Museum Tour Preview

Moving to your right, you will be entering the Strategic Kinston area. In front of you is a map of central-eastern North Carolina, drawn by Captain John Collet in 1770. Founded in 1762 (with the original settlement beginning in 1758), Kinston (originally called “Kingston”) was envisioned by the North Carolina Colonial Assembly to become a center of trade. With its central location in the eastern portion of the state, as well as its location on the navigable Neuse River, Kinston seemed to be the perfect location for the assembly’s goals. With its reputation as a center of trade, Kinston proved to be an important junction for the development of transportation in North Carolina. Following the Revolutionary War, the residents of Kingston dropped the “g” from the town name, and thus, Kinston was born.

To your right is a picture of the main bridge that once ran into Kinston. This photo was taken in October 1884. With Kinston’s location in the central portion of the eastern part of North Carolina, it became a hub for developing roads and railroads, as well as transportation along the Neuse River. Several roads connect Kinston to the nearby towns of Goldsboro, Snow Hill, Tarboro, Wilmington, and Kenansville. Another road connects Kinston to New Bern, an important port city on the Neuse River. It was because of Kinston’s location on the river that the town became an important asset for the Confederacy to hold during the Civil War. When New Bern fell to Union forces in 1862, the Confederate military leadership saw Kinston as a buffer against Union forces attempting to attack Goldsboro, an important junction of the vital Wilmington-Weldon Railroad.

Moving forward, the right wall shows a photo of a section of the Atlantic-North Carolina Railroad that ran near Goldsboro. The growing development of railroads in North Carolina saw Kinston in a position of importance. The Wilmington-Weldon Railroad connected the port of Wilmington to the town of Weldon, near the border with Virginia. Running through Goldsboro, the Wilmington-Weldon Railroad was a major supply line for the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, under the command of General Robert E. Lee. It was this railroad that Union forces in North Carolina hoped to destroy during the Civil War, as they knew its destruction would disrupt the Confederacy’s supply lines in the state. The Confederate leadership also viewed this railroad as a vital connection, and it played a major role in outfitting the CSS Neuse in Kinston. Another railroad that proved important to Confederate forces in North Carolina was the Atlantic-North Carolina Railroad, which began in Morehead City, and ran through Kinston and Goldsboro, up to Raleigh and Greensboro. This railroad was used to ship iron plating, armaments and other equipment to Kinston for outfitting the Neuse. Moving towards the next section are two more maps of Kinston, on the right, one drawn in 1853, and on the left, one drawn by Confederate officer Lieutenant P.W.O. Koerner in 1863, showing Confederate fortifications on both sides of the river.

Proceeding on to the section on the Making of a Gunboat, you will see an illustration of the CSS Albemarle, the sister ship to the CSS Neuse. The CSS Neuse was one of four Confederate ironclads built and completed in North Carolina. Other ironclads constructed included the Richmond-class ironclads CSS Raleigh and CSS North Carolina, as well as the CSS Albemarle. Iron-armored ships saw their genesis in the 1850s, with France and Great Britain constructing the earliest ones. The U.S. and the rest of the world kept an eye on this burgeoning arms race in Europe, and soon these nations began developing and constructing their own iron-armored ships. Such ships soon saw action at the outbreak of the American Civil War, in the service of both the Union and the Confederacy. Unlike the heavily industrialized Union, the Confederacy lacked numerous industrial resources and capabilities that could put them on par with their enemy. Undeterred by this disadvantage, Confederate Secretary of the Navy Stephen Mallory sought to build effective ironclads that could outperform Union ones, thus offsetting the Confederacy’s numerical disadvantage.

The CSS Neuse’s fellow North Carolina ironclads saw limited degrees of success during the war. The CSS Raleigh, built in Wilmington, escorted two blockade runners to sea in 1864 and drove back Union naval forces before making her journey to return to port. However, the CSS Raleigh ran aground at New Inlet and broke her back, effectively ending the ironclad’s career. The CSS North Carolina, also constructed in Wilmington, saw its career as a floating artillery battery moored in the Cape Fear River across from Smithville (today known as Southport). Due to the ship’s location at the mouth of the river, where fresh and saltwater meet, the wooden underside of the North Carolina was eaten away by shipworms, and she was decommissioned as a result. It was the Neuse’s sister ship, the CSS Albemarle, which had the most illustrious career of Confederate ironclads in North Carolina. Constructed at Edward’s Ferry on the Roanoke River, the Albemarle successfully drove Union naval forces away from the town of Plymouth, allowing Confederate Army forces to capture the town in April 1864. A month later, the Albemarle was tasked with traveling downriver to partake in General Robert F. Hoke’s attempt to retake New Bern. At the mouth of the Albemarle Sound, however, the CSS Albemarle was attacked by eight Union gunboats. The Albemarle ended up retreating back up to Plymouth, having been damaged after a short battle. The ironclad continued to dominate the Roanoke River until October 1864, when a Union naval task force led by Lieutenant William R. Cushing launched a nighttime surprise attack on her. Cushing and his men detonated a spar torpedo on the Albemarle’s underside, sinking the ironclad in a quick fashion. To your right, by the panels, is a photograph of the sunken Albemarle, taken in January 1865 after Union forces recaptured Plymouth. To the right of the photograph is a replica of a spar torpedo. Cushing and his men used a similar one against the Albemarle.

We now move on to our next section on Neuse’s construction and outfitting. The CSS Neuse was built by the shipbuilding firm of Thomas Howard and Elijah Ellis, with work beginning in October 1862. Designed by Confederate naval engineer John L. Porter as a “diamond hull” ironclad, the Neuse measured 158 feet long by 34 feet wide, and consisted of two decks. Laid down at Whitehall (today Seven Springs), her wooden hull was constructed with locally abundant pine and oak. The wood used was “green wood,” meaning the wood was not given time to dry before being used for construction. Instead, it went right onto the ship. A major delay in the ship’s construction occurred when Union forces attacked Whitehall in December 1862. Yet despite this setback, the Neuse’s wooden hull was completed and sent down to Kinston to be outfitted with its iron armor, engines, and weaponry. Between the panels, you will see a recreation of Neuse’s design schematics. To the left, in the cases, you will see various building materials, such as bolts, nails, mallets, and even a swage block, used in Neuse’s construction.

