carolina is low and rather flat , and is sometimes marshy . In 1862 , the solid land was mostly covered with open pine forest , although in places it was broken into low hills with deciduous forests , separated by ravines . It is crossed by many creeks that sometimes rise to the status of small rivers . One of these , the Trent River , separates New Bern from the land to its south . The slightly smaller Slocum ' s Creek , enters 16 miles ( 26 km ) farther down the Neuse . It was to be the landing site for the attacking Federal forces . The entire action , aside from the takeover of the city , was confined to the land between these two streams . The railroad ran on a system of berms and occasional cuts about a mile ( 1 . 6 km ) inland from the river . It entered the city on a bridge over the Trent River . A county road passed over the same land , also connecting New Bern with Morehead City and Beaufort . In the vicinity of the battle , it lay between railroad and the river , but it crossed the railroad about a mile and a half ( 2 km ) north of what would be the battlefield . The road continued to the northwest , crossing the Trent on a drawbridge some 4 miles ( 6 . 4 km ) west of the city . In the manner of the time , the road was unpaved , as the Union soldiers learned to their sorrow . Prelude . Following the secession of North Carolina from the Union , the defenses of the state were neglected by the Confederate government in Richmond . The War Department , directed at first by Secretary Leroy P . Walker and later by Judah P . Benjamin , used the state ' s best - trained and best - equipped troops to take part in the campaigns in Virginia , which were given a higher priority . They were seen as protecting the Confederate capital of Richmond . When Hatteras Island fell to Union forces in August 1861 , only six regiments of infantry were available to defend the entire coast of the state . By that time , the Confederacy had divided the coastal defense into separate districts for command purposes ; the northern part , from near Cape Lookout to the Virginia border , was assigned to Brig . Gen . Daniel H . Hill , who set up the defensive lines around New Bern . South of the city , across the Trent River , he had built two primary lines . First was a system of breastworks named the " Croatan Works , " near Otter Creek and extending inland as far as the railroad . Six miles ( 10 km ) closer to the city was another substantial line anchored on the river by Fort Thompson . The fort held 13 guns , three of which bore on landward approaches . Hill ordered construction of a series of batteries along the river to defend against attack by naval forces . The Confederates blocked the river with two barriers . The first , a mile and a half ( 2 . 4 km ) below Fort Thompson , consisted of a double row of piles cut off below the water , capped with iron , and backed by a row of 30 torpedo es ( present - day mines ) . Each torpedo contained about 200 pounds ( 100 kg ) of powder . The second was opposite Fort Thompson and consisted of a row of hulks and " chevaux de frise , " which would force ships to pass under the guns of the fort . Hill hoped that he would be given sufficient manpower to fill his lines , but he was transferred to service in Virginia before the hoped - for additional troops arrived . Shortly after he was succeeded by Brig . Gen . Lawrence O ' B . Branch , the district was divided again . Branch ' s command extended from Cape Lookout north only to the limits of Pamlico Sound . From there to the Virginia border and beyond was assigned to Brig . Gen . Benjamin Huger , whose primary concern was the defense of Norfolk and environs . This meant in particular that Roanoke Island , between Croatan Sound and Roanoke Sound just north of Pamlico Sound , was not included in Branch ' s command . Roanoke Island fell to a combined operation of the Union Army ' s Coast Division , under Brig . Gen . Ambrose E . Burnside , and a Union gunboat flotilla assembled from the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron , under Flag Officer Louis M Goldsborough , on 7 – 8 February 1862 . That battle was rapidly followed up by the gunboats alone , who wiped out the Confederate Navy ' s Mosquito Fleet in an assault on Elizabeth City . Shortly afterward , Goldsborough had to leave the sounds for duties at Hampton Roads , and immediate command of the ships he left behind fell to Commander Stephen C . Rowan . As a result of the battles , Union forces could move at will in Albemarle and Pamlico Sound s . Every city and town accessible to those sounds hence became vulnerable to attack . The most important was New Bern , and Burnside soon resolved to take it . The importance of New Bern was no more obvious to Burnside than it was to the Confederate authorities in Richmond , but they did little to secure it . Although more than a month passed after Roanoke Island fell before Burnside could mount an attack on the city , the local command received no reinforcements . One of General Branch ' s aides estimated that