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[583] each other according to the nature of the ground, is led by the vessel that has hoisted the flag of its general at the mizzenmast, whence that officer directs the movements of the train. The gunboats take the lead; the smaller vessels of war, carrying one or two guns, guard the flanks; and when night compels the fleet to cast anchor, they perform the duties of outposts. Burnside and Goldsborough, stationed on board a light steamer of great speed, pass along the whole line. Particular instructions have been issued regarding the manner of manning and loading the launches and the position that each is to occupy when the signal for landing shall be given. But if the Federals were well prepared, they could not flatter themselves with the idea of taking the enemy by surprise. In fact, since the arrival of the fleet in the vicinity of the Hatteras lighthouse, the Confederates had had more than three weeks to prepare for the defence of the island of Roanoke, which was the evident aim of the expedition. The Croatan channel, west of the island, which is the only practicable one, had been obstructed by the submersion of old hulls fastened together with piles. Strong batteries, constructed of earth and sand, occupied the extremities of this stockade on both sides. Advantage had been taken of a winding formed by a re-entering in the island shore to erect other batteries in the rear for cannonading any vessel that should attempt to pass through the channel. Abreast of the stockade, the island, long and narrow, was shut in between two swampy bays, which rendered its defence easy; for the Union troops, after landing on the southern part of the island, which the Confederates had no intention of disputing, were obliged to pass between these two bays in order to reach the forts which commanded the Croatan channel. A fortification, surrounded by abatis, had been erected on the only road that ran across this isthmus, and the three guns with which it was mounted commanded all its approaches at short range. These positions were guarded by five or six thousand men, part of whom were quartered on the island. Wise's Virginia Legion was encamped on a sand-bank which separates the inland sea from the Atlantic. A small fleet of seven gunboats, that had been merchant steamers, the armament of which
Philadelphia, Jos. H. Coates and co., 1876.
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