"Blackens the Fair Fame": The Fire at Washington, N.C., April 1864

Map detail from The Fight for the Old North State

During my research for The Fight for the Old North State, I came across many interesting documents. One was the full transcript of a Federal investigation into a fire that consumed a good portion of Washington, North Carolina in late April 1864. The incident occurred as Union forces evacuated the town in the face of a Confederate push to retake key positions in the eastern portion of the state.

Though a short summary of the investigation appears in the Official Records, the full, unpublished transcript of the proceeding contains pages of eyewitness testimony and reveals how conditions in the town unraveled over the course of several days as Union troops, freed people, and white Unionists departed for New Bern and Fort Monroe. During this time, unruly soldiers began to loot the town as beleaguered provost guards struggled to control matters. On the final day of the federal evacuation, as the last remaining transports prepared to steam away, a fire broke out in stables formerly used by the 12th New York Cavalry. The flames spread through a good portion of the downtown killing at least one civilian and seriously injuring another.

According to the findings, the source of the fire was unclear. Some witnesses pointed to members of a Rhode Island artillery regiment. Others testified that Confederate sympathizers had ignited the blaze. In the end, the investigators did not pinpoint the culprits. However, in the end, blame mostly fell on the troops in blue and their commanders. An infuriated Innis Palmer, the Union commander in the state at the time, concluded that the unfortunate event “now blackens the fair fame of the Army of North Carolina.”