Burnside ' s North Carolina Expedition Burnside ’ s North Carolina Expedition ( also known as the Burnside Expedition ) was a series of engagements fought along the North Carolina Coast between February and June 1862 . The expedition was part of Winfield Scott ’ s overall Anaconda Plan , which aimed at closing blockade - running ports inside the Outer Banks . The amphibious operation was carried out primarily by New England troops under Brig . Gen . Ambrose E . Burnside and assisted by the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron under Captain Louis M . Goldsborough . Expedition . In August 1861 , Major General Benjamin F . Butler and Flag Officer Silas H . Stringham captured Forts Hatteras and Clark guarding and entry point into Pamlico Sound . It took several months before the Union high command would capitalize on this success . Butler and Stringham were able to persuade the Secretary of Navy Gideon Welles to maintain a force at Hatteras Inlet to keep the possibility of further operations open . The Lincoln Administration did not agree with invading North Carolina from the sea , but General - in - Chief George B . McClellan was in favor of such an operation . McClellan was able to persuade President Lincoln to authorize the operation and choose Brigadier General Ambrose E . Burnside to lead the expedition . Coast Division . Being careful not to ask for reinforcements from McClellan ’ s own Army of the Potomac , Burnside set about recruiting regiments from states along the North Atlantic sea coast intending to make use of their familiarity with the sea . Burnside ’ s army , known as the Coast Division , was divided into three brigades , each commanded by a friend of Burnside ’ s from his days at West Point . The first brigade was commanded by Brig . Gen . John G . Foster , the second by Brig . Gen . Jesse L . Reno and the third by Brig . Gen . John G . Parke . In January , 1862 Burnside set out from Fort Monroe and rendezvoused with Flag Officer Louis M . Goldsborough at recently captured Hatteras Inlet where the two assembled their forces . Burnside ’ s first objective was the Confederate fortifications on Roanoke Island guarding Albemarle Sound . District of Roanoke . Brigadier General Henry A . Wise commanded the District of Roanoke and had a mere 1 , 400 men and few artillery pieces to defend his district . Besides a lack of infantry and artillery , the Confederates also lacked a significant naval force . A group of 8 work boats were converted into gunboats commanded by William F . Lynch . Wise contemptuously referred to the boats as the “ mosquito fleet ” . Wise pleaded with his superior , Benjamin Huger in Virginia to send reinforcements . Huger declined to give aid but eventually Wise ’ reserves and a battalion of the 2nd North Carolina from Norfolk bolstered the defenses . The Union expedition was having problems of its own . Severe weather hampered progress so much at times it seemed as if the whole mission would have to be scrapped . The expedition , accompanied by 63 navy vessels , finally arrived off the coast of Roanoke Island . Roanoke Island . By the time Burnside arrived , Roanoke Island was guarded by 3 , 000 Confederate troops under the commanded of Colonel Henry M . Shaw . District commander Henry Wise remained in overall command of the forces but was confined to his sickbed at Nag ’ s Head . Burnside and Goldsborough defeated the Confederate force and took roughly 2 , 500 prisoners . A few days later , the Federal navy destroyed the remnants of the Confederate “ Mosquito Fleet ” which had escaped from Roanoke Island . New Bern . Burnside then returned to Hatteras Inlet and was reinforced by more ships from the navy for his next objective , the railroad town of New Bern along the Neuse River . New Bern would also serve the Union Army as a base for any further movement into the interior of North Carolina . Brigadier General Lawrence O ' Bryan Branch commanded the Confederate forces at New Bern . Once Roanoke Island fell , Branch braced himself for the inevitable attack upon his command . Branch had about 4 , 500 green troops from North Carolina . The Confederates prepared a line of breastworks straddling the Atlantic & North Carolina Railroad south of the town . Fort Thompson anchored the defenses along the Neuse River . Believing the main attack would come from the water , Branch ’ s men faced most of Fort Thompson ’ s guns toward the river . Burnside ’ s main attack did not come from water . Instead he marched his three brigades up along the railroad and attacked New Bern from the south . After fighting along his breastworks , Branch ’ s defeated Confederates fled into New Bern . Hundreds of troops continued on to the railroad depot in town and boarded an outbound train . Branch ordered the rest of his troops to fall back to Kinston to regroup . Fort Macon . Burnside ’ s next objective after New Bern was the terminus of the Atlantic & North Carolina Railroad at Morehead City and Beaufort along the southern end of Pamlico Sound . Fort Macon guarded both cities . Burnside dispatched John G . Parke ’ s brigade to capture the fort . Using handcar s as a communications link between New Bern and Fort Macon , Parke ’ s forces invested the fort ’ s 500 man garrison under Lt . Col . Moses J . White . While Fort Macon was besieged the Union forces in North Carolina received additional infantry reinforcements , enough for Burnside to organize 6 brigades . Now in command of two brigades , Jesse L . Reno was dispatched to destroy the Dismal Swamp Canal locks to prevent Confederate ironclads from moving down from Norfolk . Reno ’ s division was halted by Colonel Ambrose Wright ’ s Confederates near Camden . Although the fighting was inconclusive , Reno abandoned the expedition . It was the first setback at the hands of the Confederates during Burnside ’ s whole campaign . On April 26 Fort Macon surrendered . End of the Expedition . By June 1862 , Burnside had occupied Roanoke Island , New Bern , Morehead City , Beaufort and Washington , North Carolina . Colonel Robert Brown Potter was placed in command of the Union garrison at Washington . Potter ordered a reconnaissance from the garrison under Lt . Col . Francis A . Osborne . Osborne ’ s men ran into the 44th North Carolina under Col . George Singletary . After a brief fight , the Confederates retreated and Osborne returned to Washington . It was a small fight with no far reaching consequences but it was to be the last battle of Burnside ' s expedition . Confederate President Jefferson Davis ’ s new military adviser , Robert E . Lee , saw the importance of North Carolina and now Confederate reinforcements were pouring into the region . Burnside was preparing for a drive against Goldsborough , his next major objective , when he received orders to return to Virginia with any reinforcements he could spare to aid in the withdrawal of General McClellan ’ s forces after being defeated attempting to capture the Confederate capital . Burnside departed on July 6 , 1862 with 7 , 000 troops and returned to Virginia . These troops would become the nucleus of the IX Corps . Aftermath . Burnside left behind General Foster in command of 8 , 000 troops . Foster mounted an expedition against the railroad at Goldsborough , which he destroyed at the end of 1862 . The fighting in North Carolina would then devolve into a series of raids and skirmishes . Not until the capture of Fort Fisher and the march of William T . Sherman ’ s armies in 1865 would there be another major campaign in North Carolina . Forces Involved . Union . Before April 2 , 1862 < br > Coast Division – BG Ambrose E . Burnside North Atlantic Blockading Squadron – Flag Officer Louis M . Goldsborough After April 2 , 1862 < br > Coast Division – BG Ambrose E . Burnside North Atlantic Blockading Squadron – Flag Officer Louis M . Goldsborough Confederate . Department of North Carolina < br > BG Richard C . Gatlin < br > BG Joseph R . Anderson < br > MG Theophilus H . Holmes