Dismal Swamp Canal

Dismal Swamp Canal. South Mills Lock. , In December 1861, a drum's loud rattle shattered the silence here as the 3rd Georgia Infantry marched by this lock north to winter quarters in Portsmouth, Virginia. Lt. William W. Turner wrote, "The regiment took up its line of march to South Mills, at which village we spent Saturday night [December 14]. Next morning, took the turnpike along Dismal swamp canal, our baggage transport being in the canal. Tarried, Sunday night, at the village of Deep Creek. Monday we marched into Portsmouth.", This lock was the scene of dramatic action on Feb. 10, 1862, as CSS Beaufort raced past, steaming North to Norfolk, Virginia. Only she and CSS Appomattox, of the "mosquito fleet" gunboats, had survived clashes with Union naval forces in Albemarle Sound. Beaufort passed through the lock, but Appomattox was just too wide to follow; the Confederates scuttled her not far from here., In April 1862, fearing that a Confederate ironclad would steam to Albemarle Sound via the canal, Union General Jesse L. Reno's command attacked Confederate fortifications at South Mills. The Federals forced a retreat but were unable to destroy the locks., Union General Edward A. Wild led U.S. Colored Troops past here on a punitive expedition from Norfolk along the canal to South Mills and Camden Court House during December 5-24, 1863. Confederate guerillas emerged from the Great Dismal Swamp and "pestered" him, but they did not prevent his freeing 2,500 slaves., (sidebar) , This spoon belonged to James Skerritt, a sailor on temporary duty aboard CSS Appomattox from CSS Virginia (formerly USS Merrimack). Archeologists found the spoon on a wreck in 2007, deciphered Skerritt's name, found him on a list of CSS Virginia crewman, and providing evidence that the wreck was CSS Appomattox. Courtesy Philip Madre, (sidebar) , Complete in 1805, the Dismal Swamp Canal connects Albemarle Sound with the Chesapeake Bay. During the Civil War, both sides vied for control, to use it for transporting troops and supplies. It was repaired afterwards, and today two locks survive, at South Mills and Deep Creek. It is part of the intercoastal waterway., (captions) , CSS Appomattox, Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, July 20, 1861, This drum accompanied the 3rd Georgia Infantry from its formation in Portsmouth, Va., on April 26, 1861, though the war until the regiment's surrender at Appomattox Court House on April 19, 1865. Drummer Seaborn Barnwell had carried it. After the surrender, Pvt. Minor Hobbs brought it home to Greene Co., Ga. Courtesy Georgia Capitol Museum, Eastern North Carolina, 1864 Courtesy Library of Congress