Union Assault on the Bridge

Union Assault on the Bridge. . Union General John G. Foster’s prime objective, the wooden covered railroad bridge crossed the Neuse River here. After the 51st and 52nd North Carolina regiments were pushed back by the Union advance, Union volunteers rushed forward to burn the bridge. Five enlisted men from the 17th Massachusetts and 9th New Jersey, led by two officers, Lieutenant George Graham of the 24th New York Artillery and Lieutenant Barnabas Mann of the 17th Massachusetts, made their way to the bridge. Mann was severely wounded in the assault, but the others continued forward. One witness described the assault:, “The Confederates on the bridge, and those nearby, plainly seeing the object upon which these men were bent, directed their fire upon them with terrible fury.”, One of the volunteers “crept down the embankment into the edge of the woods and, gathering an armful of dried leaves and light wood, scampered back... While clambering back up the embankment... was discovered by a party of Confederates under the bridge, who with bitter curses sent their compliments in the shape of a shower of bullets and buckshot, one passing through his canteen, one through his cup, another through his coat, and still another through his old cap. Placing the leaves, with the fuses, upon a beam...they were set on fire and in another minute the interior was enveloped in flames.”, Once the fire was set Foster brought all of his artillery to bear upon the bridge, to help in its destruction and to keep the Confederates from extinguishing the flames. In a short time, the bridge was destroyed. Union troops then stacked their muskets and began tearing up the railroad tracks to further damage the Confederate supply line.