Combat· American Civil War
Battle of Winton, NC
A coastal expedition that produced the first burning of a North Carolina town in the war.
In mid-February 1862, in the wake of Roanoke Island, a flotilla of Union gunboats carrying Army troops steamed up the Chowan River toward Winton, intending to destroy a nearby railroad bridge. As the lead vessel approached the wharf, Confederate infantry and artillery on the bluff opened fire, but their aim was high and the boats took no serious damage; the gunboats shelled the heights and dropped back downriver. Returning the next day to find the town deserted, the Federal troops landed and burned it. Marine guards were aboard the shelling gunboats, but the landing and burning were the work of the Army regiments, not a Marine operation. No casualties were suffered on the Union side. Winton holds the unhappy distinction of being the first North Carolina town put to the torch in the war.
Podcast episodes on American Civil War
Record no. 412