Combat· American Civil War
Slocum's Creek and New Bern/Washington NC
A combined Army-Navy advance that carried the Union grip deep into eastern North Carolina.
In mid-March 1862 Burnside's troops, landed at Slocum's Creek under cover of the gunboats, marched on New Bern and took the town, while the navy forced the river obstructions and carried the occupation; Washington, North Carolina, was secured in the same operation. Marine guards from the gunboats took part as the ships supported the landings and the advance up the Neuse. The capture of New Bern, an important depot, with its arsenal of supplies, extended Federal control over a wide stretch of the eastern part of the state and gave the Union another base in the sounds. The fighting fell chiefly on Burnside's soldiers and the gunboat crews; no Marine casualties are recorded. New Bern was among the most valuable of the prizes the North Carolina expedition took in the spring of 1862.
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Record no. 415