the lines would need at least 6 , 130 men to hold them , but he had only about 4 , 000 at his disposal , a number often reduced by sickness . Furthermore , many of the men were poorly - armed militiamen . The disparity between necessity and reality persuaded Branch to draw his lines in , abandoning some of the strong breastworks erected by his predecessor . The principal defense would be the line based on Fort Thompson . The Fort Thompson line that had been set up by General Hill extended only from the river to the railroad . They ended on the right in a brickyard that would figure prominently in the fighting . Because the land farther to the right was fairly firm and would allow his position to be flanked , General Branch decided to extend the line beyond the railroad and end it in a swamp . This just about doubled the length of the defensive line . He made a major blunder in laying out the line , however . In haste to complete the extension and faced with an exasperating shortage of labor , he decided to use a small creek as a natural part of the line . This creek intersected the railroad at a point some 150 yards ( 135 meters ) up from the brickyard . The line of breastworks therefore had a dogleg in its center . Battle . Advance . The soldiers of the Coast Division clambered into their transports at Roanoke Island on 11 March 1862 and got under way early the next morning , accompanied by 14 Navy gunboats and one gunboat of their own . One of the Navy vessels was detached to guard the mouth of the Pamlico River , where it was incorrectly rumored that the Rebels were preparing two ships to cut off transports that might become separated from Navy protection . The main force traversed Pamlico Sound , entered the Neuse River , and anchored near the mouth of Slocum ' s Creek at dusk . Branch was aware of their presence , and immediately ordered his forces to take up defensive positions . He sent Col . James Sinclair ' s 35th North Carolina Infantry to the landing at Otter Creek , in front of the Croatan work , with instructions to oppose enemy landings at that site . Colonel Zebulon Vance ' s 26th North Carolina was ordered into the Croatan work . Other units guarded the river upstream , and reserves were assembled at the intersection of the railroad and the Beaufort road . All units were instructed that if they were forced from their positions , they should fall back on the Fort Thompson line . At dawn on 13 March , the Federal troops began to disembark . A small Rebel unit trying to contest the landing was quickly driven away by fire from the gunboats , as Col . Sinclair interpreted his orders to defend against a landing at Otter Creek narrowly . Burnside spent the morning getting men and equipment ashore . With the infantry came six boat ( Navy ) howitzers and two Army howitzers . Because of the weather , he decided to land his other artillery closer to the enemy lines , but dense fog soon closed in , and he could not communicate with the fleet . His remaining guns were not landed . A little after noon the Union soldiers began to move toward the Confederate lines , and at about the same time the rains began . The road was soon turned into mud , and the mere act of walking required great exertion . The gunners with the howitzers accompanying the infantry soon were exhausted trying to move their pieces , so a regiment of infantry ( 51st Pennsylvania ) were detailed to help them . Many of those foot soldiers long remembered this as the most arduous part of the battle . As the soldiers made their slow progress , the gunboats kept a short distance ahead , shelling places where Rebels might be waiting . Col . R . P . Campbell , in command of the Confederate right wing , interpreted the naval gunfire as preliminary to another landing that would take the Croatan work in reverse , so he ordered a general pullback to the Fort Thompson line . Thus , when the Federal army came upon the first Confederate breastworks , they found them abandoned . The Coast Division soon resumed its march . Leaving the Croatan work , First ( Foster ' s ) Brigade moved on the right , following the county road , while Second ( Reno ' s ) Brigade followed the railroad on the left . Third ( Parke ' s ) Brigade followed after the First . They continued until they came in contact with enemy pickets , about a mile and a half ( 2 km ) away from the Fort Thompson line held by the Rebels . Daylight having been exhausted , Burnside ordered a halt and had the brigades bivouac in the order of their march : First Brigade on the right near the road , Second Brigade on the left near the railroad , and Third Brigade to the rear of the First . The howitzers did not arrive until 0300 the next morning . The fight . The field was covered by a dense fog on the morning of 14 March . Burnside ordered his forces to form and advance on the Rebel works . The Yankees did not have complete information concerning their opponents ' disposition at this time ; so far as they knew , the Confederate line extended only from the river to the brickyard . In keeping with this belief , Burnside ordered the First Brigade to engage the enemy left , while the Second Brigade would try to turn their right , at the brickyard . The eight howitzers were deployed across the county road . Third Brigade was held as a reserve . The Army also got some dubious support from the gunboats under Commander Stephen C . Rowan , who shelled the Rebel positions although they were hidden by intervening forests . This gunfire greatly disturbed the North Carolinians , but it was inaccurate enough that Burnside eventually asked Cowan to change direction . Meanwhile , on the other side , General Branch had put his regiments into the line . From his left , at Fort Thompson , to the brickyard on his right , were the 27th , 37th , 7th , and 35th North Carolina Regiments . His reserve was the 33rd Regiment . The right flank of the 35th was anchored in a brickyard kiln that was loopholed for artillery . The entire line beyond the railroad was occupied by a single regiment , the 26th North Carolina , plus a few companies of cavalry . The gap in his line created by the dogleg at the railroad was covered only by his weakest unit , a militia battalion with only two weeks of training , and armed with shotguns and hunting rifles . To give them additional support , he ordered up a two - gun battery of 24 - pounders to the kiln , but they were not mounted when they came under attack . The First Brigade of the Union army opposed them from the river to the railroad ; right to left , the units were the 25th , 24th , 27th , and 23rd Massachusetts , and the 10th Connecticut . The Beaufort Road ran through the center of this line , and here General Foster placed the howitzers that had been dragged along . On the Federal left , General Reno , still unaware of the extension of the enemy lines beyond the railroad , ordered a part of the 21st Massachusetts to charge the brick kiln , while the 9th New Jersey and the 51st New York would engage the enemy in support . The 51st Pennsylvania was held in reserve . The charge was successful at first , but they then found themselves under fire from the whole line and were forced to pull back . Burnside at this time ordered his reserve , the Third Brigade , into the line to support Reno ' s Second Brigade . The 4th Rhode Island replaced the 21st Massachusetts , which had used up its ammunition . While trading places , Colonel Isaac P . Rodman of the 4th Rhode Island was told by Lieutenant Colonel William S . Clark of the 21st Massachusetts that he thought that another attack on the brick kiln would be successful . Rodman sent a courier to General Parke informing him that he was taking responsibility , then formed his regiment and ordered them to charge . Armed with better knowledge of the enemy , this charge was successful . The 4th Rhode Island captured nine brass field pieces , and found themselves in rear of the Rebel entrenchments . At this point , the Confederate line broke . The rupture started when the green militiamen fled and exposed the units on both of their flanks . Branch ordered his reserves to plug the gap , but they did not arrive in time . As the line was rolled up on both wings , each regimental commander in succession pulled his unit back to escape being slaughtered . General Branch ordered a retreat , which soon became a rout . The fleeing North Carolinians dashed across the bridge over the Trent River into New Bern , then burned the bridge so precipitately that some of their compatriots were left behind and were captured . They also burned a fire raft in the river , which soon drifted against the railroad bridge and destroyed it . While the battle was in progress , Commander Rowan ' s ships had moved up the river to assist . They received only minor damage in passing the lower barrier , and then positioned themselves to shell Fort Thompson . When the fort was abandoned , they immediately passed the second barrier and moved on to New Bern . Because Branch ' s order to retreat included all of the Confederate river batteries , their guns were spiked and they were abandoned to the fleet . At the city , the fleet shelled the retreating Confederate troops , denying them the opportunity to regroup . The retreating units could not reform until they had fled all the way to Kinston . With both bridges destroyed , Burnside ' s soldiers had to be ferried across the river by the gunboats . Branch had lost 64 killed , 101 wounded , and 413 captured or missing , compared to Burnside ' s 90 killed , 380 wounded , and a single man captured . Aftermath . New Bern fell and was occupied . It remained in control of the Union Army for the rest of the war . Immediately following the battle , Burnside turned his attention to his next important objective , getting control of the port at Beaufort , which was defended by Fort Macon . The Rebels did not defend Morehead City , which was occupied immediately by the Yankees , or Beaufort , which was taken on 25 March . The siege of Fort Macon began at that time . Notes . Abbreviations used in these notes :