‘Old One Wing’ was a Confederate general who won a few

Carteret County’s “Civil War resume” is headlined by “The Siege of Fort Macon,” a battle that occurred on April 25, 1862. But that’s not the whole story.

Historians have noted that eight additional War Between the States “skirmishes” occurred in Carteret County, N.C. They deserve a dab of ink as well. 

Most notable is “Martin’s Raid,” said Paul Branch, a park ranger at Fort Macon State Park. He is author of an NCPedia essay that highlights the military contributions of Confederate Gen. James Green Martin of Elizabeth City, N.C.

Gen. Martin

 

Martin was born in 1819 and graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., in 1840. He was a 42-year-old military combat veteran when the Civil War broke out in 1861. 

He lost an arm fighting in the Mexican-American War in 1847 and was given the endearing nickname of “Old One Wing.” 

In September 1861, Gen. Martin became commander in chief of the North Carolina militia with responsibility for “all of the state’s military forces and defenses,” Branch said. “Through his efforts, volunteers were raised, regimented, armed and trained.” 

By January 1862, Gen. Martin had 41 regiments ready for Confederate service.” He recruited 12,000 men over and above what was North Carolina’s assigned quota. 

Gen. Martin was selected to become one of Gen. Robert E. Lee’s field generals. In February 1864, Gen. Martin led a brigade of 1,500 Confederate soldiers up the coast from Wilmington to “attack Morehead City and Fort Macon.” 

Gen. Martin’s assignment was designed to complement Gen. George Pickett’s mission to liberate New Bern from Union control.

 

Gen. Pickett

Historian Jerry Dale Lewis Jr. of Little River, S.C., said that Gen. Martin met the enemy on three occasions, all on the same day (Feb. 2, 1864) – in skirmishes at Gales Creek Blockhouse, then at the Bogue Sound Blockhouse and finally at Newport Barracks near Shepardsville. 

First, Gen. Martin’s troops burned the Gales Creek Blockhouse (located on land that is now part of the 254-acre Gales Creek Preserve at Camp Sam Hatcher near Croatan National Forest). Eighty-five Union soldiers were ousted and sent scampering into the swampy surroundings.

 

Next, Gen. Martin encountered resistance at the Bogue Sound Blockhouse (located on land now within the Gethsemane Memorial Park at NC Route 24 and McCabe Road near Morehead City).\ 

Union Lt. Alfred Ballard was in charge of the Bogue Sound Blockhouse troops. He had 62 men, but 40 of them were green recruits who had just received rifles three hours prior to the encounter with Gen. Martin’s juggernaut.

 

Lt. Ballard

Shots were exchanged, but Lt. Ballard quickly realized that he was seriously outnumbered. He ordered his men to retreat. Gen. Martin’s troops gathered up artillery and other equipment before torching the blockhouse. They moved on up the road toward Shepardsville (now known as Newport). 

The plan was for Gen. Martin to cut the Atlantic & North Carolina Railroad at Shepardsville to thwart Union forces from moving up from Carteret County to assist in the defense of New Bern.

 

News of the “pending arrival” of Gen. Martin reached Lt. Col. Valentine Barney at Newport Barracks. His instructions from area commander Col. James Jourdan were: “Fight as long as possible.” 

Lt. Col. Barney had about 600 Union soldiers in camp. About 450 of them were untrained recruits who had just been issued their muskets a few hours earlier.

Lt. Col. Barney

 

The Battle of Newport Barracks (upgraded from a skirmish) lasted more than 3 hours before Lt. Col. Barney sounded the retreat toward Beaufort, burning the railroad trestle and bridge behind him.

 

In the end, the Union had 5 soldiers killed and 10 wounded, while the Confederates lost 6 men and had 14 wounded, making the Battle of Newport Barracks “the largest and bloodiest battle to take place in Carteret County during the Civil War,” remarked author Eric Lindblade. (In comparison, just eight men died in the fighting at Fort Macon.)

 “The Battle of Newport Barracks was the culmination of a brilliant operation commanded by Gen. Martin and marked a rare Confederate victory in a theater of the Civil War where fortunes rarely favored Southern forces,” Lindblade wrote. 

Yet, the significance of Newport Barracks is often considered as “a mere footnote to the larger Confederate attempt to recapture New Bern,” he said. 

Indeed, the overarching Confederate strategy relied on Gen. Pickett to seize New Bern. Branch said that Gen. Pickett had assembled 13,000 Confederate soldiers at Kinston. 

He launched his attack on Feb. 1. Defending New Bern were approximately 5,500 Union soldiers, led by Gen. Innis Palmer.

 

Gen. Palmer

“Finding the Union defenses impregnable, Gen. Pickett was thus compelled to abandon the entire operation and return to Kinston,” Branch said. 

Because Gen. Pickett failed miserably at New Bern, it was deemed pointless for Gen. Martin to press forward. He received orders Feb. 4 to return to Wilmington with the valuable supplies and equipment he had salvaged from Newport Barracks. 

Gen. Martin’s final assignment was in western North Carolina. His unit was the last to surrender…on May 6, 1865. After the war, Gen. Martin practiced law in Asheville from 1866 until he died in 1878 at age 59.

 

Gen. Martin official portrait.

Gen. Martin’s biographer said: “Martin’s war record was brilliant and untarnished. He won the respect and admiration of his men and superiors alike – among them Gen. Robert E. Lee.” 

Hence, “Old One Wing” is memorialized in the legend and lore of the Old North State.