ARMY OPERATIONS. 



65 



Gen. Hoke thus reported his capture of the 



position : 



PLTXorrn, X. C., April 20, 1S&L 

 To Gen. Braxton Brann : 



I have stormed and carried this place, capturing 

 one brigadier, sixteen hundred men, stores, and 

 twentv-five pieces of artillerv. 



R. "F. HOKE, Brig.-Gen. 



Only two places on the main land were now 

 held by the Federal forces. These were Wash- 

 ington, on the Tar River, and Xewbern, at the 

 month of the Xeuse. Washington was evac- 

 uated in the latter part of April, and burned. 

 The following order of Gen. Palmer was issued 

 for the purpose of detecting the incendiaries : 



HEADQUARTERS DISTRICT 



XEWBEBN, > 

 General Orders JVb. 5. 



While the troops of this command may exult and 

 take just pride in their many victories over the en- 

 emy, yet a portion of them have, within a few days, 

 been guilty of an outrage against humanity which 

 brings the "blush of shame to the cheek of every true 

 man and soldier. 



It is well known that, during the late evacuation 

 of Washington, Xorth Carolina, that town was fired, 

 and nearly, if not entirely, consumed, thus wantonly 

 rendering' houseless and homeless hundreds of poor 

 women and children (many of them the families of 

 soldiers in our own army i, and destroying the last 

 vestige of the once happy homes of those men who 

 have now given up all to serve their country in the 

 hour of peril. And this was done by men in the 

 military service of the United States. 



It is" also well known that the army vandals did 

 not even respect the charitable institutions, but, 

 bursting open the doors of the Masonic and Odd 

 Fellows Lodges, pillaged them both, and hawked 

 about the streets the regalia and jewels. And this, 

 too, by United States troops. It is well known, too, 

 that both public and private si -ires were entered and 

 plundered, and that devastation and destruction 

 ruled the hour. 



The commanding general had, until this time, be- 

 lieved it impossible that any troops in his command 

 could have committed so disgraceful an act as this, 

 which now blackens the fame of the army of North 

 Carolina, He finds, however, that he was sadly mis- 

 taken ; and that the ranks are disgraced by men who 

 are not soldiers, but thieves and scoundrels, dead to 

 all sense of honor and humanity, for whom no pun- 

 ishment can be too severe. 



The commanding general is well aware what troops 

 were in the town of Washington when the flames 

 first appeared. He knows what troops last left the 

 place. He knows that in the ranks of only two of 

 the regiments in the district of Xorth Carolina the 

 culprits now stand. To save the reputation of the 

 command, it is hoped that the guilty parties may be 

 ferreted out by the officers who were in Washington 

 at the time of these occurrences. 



This order will be read at the head of every rezi- 

 ment and detachment in this command, at" dress 

 parade, on the day succeeding its receipt, and at the 

 head of the 17th Massachusetts volunteers, and the 

 15th Connecticut volunteers, at dress parade, every 

 day for ten consecutive days, or until the guilty par- 

 ties are found. 



By command of Brig.-Gen. I. X. PALMER. 



J." A. Ju A'lj't-Ojj. 



Subsequently the iron-clad Albeinarle was 

 destroyed by Lieut. Cashing, of the navy (see 

 XAVAL OPERATIONS), and Plymouth recaptured. 



Some military expeditions from Xewbera into 

 the State, were made during the year. (See 

 NORTH CAEOLCTA.) 



VOL. rv. 5 A 



In Virginia, a few desultory operations took 

 place previous to the commencement of the 

 great campaign of the year. On the 3d of 

 January a supply train, consisting of two hun- 

 dred animals, was captured by the enemy on its 

 return from Petersburg, in West Virginia, to 

 Xew Creek. A few of the men and animals 

 escaped. The enemy, being in considerable 

 force, now made several demonstrations for the 

 purpose of reaching the Baltimore and Ohio 

 railroad, but were unsuccessful. On January 

 2Sth. a train from New Creek to Petersburg, 

 laden with commissary stores for the garrison 

 at the latter place, was attacked three miles 

 south of Williamsport, and, after a sharp con- 

 aptured by the enemy. The losses in 

 this region in horses, wagons, stores. tc., to 

 February 1st, was estimated at two hundred 

 and fifty thousand dollars. 



The headquarters of Gen. Meade, in com- 

 mand of the Army of the Potomac, was near 

 Culpepper Court House. This position was oc- 

 cupied by that army, from December, 1863, until 

 May, 1864. The army of Gen. Lee, on the south 

 side of the Rapidan, confronted it. A few recon- 

 .Lices were made, but without important 

 results. A cavalry expedition into the neighbor- 

 hood of Richmond was the most active movement 

 at this period of the year. It commenced with 

 the advance of the 8th corps, under Gen. Sedg- 

 wick, from Madison Court House, on Feb- 

 ruary 27th. A division under Gen. Birney fol- 

 lowed on the next day. Madison Court House 

 was occupied by a brigade of infantry, with a 

 small force of cavalry, but the main force was 

 encamped along the heights of Robertson's 

 River. From this position pickets were sent 

 out to the right and left. Gen. Birney's force 

 occupied James City, a small village west of 

 Culpepper. Meanwhile a cavalry force under 

 Gen. Custer pushed forward by way of Madi- 

 son Court House, in the direction of Charlottes- 

 ville. the junction of the Alexandria with the 

 Lynchburg railroad. About the same time, in 

 the afternoon of the 28th, Gen. Kilpatrick, 

 with his division of cavalry, and a portion of 

 Gens. Merritt's and Gregg's divisions, with a 

 light battery of six guns, being nearly eight 

 thousand men, left Stevensburg for the lower 

 fords of the Rapidan, intending to make a dash 

 upon Richmond. This force crossed at Ger- 

 mania and Ely's Fords, distant about sixty miles 

 from Richmond. The command encamped on 

 that night eight miles south of the Rapidan. 



The headquarters of Gen. Lee were at Orange 

 Court House, and the movements of the in- 

 fantry with the command of Gen. Custer, tow- 

 ard Charlottesville, threatened to turn his 

 left, and thus serve as a diversion in favor of 

 the advance of Gen. Kilpatrick. Early on the 

 morning of the 28th (Monday), Gen. Custer 

 pushed forward across the Rapidan, and pass- 

 ing through Stannardsville arrived within four 

 miles of Charlottesville. Here a body of cav- 

 alry under Col. Caskie were encountered. 

 Sis caissons, some camp equipage, and a few 



