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[372] His classmate and old friend, Captain (now Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel) J. Lewis Stackpole, commanded the company. The Twenty-fourth Massachusetts was among the troops which constituted the force sent to North Carolina under General Burnside. The regiments destined for this command were sent at first to Annapolis in November, 1861, where they spent a short time in preparatory organization and brigade drill. The whole expedition set sail from Annapolis on the 9th of January, 1862, and arrived the next day at Fortress Monroe. After a short delay, the fleet, composed in great part of vessels by no means in a fit condition for such important service, left Old Point, and arrived off Hatteras Inlet on the morning of the 13th. Here began one of the most trying episodes of the war. The extreme danger to which the fleet, with its precious freight of eight or ten thousand men, was exposed in endeavoring to pass through Hatteras Inlet,—owing to ignorance of the channel and the too great draught of water of most of the transports,—the confusion and alarm on board the ships, the noble exertions of Burnside and Foster and other officers, and the wonderful passage of the straits at last, without serious loss, will long be remembered. The first object attempted by the expedition was the capture of Roanoke Island, which was accomplished early in February. After some feints in the direction of Plymouth and Norfolk, General Burnside landed near the mouth of the Neuse, marched his troops within a short distance of the enemy's works, and on the 14th of March, after a short contest with musketry, in which our troops suffered more than the enemy, carried the lines by a brilliant assault, capturing many guns and prisoners. He advanced at once to Newbern, which place was evacuated, and became from this time to the close of the war the Headquarters of our forces in North Carolina. The Twenty-fourth Massachusetts was stationed near Newbern all the summer and autumn of 1862, and saw no active service until November, when General Foster, who then commanded the department, made an expedition to Little Washington and
Sever and Francis, 1866.
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