Edenton
Battle of Albemarle Sound
On May 5, 1864, the Confederate ironclad ram CSS Albemarle under Commander James W. Cooke, with gunboats Cotton Plant and Bombshell, steamed out of the Roanoke River into Bachelor's Bay and Albemarle Sound before you, bound for New Bern. Dead ahead, however, waited the U.S. Navy gunboats Ceres, Commodore Hull, and Whitehead, and the transport Ida May. Beyond lay the double-ended steamers Mattabesett, Sassacus, Wyalusing, and Miami. Union Capt. Melancton Smith, commanding the fleet, intended to sink Albemarle. After dispatching Cotton Plant upriver, Albemarle and Bombshell engaged the Federals off Chowan County's Sandy Point. During the three-hour battle, Bombshell sustained heavy damage and surrendered. Albemarle was rammed and almost sunk by Sassacus but fired point-blank into the steamer's boiler, disabling it. Albemarle then escaped upriver to Plymouth for repairs.
(Sidebar):
Divided Loyalties
Unionist sentiment was strong among eastern North Carolinians. The U.S. Navy presence in Albemarle sound began early in 1862, and many loyal men, both white and African American, enlisted. They included slaves and freedmen familiar with the Sound and its tributaries, who served as gunners, powder boys, cooks, and mechanics. Chowan County natives Henry Johnson, John Paxton, and Daniel Spruel sailed aboard Miami.
Other Edenton and Chowan County men joined local Confederate units, and many sympathizers moved father inland. Chowan County Confederates included Col. James K. Marshall, Lt. Col. John C. Badham, Maj. Tristim L. Skinner, Capt. William Badham, Jr., Capt. John A Benbury, Capt. Edward A. Small, Lt. John M Jones, and Lt. Blake B Hoskins.
Edenton residents donated household, school, church, and courthouse bells to cast four bronze cannons for Capt. Badham's Edenton "Bell Battery," Co. B, North Carolina Light artillery Battalion.
Marker is on Broad Street, on the right when traveling south.
Courtesy hmdb.org
