Rainbow Banks - July 9, 1862




North Carolina in the American Civil War

July 9, 1862 -- Rainbow Banks*
CSA Commander:	1st Lt. Alexander B. Andrews	Union Commander:	Lt. C.W. Flusser
Killed:	0	Killed:	0
Wounded:	0	Wounded:	1
Captured:	0	Captured:	0
Original County:	Martin	Current County:	Martin

* aka Capture of Hamilton. Rainbow Banks was the local name for the location of Fort Branch below Hamilton in Martin County. Click Here to see the known forts and camps in Martin County, NC. During the months of May and June of 1862, the 9th NC Regiment (1st Cavalry) marched about four hundred (400) miles. On May 25th, Company A and Company B were ordered to the Roanoke River to defend against any enemy attempt to ascend the river to destroy the railroad bridges at Weldon. The balance of the reigment remained in Kinston. On May 27th, Companies E, G, and K under Lt. Col. James B. Gordon, left Kinston for Richmond, VA, where they arrived on June 15th. The remainder of the regiment, minus Company A and Company B, left Kinston under Col. Laurence S. Baker on May 30th, and they reached Richmond on June 27th, after several counter-marches between Halifax, Scotland Neck, and Tarborough. The two (2) companies left on the Roanoke River were not idle - they were temporarily assigned to Brig. Gen. Robert Ransom, Jr.'s (NC) Brigade and Maj. Gen. Daniel H. Hill's (NC) Division. On July 9th, Company B engaged and turned back three (3) Union gunboats attempting to ascend the river. And first in order of time comes the attack of Company B upon the gunboats in Roanoke River in the spring of 1862. At that time the preservation of the railroad bridge at Weldon was of the utmost importance to the Confederacy. So, when the 9th NC Regiment was returning from Eastern North Carolina to rejoin the Army of Northern Virginia, Company B, Capt. John W Whitaker, was detached to do picket duty down the Roanoke River, and especially to watch the approach of the enemy's gunboats. Capt. Whitaker was a large planter on the river, and once when he was at home, and the Company was under command of 1st Lt. Alexander B. Andrews, the enemy made an effort with three gunboats to ascend the river, his object being the destruction of the railroad bridge at Weldon. Lt. Andrews (now Colonel A. B. Andrews, First Vice-President of the Southern Railway System), very skillfully attacked him from the bluffs and other favorable points, and so harassed and punished him that at Hamilton he abandoned the expedition and returned to Plymouth. This engagement of cavalry with gunboats was a novel proceeding, a new feature in warfare, and the first of the kind that happened in our army. This success of Lt. Andrews shows the wonderful capacity of the officers and men of this celebrated command to contend with an enemy on water as well as when mounted on horses or dismounted as infantry. Lt. Andrews has kindly furnished me with the following account of his operations: "On the morning of July 9, 1862 (I think this date is correct) a courier from Mr. Burroughs came to my camp soon after sunrise with a note stating that three gunboats had passed Jamesville, supposed to be on their way to Weldon to destroy the Seaboard & Roanoke Railroad bridge at that point, that bridge being on the main thoroughfare between General Robert E. Lee's army and the South (as you will recall, that was before the Piedmont Railroad between Danville and Greensborough was built). On reading the note I at once had sounded "boots and saddles," and had my company of forty-three (43) men mounted, rode down the river, saw the boats coming up and waited until they had passed the wharf at Williamston, going up towards Weldon. There was great excitement in the town. I asked some of the citizens to pilot me up the river with a view of attacking the gunboats from different points along the river, leaving two couriers at Williamston to report to me in case the boats should turn back and land at Williamston. Mr. Samuel W. Watts (afterwards Judge Samuel Watts) and a Mr. Williams went up the river with me. At a place called Poplar Point, about ten miles from Williamston, I stationed 2nd Lt. Joseph W. Peele with ten (10) men dismounted, with instructions to fire upon the first boat, which was commanded by Lieutenant Flusser, of the United States Navy, and as soon as he delivered his volley to at once remount his horses and report to me at Rainbow Banks, which was two miles below or east of Hamilton. Rainbow Banks was a bluff on the river, afterward fortified and called Fort Branch. I dismounted the men I had and arranged them along this bluff, taking position on the right of the company myself, and ordered the men not to fire until I had commenced firing my pistol, and then to fire and reload as rapidly as possible. I waited until the front boat, on which Lieutenant Flusser was, had gotten opposite me and then commenced firing my pistol, and the forty-one (41) men began firing and reloading and firing again as rapidly as possible. Lieutenant Flusser was on deck, and I have never seen a man display more bravery than he did in command of this fleet. Finally the front boat passed us and opened its stern gun upon us, shelling the banks so that I was compelled to retreat, mount my horses and go to another point higher up the river. The