Huggins Island Battery

Huggins Island Battery. Protecting the Coast. , Union Gen. Benjamin F. Butler’s capture of Hatteras Inlet in August 1861 gave Federal forces a foothold from which they could launch attacks up the rivers and sounds of eastern North Carolina. Confederate authorities decided to construct earthen fortifications to protect the mainland, especially at Roanoke Island and on the Roanoke, Pamlico, Neuse, and White Oak Rivers., This battery was constructed during the fall. In November, Capt. Daniel Munn occupied it with his company known as the Bladen Stars. At first considered an independent company for local defense and special service in North Carolina, the Stars were eventually designated Co. B, 36th North Carolina Infantry Regiment (2nd North Carolina Artillery). The company mustered four officers and 64 men in January 1862., On February 19, 1862, after Union Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside’s expedition captured Roanoke Island, Munn withdrew the company from Huggins Island. The guns and ordinance were transported to Morehead City and then to New Bern, where they fell into Burnside's hands when he occupied the town on March 14., In August 1862, the Federals mounted a small army-navy expedition against the salt works on the White Oak River at Swansboro. Gen. Thomas G. Stevenson led seven companies of the 24th Massachusetts Infantry and a detachment of the 1st New York Marine Artillery on the raid. Seven light army steamers and the navy gunboat Ellis transported the force past Huggins Island and the abandoned position. Today, this battery is the only unspoiled Confederate earthen fortification remaining on the North Carolina coast., (captions) , (left) Confederate pickets at typical coastal fortification, Harper’s Weekly , (center) Capt. Daniel Munn Courtesy National Archives; Gen. Thomas G. Stevenson Courtesy National Archives , (right) The Huggins Island Battery mounted seacoast cannons similar to this one in Fort Pulaski, Ga. Courtesy Library of Congress; Hammock Beach State Park Courtesy of North Carolina Division of Parks and Recreation