Moving on, we now see the bow of the ship, and the location of its former ram, and we are moving on to the ship’s outfitting in Kinston. In Kinston, the CSS Neuse was outfitted with its iron plating (shipped in via the Atlantic-North Carolina Railroad), guns, and engines. Delays, however, plagued the outfitting process, as the railroads were under the monopoly of the Confederate Army, which did not care for the concerns or goals of the Confederate Navy. So troubling were the delays that North Carolina Governor Zebulon B. Vance wrote to Confederate Secretary of the Navy Stephen Mallory detailing his dissatisfaction with the Neuse’s progress, stating “the iron furnished by the State under the express promises of both myself, and you have been applied to other purposes and our rivers are at the mercy of the most contemptible boat of the Yankee navy.” Despite the setbacks, the Neuse’s crew worked around the clock to ensure the ship’s outfitting was completed on schedule. Confederate Lieutenant R.D. Minor reported about the crew’s work schedule, stating that “Lt. Cmd. Sharp has adopted the plan of working his men from 7 A.M. to 7 P.M., with an intermission of one hour for dinner and with ‘Relief Parties’ who will work from 7 P.M. until 3 A.M. relieving at 11 P.M… ”. By March 1864, the Neuse’s guns and engines were in place aboard the ship, but construction was still slow. To speed up the process, General Robert Hoke sent 150 of his soldiers to Kinston to assist in the finishing of the Neuse’s construction. To the right is a map of the Kinston area in which the Neuse was outfitted, which took place at the Cat Hole. The building labeled “R. Einstein” is the current location of this museum. To the left are materials from the ship, including a piece of the original iron from the casemate and the ship’s bell. Turning around, you now face the port side of the ship. The large hole in the side of the hull is the result of the scuttling explosion that sank the Neuse. Moving to the right is a section of the casemate recovered from the river in the 1960s. Its various layers show how the Neuse’s engineers and builders designed and armored the ship. With this piece of the ship is more iron plating and other pieces from the Neuse. Hanging above you to the left is a replica of the second national flag of the Confederacy (“The Stainless Banner”). This flag would have flown off a flagpole behind the casemate. It is an exact copy of the flag of Neuse’s sister ship, Albemarle, which is located at the North Carolina Museum of History in Raleigh.

We are now moving down the port side of the Neuse. To your right is a replica of the CSS Neuse’s casemate, with an original hatch in the center of the wooden deck. Further down on the casemate is another original piece of iron from the ship. To the left are tools that were used for operating the Neuse’s engines. The CSS Neuse consisted of two decks. The upper deck held the casemate, inside which was the pilot house and the ironclad’s armament. The bottom deck contained the ship’s quarters, coal bunkers, boiler room, engine room, powder magazine, shell room, and several storage areas. The casemate was constructed with several layers of wood and iron, patterned as follows: a layer of 13 x 12” vertical pine boards, a layer of 5” thick horizontal pine boards, a layer of 4” thick vertical oak boards, and two layers of 2” thick iron plates, the first being put on horizontally and the second on vertically.

The Neuse’s armament consisted of two 6.4” Brooke rifled cannons, mounted on both ends of the casemate. The cannons, mounted on carriages for swiveling purposes, had spiral grooves inside their barrels, to improve the accuracy of their shots. The cannons could fire shells for ship-to-ship combat and could fire grape and canister shot to sweep the decks of enemy ships. Within the casemate, we find a replica of one of these cannons, complete with outlines on the floor that represent the outline of the gun carriage’s tracks. Additionally, within the casemate, we have a replica of the pilot house. Behind you, outside the casemate, are recovered rounds that were used by the Neuse’s cannons. Also, present are the block and tackle that were used by the crew to shift the guns around. The illustration on the wall behind the rounds depicts the Albemarle in the battle against Union gunboats at Plymouth.

In the pilot house, steering was controlled by a wooden wheel, which was attached to a series of ropes and chains that led to a system of pulleys. Through the pulleys, the rope and chains led to the tiller, connected by another system of pulleys. Whenever the helmsman turned the wheel, the rope tightened on one side and slackened on the other, allowing the tiller to turn the rudder in the direction the ship needed to go. The Neuse used the chain to control the tiller, as it was more reliable than rope. Turning to your left, you will see a replica of the ship’s wheel, as well as a replica pulley system beneath it that shows you how the ship’s rudder turned in conjunction with the wheel. Behind the wheel in the display case are pieces from the original pilot house and ship’s wheel.

Below on the second deck were the Neuse’s engines and boiler. As the Confederacy lacked the Union’s industrial capabilities, many Confederate naval ships were powered by engines that had previously served a different purpose (such as powering factories, trains, and other smaller boats). In the case of the Neuse, its engines and boiler were formerly used to power a sawmill before being appropriated by the Confederate Navy for military use. The horizontal boiler consisted of a firebox and a smokestack, which were connected by a series of tubes. The firebox was fed with coal, while water from the Neuse River was also fed into the boiler. The resulting steam was then piped to the engines for power. The twin engines ran on a single source of steam and drove on the same shaft, and the Neuse could reach speeds up to 6 knots (which is about 7 miles per hour).

Moving forward from the wheel replica, we enter the section of the life of officers and enlisted crew aboard the CSS Neuse. Within the cases are mannequins that show the typical uniforms worn by the officers and enlisted sailors of the Confederate Navy. With them are recovered items that Confederate sailors carried. The crew of the CSS Neuse consisted of about 80 officers and men at one time. However, at least 110 men served on her during her time in service. The officers were educated, having attended either the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, or the Confederate States Naval Academy in Richmond, Virginia. While the Neuse’s officers were traditional officers of the Confederate Navy, many of its enlisted crew were soldiers from the Confederate Army, who volunteered for duty aboard the ironclad. As a result, the performance of the Neuse’s Army crew was often lamented by its naval officers, with Lieutenant Richard Bacot writing, “they are all legs and arms while working at the guns. Their legs get tangled in the tackles, and they are always in the wrong place and in each other's way.” Uniforms were also a dividing ground between enlisted sailors and officers, as officer uniforms were better made, and they likely had more uniformity than that of enlisted sailors. In Neuse’s case, much of its enlisted crew simply kept their Army uniforms for duty aboard the ironclad. They were supplemented with naval items such as flat hats and neckerchiefs.

