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55 Chapter 3 The Beginning of Military Occupation When advance scouts brought the word on March 13, 1862, that Union soldiers had disembarked from ships on the Neuse Riverabout ten miles south of New Bern, excitement and dread gripped the town. The residents had been anticipating this moment for several months. In January, newspaper editors complained that rumors of a Yankee landing fueled a “cruel and unnecessary panic now raging in our town, crushing up furniture and driving crowds of people from their homes.” In February, the Bank of New Bern stopped accepting North Carolina Treasury notes, fearing that Union capture would render them worthless. Even the weather seemed to portend something ominous; on March 6 it snowed all day in New Bern—a rare occurrence. As if divining disaster from the heavenly signs, citizens hustled to load up on supplies. The next day, the New Bern Daily Progress editors witnessed “the greatest rush we have ever seen on a store in Newbern.”1 Though some panicked, other residents demonstrated their resolve. Editors of the Daily Progress had vowed to continue publishing the paper throughout the war: “Though the war be brought to its very door it shall not suspend.” In January, a “worthy gentleman” publicly bet five hundred dollars that the Yankees would not invade New Bern. There was no word on how many took him up on that losing wager. Few people left the city on March 13, though many did prepare a train for a quick departure on the morrow if necessary. These residents exuded confidence in their defenders. On the morning of the fourteenth,Confederate soldiers reinforced this belief with their jocosity. Many suggested that local ladies prepare meals to feed them on their triumphant return from the morning’s battle.2 Mary Norcott Bryan had risen early to prepare extra dinners, “expecting to feed the Confederate soldiers.” But late morning brought sounds of heavy fighting and messengers relaying the grim news of Confederate de- 56 The Beginning of Military Occupation feat. Instead of sitting down to a midday meal with gray-clad officers, Bryan got caught up in a “perfect panic and stampede, women, children, nurses and baggage getting to the depot any way they could.” Years later, Bryan reflected: “Our homes and hundreds of others were left with dinners cooking , doors open, everything to give our northern friends a royal feast.” A Union soldier laughed over similar situations throughout the city: “The troops which left the city in the morning told their folks to get a good dinner ready for them as they should whip the Yankees in two hours.” However , as Mary Bryan had witnessed firsthand and the soldierdrily remarked: “They returned whipt & had not time to eat even a hasty plate of soup.”3 The retreating soldiers had indeed been “whipt” in what was their first taste of battle. New Bern fell on March 14, Beaufort capitulated without a fight eleven days later, and Fort Macon surrendered on April 26, setting the stage for a Union occupation that would last the rest of the war.The experience of defeat altered the allegiance of numerous Carteret and Craven combatants . When the Union army asserted command over the region, many residents chose to forsake their allegiance to the Confederacy. Seeking to take advantage of new economic opportunities while simultaneously maintaining the social status quo, they wedded themselves to the Union. But just as the Confederates learned that not everyone in the area was a secessionist in 1861, Federal authorities would discover that not everyonewas a Unionist in 1862. Manyof thosewho did profess Union sentiments believed in a conditional form of Unionism; that is, they would be Unionists provided that they were returning to the Union of 1860. Even during the initial honeymoon phase of military occupation, dissent emerged as local whites disapproved of certain Union policies, especially regarding race. On that fateful fourteenth of March, the outnumbered Confederate forces manning the defensive works south of New Bern, stretching from Fort Thompson on the Neuse River west to Bryce’s Creek, held the Union army in check briefly during the early morning. But General Branch had unwisely placed his least reliable troops—the militia—in the least fortified point in the line—the center, where the Atlantic and North Carolina Railroad ran to New Bern from Morehead City. When the fighting reached its hottest, the militia line broke, exposing the rebel defenders on the left and right to flanking and rear attacks. Confusion ensued; orders did...

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