Template:BattleofRoanokeIsland

A combined Union Army-Navy expedition assembled at Hatteras Inlet in February 1862 to take Roanoke Island and seize control of the sounds around it. This force was under the joint command of Union General Ambrose E. Burnside, (Cullum 1348), and Navy Rear Admiral Louis Goldsborough. The Union force consisted of sixty ships and 13,000 men while the Confederate garrison numbered only about 3,000.

On 7 Feb 1862, Union gunboats attacked all three of the Confederate forts on the sound side of Roanoke Island after being fired upon by Fort Bartow. Union troops were landed south of Fort Bartow. The Union gunboats were able to stay out of range of the fort guns and gunfire from the forts was ineffective. A naval battle ensued which lasted until darkness obscured the targets. The Confederate Navy was then forced to withdraw for lack of ammunition.

On 8 Feb 1862 the Union bombardment of the Island resumed and by the afternoon of the 8th, the island defenses were surrendered to General Burnside, including all three forts.

Union forces occupied the island for the duration of the war and renamed all of the forts.