men had had no breakfast and it was nearly 1 o'clock in the day. I went to a farmhouse near by and secured what provisions they had, giving the men something to eat, and then proceeded to Hamilton. On the outskirts of the town I was met by a good many citizens who were very much excited, and begged me not to go in the town, and asking me to go around it, as Lieutenant Flusser had landed one hundred and twenty-five (125) marines and two pieces of artillery, and they were satisfied that if I made an attack on them in the town of Hamilton that they would destroy the town. "I waited until they started down the river again and then proceeded down the river to undertake to harass them again at Rainbow Banks, but they placed a boat in position and shelled the banks until the other two had passed, and then commenced shelling the banks upon the river so as to enable the first boat to pass. I attempted at other places to fire upon them, but they were shelling the banks on the river all the way down, and it was impossible for us to get another opportunity to attack them. I followed them until about nine o'clock, several miles below Williamston, then returned to Williamston. I did not get a man hurt and lost no property, except one relay horse which I had left in a stable at Hamilton, and which they took. Lt. Peele and all the men displayed great coolness and bravery." A.B. Andrews. Directly above written by former Col. William H. Cheek on April 9, 1900 and included in the second source cited below. On July 9 1862, at 2 a. m., three (3) Union ships of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, the U.S.S. Commodore Perry, U.S.S. Shawsheen, and U.S.S. Ceres, left Plymouth, NC, and steamed up the Roanoke River on an expedition to Hamilton (Martin County, NC), where a large force of Confederates was reported to be stationed. On the U.S.S. Commodore Perry, which was commanded by Lt. C. W. Flusser (USN), were 20 men of Company F, of the 9th New York Infantry, under Capt. William H. Hammill. On the U.S.S. Shawsheen were 10 men of the same company under Sergeant David J. (better known as Jack) Green, and on the U.S.S Ceres were ten (10) men commanded by Lt. Joseph A. Greene, also of Company F. Lt. C.W. Flusser, in his report to Flag Officer Louis M. Goldborough, reported: "About 1 o'clock p.m. in. we were fired upon from the south bank of the river by musketry, returned the fire with great guns and small arms, and pushed on for Hamilton, where I hoped to meet the enemy in force. We were under fire for two hours running very slowly and keeping a lookout for a battery. Two or three miles below Hamilton we found a deserted battery. At Hamilton we landed 100 men, soldiers and sailors, and one field piece, but the rebels, who fired on us from high banks, where they were comparatively safe, were afraid to meet us. The steamer Wilson, belonging to the rebels, run into our hands at Hamilton and was taken possession of. The officers and men both soldiers and sailors behaved with great spirit." Acting Master John McDiarmid, in command of the U.S.S. Ceres, in his report of the affair to his superior officer, under the date of July 10, 1862, reported: "When within a few miles of Hamilton, was fired on by the enemy from the left bank with small arms. Returned fire with great guns and small arms. This firing was kept up on both sides until within one-half-mile of Hamilton. Lieutenant Greene was wounded in the leg by first volley, but sat on deck and loaded the muskets for his men." On Pages 72-73 of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume IX, is a list noting the "Summary of the Principle Events" in North Carolina between January 11 and August 20, 1862. For July 9, 1862 - this list merely includes "Capture of Hamilton." At the bottom of P.72 is a footnote explaining that "Of some of the minor conflicts in this Summary no circumstantial reports are on file." In earlier volumes this is explained that the editors found mentions of minor skirmishes in some Muster Rolls, either Union or Confederate, but no official written report had been submitted or at least found by the editors. Although not included in the afore-mentioned volume of the Official Records, the U.S. Navy had their own compilation of reports provided by various ship captains, lieutenants, masters, commodores, flag officers, etc. This Author has yet to locate the U.S. Navy reports for 1862, but knows they exist. If found, they will be cited here.
Known CSA Participants		Known Union Participants
9th NC Regiment (1st Cavalry) Detachment: Company B – 1st Lt. Alexander B. Andrews, C.S.S Wilson – led by Unknown - -		U.S. Navy, North Atlantic Blockading Squadron: U.S.S. Commodore Perry – Lt. C.W. Flusser, U.S.S. Shawsheen – Acting Master T.G. Woodward, U.S.S. Ceres – Acting Master John McDiarmid, 9th NY Infantry Detachment: Company F – Capt. William H. Hammill
Sources:
NC Troops: 1861-1865, A Roster, Volume II, PP.1-2. Histories of the Several Regiments and Battalions from North Carolina in the Great War 1861-'65 - Volume I," edited by Walter Clark, PP.445-487. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Commodore_Perry http://www.fortbranchcivilwarsite.com/history-why_rainbow_banks.aspx Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume IX, PP.72-73.