Sunday, February 12, 2012

Civil War 150 — Battle of Roanoke Island

Battle of Roanoke Island Feb. 7-8 1862 in Dare County, North Carolina. This is the area where Cape Hatteras is.

Details of the battle:

On February 7, Brig. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside landed 7,500 men on the southwestern side of Roanoke Island in an amphibious operation launched from Fort Monroe. The next morning, supported by gunboats, the Federals assaulted the Confederate forts on the narrow waist of the island, driving back and out-maneuvering Brig. Gen. Henry Wise's outnumbered command. After losing less than 100 men, the Confederate commander on the field, Col. H.M. Shaw, surrendered about 2,500 soldiers and 32 guns. Burnside had secured an important outpost on the Atlantic Coast, tightening the blockade.

Burnside had 7,500 men, while Wise had around 3,000. Very precise casualty statistics were recorded: the US had 37 killed, 214 wounded, and 13 missing; the South had 23 killed, 58 wounded, 62 missing, and 2,500 captured.

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