In the ship’s quarters, enlisted men slept on either bunks or hammocks. Officers slept in their own individual bunks. As the Neuse lacked ventilation, summers aboard the ironclad were unbearably hot. The winters could be very cold as well, though stoves were used to make the ironclad's interior a little warmer. To your right are items recovered from the ship, such as pots, bottles, and cooking utensils, as well as a replica hammock. Perhaps the most impressive of what was recovered from the ship was a stove that was used for cooking and to heat the ship in the wintertime.

Food aboard the Neuse was rationed in accordance with Confederate naval standards. When many items such as coffee and flour were cut off from the Confederacy due to Union efforts, substitutes took their place in the meals of officers and sailors. Most of the crew’s rations consisted of various types of meat (such as beef or pork), dried beans, and peas. The crew ate in shifts of about a dozen people, usually organized by the work crew. The crew could also supplement their diet by fishing, or if given permission, by hunting for game.

Turning left, you will see several items used for leisure by the CSS Neuse’s crew. The crew’s duties began early in the morning, sometimes as early as 5:00 A.M. Cleaning, drilling on the ship’s cannons and checking on the ship’s condition dominated the work day. Meal breaks were taken for breakfast, dinner, and supper, and at night, the crew was allotted some leisure time. Leisure time could consist of playing games such as quoits (throwing a piece of metal or rope to land near a pin), talking with others, visiting the town, or listening to local bands play music.

We are now moving on to the CSS Neuse’s final operations. You now are present at the stern of the ship. Prior to the final operations of the CSS Neuse, a Confederate naval expedition set a course downriver in February 1864 with the intention of capturing a Union ship. This captured ship would be able to serve as a support ship for the CSS. Neuse, with General Robert E. Lee writing to President Jefferson Davis that “the [captured] gunboats, aided by ironclads being building on the Neuse and Roanoke, would clear the waters of the enemy.” A force of 220 Confederate sailors, composed of men from across the South and led by Commander John Taylor Wood (grandson of 12th U.S. President Zachary Taylor), rowed downriver in small boats in search of a Union ship. At New Bern, the Confederate forces discovered the USS Underwriter, a former civilian steamer that had been appropriated and converted into a gunboat by Union naval forces. The large Confederate force quickly boarded the Underwriter, which was at anchor, and thus, most of her crew were not present aboard the ship. After a fairly brutal takeover, Union artillery at the local forts was alerted of the Underwriter’s takeover and began to fire on the Confederate-held ship. As the Underwriter had no fire in its boiler and was under heavy enemy fire, Wood and his men decided to scuttle the ship. They lit fires aboard the ship down to the Underwriter’s powder magazine, which detonated and sank the ship. While the operation was a failure for Confederate forces and the sailors of the expedition began to return to their normal duty posts, several Confederate officers remained behind and became crewmen on board the CSS Neuse. Among them was Benjamin Loyall, Richard Bacot, and Francis Lyell Hoge. To your right, inside the display case, are artifacts recovered from the Underwriter in the late twentieth century.

In April 1864, the CSS Neuse received orders to travel downriver and assist General Robert F. Hoke’s forces in re-capturing New Bern from Union forces. Only a half mile down the Neuse River, however, the Neuse ran aground on a sandbar, due to the river’s unusual shallowness. Lt. Bacot wrote to his sister, “I have bad news to tell you this time. Even worse than I anticipated when I wrote last. The river has fallen and the CSS Neuse is nearly ‘high and dry’ on a sandbar just below Kinston.”. The attack on New Bern ultimately failed, and it took until May to refloat the Neuse (the river had now returned to its normal height) and she returned to Kinston.

By 1865, the Confederate war machine was on its last legs. In January, Fort Fisher fell, followed by the port of Wilmington in February. By March, Union forces under the command of General William T. Sherman invaded North Carolina via South Carolina, with their intended target being Goldsboro. Confederate forces under Hoke’s command defended Kinston at the Battle of Wyse Fork from March 7-10. Ultimately, General Braxton Bragg ordered Hoke’s forces to retreat, and the Neuse was ordered to cover the retreat of Confederate forces. On March 11, the Neuse fired on Union troops attempting to enter Kinston, and later that day, the Neuse’s commanding officer, Commander Joseph Price, ordered the ship to be scuttled. The crew ran the Neuse aground on the banks of the river, rigged a large concentration of gunpowder in the front of the ship to explode, and lit the ship afire. The resulting explosion from the gunpowder sank the Neuse. To the left of the panels, you will see Stephen McCall’s painting of the burning of the CSS Neuse.

We now move on to the recovery of the CSS Neuse. Walking forward, you will see a film of the recovery of the Neuse. Looking closely, one can see an ink pot recovered by the salvagers, the same one that currently sits in our display case. Following the end of the Civil War, the U.S. government recovered the Neuse’s Brooke rifled cannons and auctioned off the rest of the ship to Satterlee, Lyon, and Company of New York in October 1865. The company stripped the ship of its armor and machinery and sold all of it off, with the former boiler and engines being sold to a local sawmill to use as a power source. The Neuse’s wooden hull and many of its artifacts, however, sat in the sand and mud of the Neuse River for nearly a century. In the late 1950s, as interest in the Civil War grew in the U.S. as a result of the upcoming centennial, salvage efforts for the Neuse began. In 1961, three Kinston citizens, Tom Carlyle, Henry Clay Casey, and Lemuel Houston, formed a partnership to recover the ironclad. After much work and several legal disputes, the Neuse was again raised. Owned officially by the Lenoir County Confederate Centennial Commission, the Neuse was handed over to the state and transported to a site next to the Governor Richard Caswell Memorial on West Vernon Avenue, where she remained from 1964 to 2012. In the late 1990s, flooding from Hurricanes Fran and Floyd convinced locals that the Neuse needed to be moved to a better and more controlled climate. In 2012, the Neuse was moved into a new climate-controlled building on North Queen Street, which was officially opened as the CSS Neuse Civil War Interpretive Center in March 2015. Today, the Neuse and many of her 15,000 recovered artifacts are available for all to see.

