The Battle
Of Plymouth
Three battles of the Civil War were
fought at Plymouth, and the action has
overshadowed the fact that this river
town had a long and exciting history
for 150 years before that.
There was a house on Guard Is¬
land. just cast of the town site as early
as 1711, and a "Brick House" at this
place is shown on Wimble’s chart of
1738. And while the books say Plym¬
outh dates from 1780, the Collins
family Bible notes that Charles Col¬
lins was bom February 4. 1745, at
"Plymouth. North Carolina." John
Darden, avid historian of the section,
thinks the town was settled by 1720.
The site was ideal. 7 miles from the
mouth of Roanoke River. In a road¬
less wilderness, it gave the villagers
dependable transportation to the in¬
terior as well as the ocean ports. The
Indians already had discovered its
merit, and there was a large Indian
town where the North Carolina Pulp
Mill is now situated.
The town quickly became a shipping
center. In 1790. the Assembly named
it an official "port of delivery." and
in 1808 it was designated a port of
entry. By 1843. it was one of the
leading shipping points in the state,
and it was not unusual for 50 or more
boats to be docked along the river
front. They usually loaded with shingles
and barrel staves, destined for the
West Indies. The staves were made
into barrels to hold the vast quantities
of rum and molasses sold in the United
States.
But in 1843. one of the ships
brought in a case of fever, perhaps
yellow fever, and there was such panic
that hundreds of people fled the town.
As a result, the population decreased
by 300 between 1840 and 1850.
When Roanoke Island fell. Union
troops occupied Plymouth on Febru¬
ary 7, 1 862. with very little opposition.
Complacency of the Fedcrals was
badly shaken in December of that
year by an attack of troops under
John C. Lamb, and they hurried to
fortify it. They did so well that it
escaped assault for two more years.
Commondcr W 8 Cushing, who plontcd the
bomb which sonk the tom "Albcmorlo" of
Plymouth.
In 1864. Grant was pressing Lee in
the Wilderness campaign, and Burn¬
side was preparing to make Plymouth
a base for an army of 30.000 assigned
to cut Lee's supply line at Weldon.
President Jeff Davis placed General
R. F. Hoke in charge of military
operations in North Carolina, with a
force of 40.000.
Meantime, in a riverside cornfield at
Halifax, the armored ram. "Albe¬
marle." was completed and floated.
Heavy chains across the river guarded
Plymouth, but the ram came down on
high water, sailed over the chains, and
drove the Federal Union gunboats
down the river.
After a three-day battle. Hoke
routed the Federal garrison, took
4.000 prisoners and voluminous sup¬
plies. including <*00 mules. Hoke then
moved to Washington and forced its
evacuation, and was laying seige to
New Bern when he received orders
to lake his troops to Petersburg, then
threatened by Butler's army. The
battle-weary North Carolina troops
were immediately brought into the
fight at Drewry's Bluff and partici¬
pated in the defeat of Butler’s forces.
Plymouth was securely in the hands
of the Confederacy until it lost its
lethal gadget, the ram. On the night of
October 7. 1864, Lt. Thomas B. Cush¬
ing. a daring Unionist, undertook to
sink the ram. With a crew of volun¬
teers. he rowed to the anchored ves¬
sel. attached a "torpedo" (bomb), and
destroyed it. The ram made the dif¬
ference. for after a four-day bombard¬
ment. Federals recaptured the port.
These battles prostrated the town.
Only eleven buildings were standing
when the Unionists re-entered, and
Plymouth faced more problems in re¬
covery than most North Carolina towns
during reconstruction.
Postwar expansion came again
through woods and water. In the tur¬
pentine era. it was one of the busiest
ports in the state. The naval stores
industry was succeeded by a boom in
lumbering and shipping. Several bad
fires — one in 1881. another in 1889
— were setbacks. Commercial fishing
was a thriving enterprise in the Sound,
and later in the river. As late as 1923.
three steamship lines maintained regu¬
lar service to Plymouth.
The railways came — the Coastline
in 1889 and the Norfolk Southern in
Building of Ihc com "Albcmorlc" in
о
cornfield ncor Holifox.
THE STATE. QCTOOCR 29. 1960
