Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 36.djvu/379

Rh In the winter of 1861-'62, by the capture of Hatteras, Roanoke Island, and New Berne, all the tidewater region of North Carolina east of Wilmington lay at the mercy of the Union forces. To render these conquests permanent, and to serve as bases for further inroads into the State, they seized and strongly fortified several strategic points; among" these was Plymouth, situated on the south bank of the Roanoke river, a few miles above the Albemarle sound. The region of country thus brought under subjection included the principal waterways of the State, the most valuable fisheries-of the South, and many thousand acres of fertile and productive agricultural lands. Indeed, on account of the fall of Roanoke Island, Southeast Virginia, including Norfolk, Portsmouth, and its great navy-yard, was abandoned to the enemy. These disasters naturally produced great depression among the people of North Carolina, and in certain quarters discontent and unmeasured criticism of the Confederate authorities. But there was no wavering in devotion to the cause; the State contributed her treasure, almost to the last dollar, and her sons, to the number of 120,000. before the conflict ended. The Confederate Government made an ineffectual effort to regain New Berne in the winter of 1862-'63, but it was not until April, 1864, that any important success to regain the lost ground was accomplished. This was the recapture of Plymouth, by a force under General Robert F. Hoke, consisting of his own division, composed of North Carolinians, Georgians, and Virginians, and the brigade of General M. W. Ransom, composed of the Twenty-fourth, Twenty-fifth, Thirty-fifth, Forty-ninth, and Fifty-sixth North Carolina regiments. The Eighth North