We are now moving upstairs. Please head to either the stairwell past the "Making of an Ironclad" exhibit or the stairwell next to the "Crew of the Neuse" Exhibit. Upstairs, you'll learn about the role of eastern North Carolina in the Civil War and how both sides struggled to maintain control of a region that was vital to their respective efforts. You'll also learn about the homefront of Kinston during the war, and how women, children and African-Americans made their way of life in a war that brought lasting changes.

Please begin the tour by the Secession in North Carolina panel near the elevator.

Welcome to the exhibition on North Carolina in the American Civil War, part of the CSS Neuse Civil War Museum. To your left begins this section, starting with the secession crisis. When Confederate forces opened fire on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861, North Carolina was still part of the Union. Many North Carolinians were pro-Union, and a majority of the state government consisted of white, non-slave-holding yeoman farmers. When Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the United States, a referendum for secession in N.C. was held, with the vote going in favor of staying with the Union (though the vote to stay only won by a thousand votes). It was when President Lincoln called on the states to supply troops to put down the Southern rebellion that North Carolinians turned against the Union. Another referendum for secession was held on May 20, 1861, and the vote to leave the Union was approved. North Carolina was the last state to leave the Union and join the Confederate States of America.

Moving to your left, we begin the first stages of the North Carolina exhibition. North Carolina was an important piece of the Union’s “Anaconda Plan,” a strategy to defeat the Confederacy by blockading its ports and capturing the Mississippi River, effectively cutting the South in two and “strangling” its economy. North Carolina came into the Union’s plans due to its ports (from which Confederate blockade runners could operate) and its meager defenses along the coastline. The Union hoped to conquer the North Carolina coast to cut off the blockade runners and have a base of operations for their own blockading fleet. The Union also hoped to exploit the pro-Union sentiment of coastal North Carolinians.

Hatteras Island was the Union’s first key to securing the coastline. In the summer of 1861, Confederate forces built Fort Clark and Fort Hatteras to defend Hatteras Inlet, but these fortifications soon came under attack from the Union. Led by Commodore Silas Stringham and General Benjamin Butler, Union forces first sieged Fort Clark. On August 28, 1861, Fort Clark was abandoned, and Confederate forces retreated to the stronger Fort Hatteras. The following day, following a short siege, Fort Hatteras surrendered to Butler’s troops. Additional Confederate forts at Ocracoke Island and Oregon Inlet were destroyed by Union forces. The North now had its foothold.

The spring of 1862 saw a larger Union offensive come across eastern North Carolina. Union Army General-in-Chief George McClellan tasked Brigadier General Ambrose Burnside to capture Roanoke Island, New Bern, Beaufort, and Fort Macon, and seize the railroad as far inland as Goldsboro. Securing these areas would allow Union forces to strike further inland at cities like Raleigh, as well as the port of Wilmington.

From Fort Monroe in Virginia, Union forces traveled south and landed at Roanoke Island on February 7. The next day, after a short battle, Roanoke Island was in Union hands. Union naval forces then engaged the so-called “Mosquito Fleet,” North Carolina’s small naval fleet. The Mosquito Fleet was destroyed at the Battle of Elizabeth City on February 10, and the coastal town of Winton was subsequently burned on February 19. The Union now had its foothold to venture into the Pamlico and Albemarle sounds.

In March 1862, Burnside’s 11,000-man force, consisting of the army and naval forces, proceeded south towards the port city of New Bern. On March 13, Union forces marched on Slocum’s Creek (which emptied into the Neuse River) and shelled the shoreline. While no Confederate forces were killed, Confederate sentries were able to warn New Bern’s defenses that the Union was on its way. Marching down the Beaufort-New Bern Road, the Union engaged Confederate forces at New Bern on March 14. Like with Roanoke, New Bern fell in a day to Union troops. With New Bern now in Union hands, Kinston was left as the last major bulwark of Confederate forces against the Union in eastern North Carolina. General Burnside, however, chose not to proceed west, but rather southeast down towards Beaufort.

From New Bern, the Union made a rapid advance down the southeast coast, capturing Havelock, Carolina City, and Morehead City. By March 24, the Union had captured Beaufort and proceeded to plan an attack on the Confederate-held Fort Macon, a masonry fort constructed in the early nineteenth century. The fort was located on Bogue Banks and guarded the entrance to Bogue Inlet. In April 1862, Union forces began building artillery emplacements in the area around Fort Macon. On April 25, combined Union land and naval forces began shelling the fort. Fort Macon’s commander, Colonel Moses White, was at a severe disadvantage during the siege, as the fort’s masonry walls could not hold against Union artillery. Additionally, with only 403 men under his command and armed only with smooth bore artillery pieces (which lacked the range and accuracy of Union guns), White found that he could not stand a prolonged siege. On the morning of April 26, White surrendered the fort to the Union.

With the fall of Fort Macon, the majority of North Carolina’s coast was under Union control (except for the port of Wilmington and the more southern portions of the state). The Union army garrisoned its troops at Roanoke Island, Plymouth, New Bern, Morehead City, Newport, and Beaufort. Beaufort became a coaling station for the Union’s North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, while Roanoke Island and New Bern became locations for large freedmen colonies. These colonies were established by Union forces as places where escaped slaves could live and work. As a result, many slaves across North Carolina fled to Union lines and took up residence in these colonies. New Bern itself became the capital of Union activity in North Carolina. But despite this string of victories, Burnside’s expedition was the Union’s last major offensive in North Carolina for the next two years. To your left, by the Fort Macon panel, is a map detailing the list of battles fought in Burnside’s expedition. Behind you, in the plexiglass case, are artifacts that Union and Confederate troops carried with them.

Moving to the left, into the corner, we have our exhibits on the situation in Kinston/Lenoir County during the war and Foster’s Raid. As eastern North Carolina was now under Union occupation, Kinston found itself on the front line of the Civil War. Confederate troops garrisoned in the town, among a population that was generally supportive of the Confederate cause. Several town buildings served as headquarters for Confederate military leadership (such as the Civil War-era courthouse and the Peebles House, today Harmony Hall), and many Kinston men enlisted in the Confederate Army. On your left, this panel contains a list of Confederate units that were raised in Lenoir County.

Kinston was the last Southern defensive point that divided the Union-occupied east from the rest of the state. With the vital Wilmington-Weldon Railroad running through nearby Goldsboro, Kinston was a strategic asset that the Confederacy needed to hold. As a result, two battles were fought at Kinston in the course of the Civil War.

