Cat Hole

Cat Hole. Finishing CSS Neuse. The Confederate ironclad ram Neuse was constructed at Whitehall (present-day Seven Springs) beginning in October 1862. In March 1863, having survived Union Gen. John G. Foster's raid and the engagement at Whitehall the pervious December, Neuse arrived in Kinston and moored on the Neuse River near the foot of Caswell Street to receive its iron fittings and machinery. It was later moved downriver about 100 yards to deeper water near the bridge in front of you, then into a slough for laborers to complete the work. A ship's officer, 2nd Lt. Richard H. Bacot, wrote letters home referring to the docking site here as the Cat Hole., The riverbank adjacent to the Cat Hole was steep, allowing the ship's machinery to be lowered easily into the hull. Because of the lack of iron and men, as well as other difficulties, it was more than a year before Neuse was ready for service. On April 22, 1864, the new ship steamed out of the Cat Hole toward New Bern ready for action only to become stuck on a sandbar half a mile downriver. According to Bacot, the ship was afloat again in July of that year and returned to the Cat Hole where more work was done on the iron plating., On March 12, 1865, the ship fired on advancing Union troops after the Battle of Wyse Fork. A short time later, the crew set Neuse afire to prevent its capture. An explosion in the port bow sent the ship to the bottom of the river, where it remained until salvaged early in the 1960s. The vessel's remains are displayed at the Governor Richard Caswell Memorial on West Vernon Avenue here in Kinston.