Monday, February 13, 2023

The raid on Windsor, North Carolina, January 1864.

   Windsor, the county seat of Bertie County, was just a little village off the Cashie River in eastern North Carolina. It did not have much military importance. Yet the Federals came calling in January 1864.

   Confederate forces under Maj. Gen. George Pickett were campaigning in eastern North Carolina that winter. On February 1, the bulk of his command would move from Kinston to New Bern in an attempt to wrest control of the port town from Federal occupation. When the Confederates arrived in the area, they sent out foraging parties to secure food and forage for man and beast. One of those groups, reported as two companies from the 62nd Georgia Cavalry.[1]

USS Massasoit (LOC)

   The Federals stationed at Plymouth, on the Roanoke River, soon learned of the Confederate presence and dispatched naval vessels, with 100 infantry on board, towards the town on the night of January 29, 1864.  The USS Massasoit of Lt. Com. Flusser provided the transport. The vessel proceeded up the Roanoke River before taking a right into the Cashie River. The infantry force landed about three o’clock in the morning about six miles below the town. A member of the 103rd Pennsylvania Infantry recalled that “About daylight, the advance became engaged,” with the Georgia cavalrymen. “My command was in a detachment that made a detour to the left at double quick to come in on the enemy’s flank, but we had not reached our position before they ‘skedaddled.’” Capt. John Donaghy, 103rd Pennsylvania, who had command of part of the mixed Federal infantry, lost command of his troops. The Federal infantry force was drawn from every company in the regiment. “My men were so eager to get a pop at the rebs that some of them began firing without orders, unmindful of a line of our skirmishers who were between us and them. It took some vigorous language on my part and some blows with the flat of my sword against their guns to make them cease firing.”[2]

   Donaghy eventually gained control of his men and they proceeded through the abandoned camp of the Georgia cavalry. “The enemy, except a few escaped,” Donaghy wrote, “And all that we captured was their camp, with some arms, and the musical instruments of the band. Brass must have been scarce, for the horns were made of sheet iron.” The Federals marched into town, sending out pickets on various roads while the Federal navy, presumably their land force, “practiced with their howitzers for a while shelling the country in every direction the rebels had gone.” In Donaghy’s opinion, they did nothing but “waste some ammunition.” Following that, Donaghy’s men “consumed a few rails cooking their coffee, for the halt gave us the opportunity to eat breakfast.” Donaghy heard the sound of horses nearby and ordered a lieutenant with a squad to go and investigate. They found several horses tied in the woods, removed from surrounding farms as the farmers attempted to keep the animals safe. “It was a lucky discovery for us, and Lieut. Kelly and I, and some of the boys, ceased to be foot soldiers for the time being. A saddle and bridle was found in a barn nearby, and I borrowed them,” Donaghy recalled. [3]

   On returning to the town, Donaghy encountered Flusser, who “had a bottle with him, and we drank several times to his favorite toast, ‘Confusion to the rebels, and damn the Roanoke sheep.’ By the sheep he meant the ram that the rebels were building up the river. We left the captured horses at the landing, without having any harrowing doubts but that their owners would find them. We were back in Plymouth by nine o’clock at night, with nobody hurt on the expedition.”[4]

   Another member of the 103rd Pennsylvania wrote that “Horses, mules, wagons, clothing, ammunition and two soldiers were captured. Several prominent citizens were brought away to be held as hostages for certain loyal persons incarcerated in Richmond.” Who were those citizens captured? Several North Carolina newspapers commented on the raid. On wrote that the Federals had ‘burnt up some meat and destroyed some salt. . .and captured and carried off Rev. Cyrus Watters [Walters], of the Episcopal church; also Dr. Turner Wilson and L.S. Webb, Esq., Cashier of the Bank and some one or two others.” Both the commanding officers of the 62nd Georgia Cavalry, and the newspaper articles, reported that the Confederate cavalry was reinforced and “after some sharp firing, the Yankees retired.” What became of Walters, Wilson, and Webb is unknown,  and more research needs to be done on the “loyal persons incarcerated in Richmond.”[5] 



[1] ORs, Vol. 33, 107.

[2] Dickey, History of the 103rd Regiment, Pennsylvania, 54.

[3] Dickey, History of the 103rd Regiment, Pennsylvania, 51.

[4] Dickey, History of the 103rd Regiment, Pennsylvania, 55.

[5] Dickey, History of the 103rd Regiment, Pennsylvania, 51; The Charlotte Democrat, February 16, 1864; ORs, Vol. 33, 107.

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