While Kinston was decidedly pro-Confederate, Union historians at the time tried to log as many accounts of pro-Union sentiment as possible. Local Confederate authorities, however, tolerated no such sentiment, and they imprisoned individuals suspected of pro-Union sentiments (such as John Dibble and Aaron Baer).

In December 1862, Union Army Brigadier General John G. Foster launched a raid into North Carolina from New Bern. His goal was to destroy a railroad bridge of the Wilmington-Weldon Railroad that ran over the Neuse River at Goldsboro. This railroad was a vital lifeline for the Confederacy, as it supplied both the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia and Confederate blockade runners in Wilmington. As a result, Foster believed that the destruction of this section of railroad would disrupt Confederate supply lines. To your left is a map of the three battles fought during Foster’s Raid: Kinston, Whitehall, and Goldsboro.

Foster began his raid on December 11, 1862, moving his forces down three separate roads from New Bern. Moving towards Kinston, Foster’s troops encountered numerous obstacles along the way, such as felled trees and a swollen creek. On December 13, Foster’s troops arrived at the outskirts of Kinston and began engaging Confederate forces near Southwest Creek. The fighting continued on December 14, with Union forces engaging Confederate troops under Brigadier General Nathaniel Evans at the bridge leading into Kinston. After five hours of fighting, the Confederate troops retreated into Kinston and set fire to the bridge. The Union troops were able to extinguish the fire and move in to occupy Kinston. A brief occupation followed, with the Union pulling out of Kinston on December 15 to continue towards Goldsboro. On the left and right of this panel are mannequins wearing replica uniforms of Union (the 27th Massachusetts Regiment) and Confederate (the 61st North Carolina Regiment) troops during the raid. Moving to your left, inside the display case, are rifles and other pieces of weaponry and tools used by soldiers of the Union and Confederacy during the war. Moving further left is a replica flag of the 61st North Carolina Regiment (which was based on North Carolina’s first state flag at that time).

As Foster pressed onwards towards Goldsboro, his troops passed the village of Whitehall (today Seven Springs), where the CSS Neuse was having its wooden hull constructed on the north bank of the Neuse River. On December 16, Foster’s troops began engaging Confederate forces on the bluffs overlooking the river, where the Neuse’s wooden hull was laid. To slow the Union advance, Confederate troops burned the bridge that crossed the Neuse River. One Union soldier, Henry Butler, attempted to swim across the river to set fire to the Neuse’s wooden hull, but he was unsuccessful and forced to swim back across the river to the main Union force. While the CSS Neuse sustained damage during the battle, she was saved from further destruction when Union forces pulled out of Whitehall and continued towards Goldsboro. Confederate troops and workers in the area proceeded to continue work on the Neuse, with freed Blacks being hired to dig trenches, to have defensive positions in case of future attacks.

On December 17, Foster’s troops reached the railway tracks near Everettville and Mount Olive and began destroying the tracks leading up to the Goldsboro bridge. Confederate forces under General Thomas L. Clingman attempted to protect the bridge but were unsuccessful. Union troops set the bridge ablaze and quickly pulled out. With the bridge in flames, Foster and his troops returned to New Bern, arriving back on December 20. Despite Foster’s objective being completed, Confederate forces rebuilt the bridge and kept the supply line between Wilmington and Virginia open. It was not until Wilmington’s fall in February 1865 that the supply line fell for good. Behind you, in the plexiglass case, are items Union soldiers used during Foster’s Raid.

We now move on to the Kinston hangings and the last stages of the Civil War in North Carolina. In February 1864, Confederate forces under the command of General George Pickett launched an attack on New Bern, intent on re-capturing the port city. The attack was a failure, however, and on the retreat back, Pickett’s troops captured 300 Union troops. Among the Union prisoners were 22 residents of Lenoir County, who had previously served in local militias that were part of the N.C. home guard (such as Nethercutt’s Battalion). When these units were organized into the 66th North Carolina Regiment (now an official unit of the Confederate Army) and sent to Wilmington for deployment against Union troops outside of North Carolina, these individuals deserted the unit and went to the Union side. Union commanders promised them that they would only have to serve in North Carolina if they joined the Union side. Considered traitors by the Confederate troops who captured them, they were hauled to the Kinston jail and held in harsh conditions. All the Lenoir men were then put through military tribunals, headed up by General Robert F. Hoke. In these trials, the Lenoir men were denied council or witnesses, and their sentences were handed down to them in usually a single day. All 22 men were convicted of treason and hanged in a field outside of town. After the hangings, their bodies were looted and their families harassed for being traitors to the Confederate cause. On the right side of the panel is a list of the names of the twenty-two men who were hanged.

In late 1864, with the capture of Savannah, Georgia, and the end of his March to the Sea, General William T. Sherman prepared his 60,000-strong force to march north through the Carolinas and into Virginia. Sherman’s goal was to link up with Union forces under the command of General Ulysses S. Grant, who were engaging Confederate forces under General Robert E. Lee’s command outside of Petersburg, Virginia. Along the way, Sherman’s troops disrupted Confederate supply lines and attacked the Southern homefront, “punishing” Southern civilians for supporting the cause of secession. This was one of the first instances of “total war,” as Sherman’s forces targeted not only Confederate military assets but industry and homes.

Marching through Georgia and South Carolina, Union troops plundered towns and left them in ashes. Upon arrival in North Carolina, Sherman’s men divided themselves into separate units, to cover their flanks and cover more territory. Unlike Georgia and South Carolina, North Carolina was spared from much of the destruction that plagued Georgia and South Carolina. This was a result of Sherman ordering his men to take it easy on North Carolina, as the state had a somewhat pro-Union stance (being the last one to leave the Union). Sherman’s forces exited North Carolina by May.

In January 1865, the Confederate-built Fort Fisher fell to the Union. Other Confederate fortifications such as Fort Caswell and Fort Campbell were soon abandoned, and General Robert F. Hoke’s men entrenched themselves three miles south of Wilmington to defend the port city. With their left flank on the Masonboro Sound and their right on the river, the Confederate defense was seen as impenetrable until the Union launched an attack in late February.

