In March 1864, a Confederate foraging expedition along the North Carolina-Virginia border led to combat at Suffolk, Virginia and the murder of captured Black U.S. soldiers. This episode is covered in detailed in Chapter 13 of The Fight For The Old North State. Here is a condensed account of these events:
In early 1864, George Pickett, commander of Confederate forces in North Carolina, planned a raid into the northeastern corner of the Old North State to bring “out the bacon and provisions so very necessary for us at this present time.” Weeks after a failed attack on New Bern in February, Pickett assigned command of the planned raid to North Carolina native Matt Ransom who would lead a force consisting of Ransom’s own brigade, the recently formed 68th North Carolina, two artillery batteries, and James Dearing’s 8th Confederate Cavalry. To reach these counties, which were located in largely Union-controlled territory, Ransom’s force would have to march east through a strip of country bordered on the north by the Federal position at Suffolk, Virginia and on the south by the Chowan River and the Albemarle Sound. In devising the raid, Pickett’s goal was not only to obtain provisions; he no doubt also hoped to demonstrate that the Confederates could project power into these remote areas following the U.S. expedition conducted by Union general Edward Wild’s African American regiments only two months before.
Ransom’s units left their camps at Weldon, N.C. on Wednesday, February 24, and, after several days of marching reached South Mills in Camden County. There, the foraging began as detachments moved off in every direction. The men found the region rich in stored provisions, particularly pork, and gathered up as many victuals as their wagons could carry. During the operation, Federal cavalry threatened from outposts at Ballahock Station and Deep Creek just across the border in Virginia. Ransom remained at South Mills for several days, not departing until Friday, March 4. On the return, Colonel James Dearing’s cavalry and five infantry companies escorted the wagons, bulging with nearly 150,000 pounds of bacon, back to Weldon.
However, as the supplies trundled back, the bulk of Ransom's force turned northeast into Virginia to prevent any Union troops in the area from pursuing his overstuffed, vulnerable wagon train. On Tuesday, March 8, Ransom headed for Suffolk in southeastern Virginia. Two days later, his column, augmented by the 8th North Carolina arriving from Petersburg, collided with members of the 2nd U.S. Colored Cavalry, a recently formed regiment led by Colonel George Cole and comprised mostly of freedmen from southeastern Virginia. The blue-clad horsemen withdrew toward Suffolk, while Confederate infantry pursued at the double-quick and engaged the Federals in town.
Confederate cavalry captain Theophilus Barham recalled that the “fighting was sharp,” and nearly every member of the small detachment received wounds from bullets or saber cuts. Although he had participated “in many larger engagements,” Barham recalled, “this was the closest fighting I saw during the war.” According to Union reports, the Federals “whipped the enemy in every charge they made.” But Ransom’s infantry and artillery soon arrived to push back the horse soldiers. The clash with Black troops fueled a malignant determination in Ransom’s men. The “southern yell, so peculiar, so stirring, rose above the [cannon’s] roar,” wrote one Confederate attacker, “and on we pressed to engage the inhuman wretches and annihilate, if possible, the dastard foe.” As the Confederates entered the streets, women emerged from their homes waving handkerchiefs, crying, praying, and offering the rebels water from buckets and pitchers. Some implored the soldiers to “kill the negroes.”
The U.S. cavalrymen made a brief stand at the town’s far end, firing from houses and bringing up a small howitzer. But Ransom’s artillerymen soon unlimbered their guns and opened on the Federals, pushing the horsemen away. The Confederate infantrymen, tired from their rapid advance, could not catch up. “We could see them tumble though, when the Artillery fired,” one explained. Appreciating the size of Ransom’s force, the Union cavalrymen soon withdrew northeast toward Norfolk across swampy ground, halting at a camp near a hamlet known as Bower’s Hill. However, several of the horsemen remained in Suffolk, holing up in a house and continuing to fire at the attackers. The Confederates set the house ablaze. “Soon the fire and smoke had its effect,” recounted one rebel, “suffocation commenced—one of the infernals leaped from the window to escape the horrible death of burning, a minute more and a dozen bayonets pierced his body.” The Confederates shot four more cavalrymen as they tried to escape the inferno. Other captured Union horsemen suffered a similar fate.
In later years, Confederate veterans often took care when recounting the treatment of black prisoners, avoiding any discussion of battlefield atrocities. However, immediately after the Suffolk fighting, there was no such restraint. By their own admission, Ransom’s men murdered all their captives. However, the exact number of men killed is unclear, probably fewer than a dozen. “We did not take any prisoners,” boasted one participant to a Charlotte newspaper. “Officers and men were perfectly enthusiastic in killing the ‘d—d rascals,’ as I heard many call them.” John W. Graham, a member of the 56th North Carolina and son of prominent politician William A. Graham, informed his father that his regiment gave “no quarter” to the black troops, for it was “understood amongst us that we take no negro prisoners.” Sergeant Thomas Roulhac of the 49th North Carolina wrote that several captives were bayoneted or burned, adding that the “men were perfectly exasperated at the idea of negroes opposed to them & rushed at them like so many devils.” After hearing from several participants about the Suffolk fight, Halifax County resident Catherine Edmondston noted in her diary: “They took no prisoners & never intending taking any.” Shortly after noon on March 10, Ransom’s force withdrew from Suffolk. By the next day, his regiments reached Franklin and entrained there to return to Weldon.
The prisoner killings at Suffolk, though probably small in number and largely overlooked, reflected an emerging pattern as more African Americans joined the Union ranks and the Confederates began to encounter them on the battlefield. At Olustee in Florida, Confederate soldiers had murdered black prisoners in February, and about a month after the Suffolk fight, victorious rebels would kill hundreds of Black soldiers after combat ended at Fort Pillow in Tennessee. As the number of African American regiments grew, so did the frequency with which Black soldiers saw combat. Indeed, the events at Suffolk were not unique and would be repeated elsewhere in 1864.
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| Univ. Press of Kansas, 2019 |