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Did You Know?
- The Roanoke River
was strategically important because it provided naval access to the Wilmington &
Weldon Railroad, which was “The Lifeline of the Confederacy” between Lee’s
Army of Northern Virginia and the only open Confederate supply port– Wilmington, NC.
- The most
successful ironclad of the Civil War was not the Monitor or the Merrimac! (They were simply the first). The CSS Albemarle built just up the river
from Plymouth by 19-year old Gilbert Elliot from Elizabeth City, NC twice defeated the
Union Navy and became the most successful ironclad of the Civil War.
- The CSS Albemarle
was built in a cornfield and almost didn’t make it to the Battle of Plymouth.
- The modern twist
drill was invented by the plantation owner, Peter Evans Smith, in order to speed up the
process of drilling the Albemarle’s iron plating. It reduced the drilling time from 20 minutes per
hole to 4 minutes!
- The commander of
the Union Navy was killed in battle with the CSS Albemarle by a cannon shell he
fired from the deck of his flagship that ricocheted off the ironclad and landed back on
the deck of his gunboat!
- The Union naval
commander’s death was avenged by his best friend six months later in one of the most
daring commando raids of the war.
- There was very
significant Union sentiment in northeastern North Carolina.
- There were over
5,000 local North Carolinians who joined the Union army and navy here in Plymouth!
- There were over
3,000 Black troops raised in Plymouth, some of which served with the 54th Mass.
in the assault on Battery Wagner.
- The Battle of
Plymouth was one of the last victories for the Confederacy.
- The 2,500 Union
prisoners captured at Plymouth, were referred by their captures as the “Plymouth
Pilgrims”. Most of them were
sent to the infamous Andersonville prison where many of them died.
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