Two days after the Confederate evacuation of Fort Anderson, Union forces began marching towards Wilmington on February 20. Union troops under the command of General Jacob D. Cox engaged Hoke’s entrenched forces at Forks Road, with the Union’s 5th U.S. Colored Troops leading a frontal assault against the Confederate positions. While the Confederate troops held their ground, they were forced to retreat on February 21 after Union forces were reinforced by a flotilla of gunboats. Following the Confederate retreat, Union troops moved into Wilmington and captured the port city. Two weeks later, Cox’s men began their march towards Kinston and Goldsboro, to link up with Sherman’s main army.

On March 7, Union forces engaged Confederate troops at Wyse Fork, an intersection of the Lower Trent and Dover roads, just outside of Kinston. In the second-largest battle fought in North Carolina during the Civil War, Cox’s troops engaged the Confederate forces of General Braxton Bragg, who attempted to attack the Union flanks. The attack, however, failed due to Union forces receiving reinforcements and holding off numerous attacks by Bragg’s troops. Bragg ultimately withdrew his troops across the Neuse River on March 10. In the case to your left, are rifles and other equipment that Union and Confederate troops used during the war. Moving further left, behind the glass, is a replica flag of the 27th Massachusetts Regiment, a Union regiment that fought at both Roanoke Island and at Wyse Fork.

With Wyse Fork lost, Bragg ordered his troops to evacuate Kinston. On March 11, Confederate forces withdrew from the area, covered by fire from the CSS Neuse. The crew of the ironclad then scuttled the ship via burning to prevent it from falling into Union hands. While the majority of Union forces proceeded onto Goldsboro, a brigade of Union troops remained behind in Kinston as an occupation force. Union forces remained in the Kinston area until the end of the Civil War, occasionally encountering Confederate forces in the area, but not in any major engagements. While tensions were initially high between occupying Union troops and Kinston residents, gradually the two sides made peace with one another upon the end of the war. Union troops then left Kinston after the end of the war was announced.

As Union forces marched through North Carolina in March 1865, 30,000 Confederate troops under the command of General Joseph E. Johnston converged at Bentonville and attacked the left flank of Sherman’s army. While the Confederate forces were initially successful, the Union soon put up a stubborn resistance that stopped their attack. Union reinforcements drove the Confederate troops back, who withdrew towards Smithfield and Raleigh. The Union lost 304 troops, while the Confederate troops lost 239 in the three-day battle.

On April 17, 1865, at Bennett Farm near Durham’s Station, Johnston arrived under a flag of truce to surrender to General William T. Sherman. It was the largest surrender of the American Civil War, though the initial surrender document crafted by Sherman was rejected by Union officials for being too lenient on Confederate forces. Finally, on April 26, Johnston met with Sherman once more and signed a surrender document similar to the one signed by General Robert E. Lee at Appomattox. The surrender demobilized 89,270 Confederate troops, spread across the Carolina's, Georgia, and Florida. To your left is an 1865 drawing of the Bennett House where the surrender was signed.

Moving back to our right, we now see a replica of a U.S. Model 1835 12-pounder mountain howitzer. This muzzle-loaded artillery piece was used by the 3rd New York Cavalry (a Union unit) during Foster’s Raid. Its bronze barrel has a 4.62-inch bore that leads back to a 3-inch chamber. Capable of firing shells, spherical case, and canister shot, the powder bag and shot were loaded in, with the bag reaching back into the breach. A priming wire was inserted to poke a hole in the powder bag, followed by the friction primer (a lanyard would be attached to this primer). When pulled fast, the powder bag is lit and explodes, sending the shot out of the howitzer and towards its target. The M1835 could fire an 8.9-pound shell to a distance of 1,072 yards. To the right of this howitzer is a film showing you how to properly use the howitzer.

Moving left from the howitzer, we move on to our exhibit on the U.S. Colored Troops. In July 1862, following the passing of the Second Confiscation Act and the Militia Act, African-Americans could serve as soldiers in the United States Army and pro-Union militias. Among the first raised regiments of African-American soldiers were the 1st South Carolina Volunteers Infantry Regiment and the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment. In 1863, General Order No. 143 was issued, which established proper procedure for the recruitment and training of African-Americans for military service, and gave an official designation to African-American regiments: the U.S. Colored Troops (USCT). 175,000 men would serve in the USCT, 7,000 of which were white officers. This was due to regulations forbidding African-Americans from becoming commissioned officers. Later in the war, however, African-Americans serving as doctors and chaplains in USCT units could become commissioned officers. 6,000 African-Americans from eastern North Carolina served in the USCT during the Civil War, among which was a soldier named Furney Bryant. He was born into slavery in Lenior County in 1835 and fled to the Union-occupied coast in 1862, where he was educated and enlisted in the 1st North Carolina Colored Infantry. When the 1st North Carolina was reorganized into the 35th U.S. Colored Infantry Regiment in February 1864, Corporal Bryant was assigned to Company D. He carried out espionage missions against Confederate forces and fought at the Battle of Olustee in Florida, being promoted to Sergeant during his time in service. He mustered out of the army in 1866 and went on to marry Mary F. Jones. Below on this panel is a list of USCT regiments that Lenoir County African-Americans served in.

Another soldier from the 35th U.S. Colored Troops who saw combat at Olustee was Sergeant George Johnson. His mannequin and exhibit are to your right. Born a slave in Carteret County, the Union occupation of the area freed him from slavery, and he went to Beaufort in June 1863 to enlist in Company K, 1st North Carolina Colored Infantry. A month later, he was mustered into service at New Bern. During the Battle of Olustee, he carried the regimental colors of the 35th U.S. Colored Infantry into combat. During the fighting, he was shot multiple times in his right arm, but never once dropped the colors or backed down. Only when he was barely able to stand was he relieved from duty. Thanks to the efforts of the 35th U.S. Colored Infantry, the Union rear was protected during their retreat from Olustee. Johnson reached the rank of Sergeant during his service, but the wounds he sustained at Olustee led to his right arm being amputated. Medically discharged from military service, he returned to Beaufort. He married a woman named Alice Broadnax and had two children, Samuel and Mildred, before he passed away sometime between 1905 and 1909.

