Occupation of Tarboro

Occupation of Tarboro. Daniel's Schoolhouse Engagement. , (Preface): On July 18, 1861, Union Gen. Edward E. Potter led infantry and cavalry from New Bern to destroy the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad bridge at Rocky Mount. The Infantry feinted toward Kinston and returned to New Bern. Potter raided Greenville, then sent part of his cavalry to Rocky Mount and occupied Tarboro. The raiders damaged or destroyed bridges, trains and mills before returning to New Bern on July 23, but the Confederates restored rail services by Aug. 1., Union Gen. Edward E. Potter and a cavalry battalion occupied Tarboro about 9 A.M on July 20, 1963, after driving off Confederate cavalrymen who had come from the direction of Hamilton. Potter ordered Maj. Floyd Clarkson, 12th New York Cavalry, to block the Hamilton road about a mile east of the Tar River bridge. Clarkson, with three cavalry companies and a howitzer, first burned two vessels in the river near the bridge. About four miles from Tarboro, near Daniel’s Schoolhouse, he clashed with Maj. John T. Kennedy and three companies of the 62nt Georgia Cavalry from Fort Branch. After a couple of charges and a few shots from the howitzer, Clarkson retreated to Tarboro in the face of sharp Confederate fire. Federal casualties numbered 6 dead, 14 wounded, and 18 captured., Maj. George W. Cole led three companies of the 3rd New York Cavalry across the river to assist Clarkson. A mile east of Tarboro, however, Cole encountered Confederate Lt. Col. John C. Lamb, who had marched from Fort Branch with two companies of the 17th North Carolina Infantry and a two-gun section of the Petersburg Artillery. Cole and Lamb exchanged small-arms and cannon fire, and Cole withdrew. The Federals left Tarboro about 5 P.M., partially burned the Tar River bridge, and began the march back to New Bern., (Sidebar): The Blount-Bridge House, constructed here for Thomas Blount in the Federal style about 1808, was later the home of Lt. Col John L. Bridges (1821-1884). As a captain, Bridges served with distinction in the 1st North Carolina Volunteers during the Battle of Big Bethel on June 10, 1861. He commanded the garrison at Fort Macon on the Outer Banks that fall. His brother, Robert R. Bridges, served in the Confederate Congress until the end of the war.