THE BURNSIDE EXPEDITION.
669
enemy than we expected, and were soon m contact with them. Q-eneral Fos-ter rapidly closed with them, and met with severe resistance. He asked forreenforcements, but was told that every man had been ordered into action,and that there were no reserves. The contest was sharp, but brief. The 4th
BRIGADIER-GENERAL ROBERT B. VANCE, C. S. A.FROM A TINTYPE.
General Vance’s portrait ought properly to havebeen used with the papers on the battle of Stone’sRiver, in which he commanded a brigade. OnNovember 17, 1861, his regiment, the 29th NorthCarolina, was sent to Tennessee ; he took no part,therefore, in the resistance to Burnside in NorthCarolina.— Editors.
of the 11th of April regular siegeParke and were pressed rapidly for
near where it crossed the railroad, afterwhich the enemy wavered, and a generaladvance of our whole line placed us inpossession of the works. The enemyfled to New Berne , burning the bridgebehind them. Our troops rapidly pur-sued, but the fact that they had to crossthe river in boats prevented them fromcapturing the main body of the enemy.As it was, large numbers of prisonersand munitions fell into our hands. Inthe meantime the naval vessels hadworked their way up to the city andaided in the transportation of the troopsacross, and New Berne was occupied onthe afternoon of the 14th.
It still remained for us to reduce FortMacon, Beaufort. To this work GeneralParke’s brigade was ordered. The coun-try between New Berne and Beaufortwas immediately occupied, and a pas-sage by hand-car was made between thetwo places, all the rolling-stock havingbeen run off the road. By the morningoperations had been begun by Generalpard, and by the 26th of April the garri-
son at Beaufort had been forced to surrender.
Thus another victory was to be inscribed upon our banner. The RhodeIsland troops bore a most honorable part in this conflict. After that, sev-eral small expeditions were sent into the interior of the country, all of which
were successful.
Much to my sorrow, on the 3d of the following July I was ordered to go tothe Peninsula to consult with General McClellan , and after that my duties ascommanding officer in North Carolina ended ; but a large proportion of thetroops of the expedition served under me during the remainder of the war, asmembers of the gallant Ninth Corps.
The Burnside expedition has passed into history; its record we can beproud of. No body of troops ever had more difficulties to overcome in thesame space of time. Its perils were both by land and water. Defeat neverbefell it. No gun was lost by it. Its experience was a succession of honor-able victories.