Moving to your left once more, we come to our exhibit on Richard Caswell Gatlin. Inside the case are his officer’s frock coat, saber, and a miniature portrait of him. Born in Kinston in 1809, he was the grandson of Richard Caswell (North Carolina’s first governor) through his mother Susannah. He attended the New Bern Academy, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the United States Military Academy at West Point, from which he graduated in 1832. Commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Army, he served in the Second Seminole War and the Mexican-American War, during which he was wounded at the Battle of Monterey. During the 1850s, he served in various posts on the western frontier. Following North Carolina’s secession from the Union, Gatlin left the U.S. Army and returned home. He was appointed adjutant general of North Carolina and was commissioned as a Colonel of the infantry in the Confederate Army. He was soon promoted to Brigadier General and tasked with building up the defenses of North Carolina against the Union. With the fall of Hatteras Island to the Union in August 1861, Gatlin expressed concerns to Governor Henry Toole Clark about how well-prepared and defended the coastal region was and requested additional troops to fortify the region. Roanoke Island fell to the Union in February 1862, and Gatlin traveled to New Bern in March to inspect troops in the city, to ensure that this port would not fall into enemy hands. However, he fell sick and was forced to return to his headquarters in Goldsboro. New Bern fell later in March, while Gatlin was still ill. In a report written in October 1862, Gatlin defended his reputation for his role in the defense of the coast, stating the blame should not be entirely put on him. He resigned from the Confederate Army in September 1862 but continued to serve as North Carolina’s adjutant general for the rest of the war. After the war, he moved to Arkansas, eventually purchasing a farm near Fort Smith. He spent the rest of his life there with his second wife, Mary Ann (his first wife Scioto died of complications from childbirth in 1852). Gatlin himself passed away in 1896 at the age of 87.

Moving to your left once more, we now enter the final section of our museum, the homefront of Kinston, North Carolina. On the panel “Views of the Homefront,” you will see various opinions on how Kinston was viewed during the war, with some having a fairly positive opinion while others lamented the town, with Lt. Richard Bacot declaring Kinston “exceedingly dull.” In 1860, Lenoir County’s population numbered 10,000, a split between 4,900 free citizens and 5,100 slaves. Kinston itself had a population of 1,340, 700 free citizens, and 640 slaves. Like the rest of eastern North Carolina, Kinston was an agricultural community. Manufacturing also found itself a home in Kinston in the years leading up to the Civil War. The outbreak of war upended life for the small community, and radical changes soon came about. In the display case to your left is a ball gown, similar to what was worn by upper-class women in the early 1860s. As the war raged on and the Union began its blockade of the Southern coast, local Kinston women found themselves lacking fine dress fabric, among other commodities that pre-war life possessed. It was only the beginning of how life changed in Kinston during the war.

Moving to our left once more, we see our first exhibit on the homefront, the practice of homespun. Behind the wooden gate are a spinning wheel, loom, and other materials Kinston women used during the 1860s. The imported fabric was the main source of clothing for Kinston residents before the war. Upon the outbreak of the war and the Union blockade of the South, the few textile mills that the South had begun producing uniforms for the Confederate military. As a result, to satisfy the town’s clothing needs, Kinston women took to homespinning. Older women taught younger women how to make cloth and how to make dyes out of things like walnut shells and leaves. Some women would homespin to support themselves by sewing uniforms for the Confederate Army. Upper-class women in Kinston wore homespun clothes as a badge of honor, and the practice itself became novel. But as the war began to turn against the Confederacy, and shortages and rising prices took their grip, homespun became less and less novel.

Moving to our left once more, we see our first exhibit on the homefront, the practice of homespun. Behind the wooden gate are a spinning wheel, loom, and other materials Kinston women used during the 1860s. The imported fabric was the main source of clothing for Kinston residents before the war. Upon the outbreak of the war and the Union blockade of the South, the few textile mills that the South had begun producing uniforms for the Confederate military. As a result, to satisfy the town’s clothing needs, Kinston women took to homespinning. Older women taught younger women how to make cloth and how to make dyes out of things like walnut shells and leaves. Some women would homespin to support themselves by sewing uniforms for the Confederate Army. Upper-class women in Kinston wore homespun clothes as a badge of honor, and the practice itself became novel. But as the war began to turn against the Confederacy, and shortages and rising prices took their grip, homespun became less and less novel.

Moving forward, we come upon a replica front porch. The panels attached to the rails tell us about clothing in wartime Kinston. The clothing itself in the 1860s was determined by class status and prevailing fashion standards. Upper-class white citizens wore very fashion-conscious clothing, made with fine fabric such as silk and fine wool. Multiple layers were worn as well, to compliment their looks. Middle-class citizens attempted to imitate the upper class, but they often could not afford to constantly replace their cotton and wool clothes. Patching was common among middle-class citizens to make their clothing last longer. Free blacks wore similar clothes to middle-class whites, imitating them in the same fashion that the middle-class attempted to imitate the upper-class. The enslaved population of Kinston was the worst off when it came to clothing, as they wore clothes made mostly of coarse fabrics such as jean cloth, and simply wore only base clothes. A house slave, however, might be dressed better than a slave working in a shop or field, and thus might wear multiple layers. Regardless of status in society, Kinston residents of the 1860s had fewer clothing options than people today. The Civil War only aggravated this situation and led to the rise of homespun clothing.

The social classes of Kinston were described by CSS Neuse gunner Charles Porter in a letter. He described “rich speculators” as elitists, who flaunted their wealth in the carriages they rode and the clothes they wore. He then describes a class of “true southern ladies” who wore homespun clothes and worked day and night to make clothing for Confederate soldiers. Furthermore, he described a class of soldiers’ wives and children, whom he reported as quite happy despite the situations of their husbands and fathers.

Moving forward, we come upon a replica front porch. The panels attached to the rails tell us about clothing in wartime Kinston. The clothing itself in the 1860s was determined by class status and prevailing fashion standards. Upper-class white citizens wore very fashion-conscious clothing, made with fine fabric such as silk and fine wool. Multiple layers were worn as well, to compliment their looks. Middle-class citizens attempted to imitate the upper class, but they often could not afford to constantly replace their cotton and wool clothes. Patching was common among middle-class citizens to make their clothing last longer. Free blacks wore similar clothes to middle-class whites, imitating them in the same fashion that the middle-class attempted to imitate the upper-class. The enslaved population of Kinston was the worst off when it came to clothing, as they wore clothes made mostly of coarse fabrics such as jean cloth, and simply wore only base clothes. A house slave, however, might be dressed better than a slave working in a shop or field, and thus might wear multiple layers. Regardless of status in society, Kinston residents of the 1860s had fewer clothing options than people today. The Civil War only aggravated this situation and led to the rise of homespun clothing.

