Building Fort Branch: Time Line of Events

Union takes control of North Carolina’s northeastern coastal waters. Gunboats attack and troops raid.  Inhabitants of towns along the rivers and sounds are at risk of occupation. The crucial Confederate rail supply line, running from the port at Wilmington to Richmond and crossing the Roanoke River at Weldon, is threatened. Even Norfolk, Raleigh and Richmond become vulnerable. Winton is burned. Panic spreads through towns.

Confederate troops are rushed to Weldon and farther down the Roanoke to Hamilton. Confusion erupts and troops are ordered from Hamilton to Garysburg and back several times. 

High river levels prevent placing obstructions to stop advancing Union boats so a plan is devised to anchored fire rafts at Rainbow Bend. Confiscated boats, rafts and other vessels are lashed together and loaded with combustibles to be set aflame and cut loose at the proper time to destroy oncoming enemy boats.

Captain Richard Kidder Meade, an engineer, is sent to Hamilton to construct a defense on the river. Rainbow Bend (also called Rainbow Banks and Rainbow Bluff) is chosen as the site. First fortifications are built for five guns—a lower battery for two and an upper battery for three.

There is no action along the Roanoke and when the Union shifts manpower to the Neuse, capturing New Bern, Beaufort and Ft. Macon, Confederate troops are ordered from Rainbow Bend to Goldsboro.

Federals occupy Plymouth

With Union troops now occupying Plymouth, three Federal gunboats travel upriver to Hamilton where they land a party of about 100. Along the way, they encounter light fire from high on the bluffs resulting in several Union casualties. They withdraw after causing little damage intending, it is believed, mainly to arouse Union sympathizers.

Locals, unimpressed by the defense of the Roanoke, call for more effective measures. And, since an attack on the Confederate rail line at Weldon could be fatal, an engineer is sent to study the river and determine a proper defense.

Lt. James Innes Randolph of the Provisional Corps of Engineers examines Meades fortification at Rainbow Bend. He agrees that the location is good but finds the construction inadequate. While there, he examines other potential location points nearby, but settles on the existing site. He returns to Petersburg to make his report.

Locals are unaware that on October 9, Colonel Walter Gwynn had been appointed to the rebuilding of fortifications at Rainbow Bend and would begin by the end of the month. Hearing of Lt. Randolph’s examination of other sites, locals fear that Rainbow Banks will be abandoned and meet to plan a civilian fortification of the river. Organizers also start a Home Guard and encourage neighboring counties to, also.

Colonel Gwynn leaves the work of building the fort to a younger engineer, Lt. Walter C. Bender.

Five hundred slaves with two weeks provisions are to start work but Lt. Bender is uneasy about rumors of troops occupying Williamston and does not think it safe to work such a crew at Rainbow Bend.

Union army troops under General Foster force Confederates from the area and chase Bender out of Hamilton, temporarily halting construction. The U.S.S. I.N. Seymour destroys part of the deserted battery at Rainbow Bend. (Total destruction is interrupted when an accident kills one and wounds another.) Confederates regroup gathering as many as five regiments in Tarboro, the threat of which forces Foster to quickly retreat to Plymouth on the 10th. Eventually, Confederates return to repair damage and resume work.

The fort is finished and named Fort Branch after General Lawrence O’Brian Branch, the former adjutant general of North Carolina killed at Sharpsburg in September 1862.

Lt. Bender oversees the placement of pilings and a connecting chain across the river. Torpedoes are placed near the bend downriver of Fort Branch.

General Hoke attacks Unions troops in the town. The ironclad C.S.S. Albemarle sweeps Federal gunboats. Plymouth is surrendered to the Confederates.

General Hoke attacks Unions troops in the town. The ironclad C.S.S. Albemarle sweeps Federal gunboats. Plymouth is surrendered to the Confederates.

Several major changes are made to the fort to make it more defensible. No information has yet been found to verify who made the changes or exactly when they were executed. Fort Branch becomes less important as Confederates again control the mouth of the Roanoke.

Lt. William Cushing attacks the Albemarle from a steam launch sinking it with a torpedo. Confederates forced back upriver.

Confederates regroup at Fort Branch and prepare fort for defense. Torpedoes placed in “nests” of twenty to forty near Poplar Point, Williamston and Jamesville.

Federals hear that work has resumed on fortifications at Ft. Branch and more ironclads are being built upriver. To verify these reports and to seize recent agricultural harvests from local planters, Army commander Colonel Jones Frankel leaves Plymouth on foot with his troops supplies to arrive at Fort Branch later by steamer. The Federals, however, are met with a sound defense and, with supplies yet to arrive, decide to move on.

Torpedoes sink the gunboat Otsego and the tug Bazely. Dragging for torpedoes and navigating the winding river with the oversized vessels slows their advance. Sharpshooters and shells finally force their retreat, as well. This is the only attempt to seize a garrisoned Fort Branch by force.

Only Pool’s Battalion and Lee’s Alabama Artillery now defend the fort with two companies of the 6th North Carolina Calvary covering the countryside.

Confederate General Joseph Johnston issues an order to evacuate the area and destroy bridges at Weldon and Gaston.