The social classes of Kinston were described by CSS Neuse gunner Charles Porter in a letter. He described “rich speculators” as elitists, who flaunted their wealth in the carriages they rode and the clothes they wore. He then describes a class of “true southern ladies” who wore homespun clothes and worked day and night to make clothing for Confederate soldiers. Furthermore, he described a class of soldiers’ wives and children, whom he reported as quite happy despite the situations of their husbands and fathers.

When the Civil War broke out, life drastically changed for Kinston. Men went off to join the Confederate Army or were drafted, creating a labor shortage. This shortage only grew worse after Burnside’s Expedition and the Union occupation of the coast, as many slaves fled their plantations or shops to Union-occupied territory. To fill the shortage, women and children went to work to support the town and the war effort. In addition to serving in the labor force, women were also tasked with entertaining local Confederate soldiers stationed in the area. Children serving in the labor force had their education interrupted, though some had the opportunity to work as apprentices in carpentry and mechanics when the CSS Neuse arrived in Kinston for outfitting. Education itself usually only lasted about three months a year.

Lenoir County, at the beginning of the Civil War, had a black majority population, with 5,100 slaves and 178 freed blacks among the 4,900 free citizens. Among the local freed black population were a blacksmith, a seamstress, a mattress maker, and various servants who worked at the local Saint Charles Hotel (which served as a makeshift headquarters for Confederate military leadership in the area). When the Civil War broke out, slaves ran away from the area to reach the Union-occupied coast, where some took up residence at the freedmen’s colony on Roanoke Island. To prevent future slave escapes, slave owners would take slaves further west. During the war, free blacks worked to support the war effort when most of the local white men went off to serve in the Confederate Army.

Moving to your right from the panel on local African-Americans, we have a replica storefront. Inside the display windows are goods, receipts, and other items that were seen in the 1860s Kinston. As stated before, Kinston was an agricultural and manufacturing center in eastern North Carolina before the war. Cotton, like much of the South, was the cash crop of the town. Corn and sweet potatoes were also grown frequently in the area. Alongside cotton and food being grown, Kinston farmers also raised livestock, the most common of which were pigs (today, eastern North Carolina is still a major producer of pork). There were about 600 farms in the county during the war, but there were very few large plantations. The largest slave owners in the county, the Tull and Wooten families, owned fewer than 200 slaves. Smaller farmers owned very few slaves or none at all. Besides farmers, other Kinston residents worked as carpenters, painters, teachers, brick masons, clerks, butchers, pharmacists, lawyers, and merchants. The biggest manufacturing company in Kinston at the time was Dibble Brothers Carriage Factory, which employed 70 workers. There was also a foundry, a shoe factory (which made shoes for Confederate soldiers during the war), a tannery, and a bakery (which made hardtack for Confederate troops during the war) in Kinston.

Moving forward, we see an exhibit of labor by freed blacks in Kinston during the war. As mentioned before, with the men off fighting in the war and the slaves having either escaped to Union lines or taken further west, labor found itself in shortage. Women, children, and free Blacks filled the gaps and worked to keep the town running during the war. As Confederate soldiers were stationed in the town, some partook in labor as well, working at the local bakery to help make hardtack for their comrades.

Moving forward, out of the window, you will see the Neuse River in the distance. To your right, out of the window, is the C.SS. Neuse II replica.

Moving to the right, we now arrive at our exhibit on religion. Like with much of the South, Kinston’s population was devoutly Protestant Christian. Local denominations that had churches in the area included Methodists, Episcopalians, and Baptists. Churches, besides being where services were held, acted as schoolhouses and community gathering places. When Confederate troops poured into the town, they brought with them the vice of drinking, which was a common pastime for them. As such, churches held revivals and “protracted meetings” that could serve as alternatives for soldiers instead of drinking parties. To the right of the panel, behind the glass, are tracts and other religious items carried by soldiers and citizens in Kinston during the war.

Moving forward, we now move to our exhibit on social activities that took place in Kinston during the war. The large picture to your left shows women sewing as a group. Local women typically held tea parties, picnics, and get-togethers for local soldiers, to provide them with some morale. As stated previously, sewing and knitting became commonplace among Kinston women. Making uniforms, flags, tents and other items for the Confederate military led to sewing and knitting becoming a social activity in their own right. Higher-class women held bazaars, dinners, and entertainment functions, where they auctioned off items to support the war effort. In the case to your right, are jewelry and other items worn by Kinston women during the 1860s.

Lastly, moving forward is our exhibit on mourning practices during the Civil War. Of the 130,000 North Carolinians who served in the war, 35,000 died in the conflict. The loss of husbands, fathers, and sons had a profound effect on families in North Carolina during the war. If a woman lost her husband, son, or father, she would wear a black mourning outfit for up to a year to mourn, if not longer. After that, they might add more colors to their clothing (purple, gray, white) as part of their “second mourning.” Upon the deaths of their loved ones, women canceled all social events that they may have partaken in over the next 24 hours. In the homes, windows were covered and black wreaths of silk and wax flowers were hung. In Kinston, as ready-made fabrics became scarce due to the Union blockade, women personally dyed their dresses black for mourning practices. A method for doing this was boiling walnut husks, which produced a black dye liquid, but also created a repugnant smell in the air. As a result, one Virginian woman lamented, the town of Kinston stank of walnut husks. Unlike women, who had to go through this lengthy process of mourning, men were not held to the same standard when they lost their wives. They might wear a black lapel on their hat or a black armband for three to six months, and their mourning would be complete. To your right, in the display case, is a replica of a woman’s mourning dress, common during the Civil War.

Proceeding down the ramp, onto the wooden deck, will give you another perspective on the CSS Neuse. From this observation deck, you are standing on, what would be the level of the upper deck of the ship. You can use the keypad to illuminate certain parts of the ship to get a better understanding of the layout inside the hull.

We thank you for taking the time to tour the CSS Neuse Museum. If you have any questions, please ask one of our staff members. They would be happy to assist you with further information. Thank you.