Oct. 12, 1861. |
Nov. 18. |
Nov. 27. |
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while straggling.1 A number of the islanders had followed them; and all had suffered much from hunger, thirst, and fatigue, during that exciting march of twenty-eight miles. The Confederate vessels were a part of the little fleet in that region, under the command of Lieutenant Lynch, who had lately abandoned his flag and joined the insurgents.
The assailants fled back to Roanoke, and after that left Hatteras in the undisputed possession of the National forces.
General Mansfield was sent from Washington with five hundred troops, to still further strengthen the position.
He was soon relieved by Brigadier-General Thomas S. Williams, of the Regular Army.
While these events were transpiring, Colonel Hawkins, in pursuance of the humane and conciliatory policy of the Government toward misguided and misinformed inhabitants, issued a proclamation to the people of North Carolina, in which he exposed the misrepresentations of the intentions of the Government put forth by the conspirators and their allies, assuring them that the war was waged only against traitors and rebels (who were called to lay down their arms and have peace), and that the troops had come to give back to the people law, order, and the Constitution, and all their legitimate rights.
To this there was a public response by the inhabitants in the immediate vicinity of Hatteras, who professed to be loyal.
A convention of the citizens of Hyde County was held,
which, by resolutions, offered the loyalty of its members to the National Government.
A committee was appointed to draw up a statement of grievances, and a declaration of independence of Confederate rule was put forth, in form and style like that issued in 1776.2 A more important convention was held at Hatteras a month later,
in which appeared representatives from forty-five counties in North Carolina.
That body assumed the prerogatives of the State, and by a strong ordinance provided for the government of North Carolina in allegiance to the National Constitution.
This promise of good was so hopeful that the President, by proclamation, ordered an election to be held in the First Congressional District of North Carolina.
The people complied, and elected a representative
(Charles Henry Foster), but he was not admitted to Congress,3 because of some technical objection.
This leaven of loyalty, that promised to affect the whole State, was soon destroyed by the strong arm of the Confederates in power.
1 The Indiana Regiment was peculiarly unfortunate at Hatteras. In the affair near Chicomicocomico, it had lost its stock of winter clothing. This disaster was followed by a fearful storm on the night of the 2d of November, which swept along the coast, and bringing the sea in with such violence that it submerged Hatteras Island between the forts, threatening instant destruction to Fort Clark, the smaller one, occupied by the regiment. Its sick were much distressed by removal for safety; and nearly one-half of its new supply of winter clothing was swept away.
2 This Declaration bore the signatures of Rev. Marble Nash Taylor, of the North Carolina Methodist Conference, Caleb B. Stowe, and William O'Neal.
3 This movement was brought prominently before the citizens of New York by Mr. Taylor, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, at a meeting over which Mr. Bancroft, the historian, presided, in which he said that “some 4,000 of the inhabitants living on the narrow strip of land on the coast had, on the first arrival of the troops, flocked to take the oath of allegiance, and this had cut them off from their scanty resources of traffic with the interior. They were a poor race,” he said, “living principally by fishing and gathering of yoakum, an evergreen of spontaneous growth, which they dried and exchanged for corn.” The yoakum is a plaint which is extensively used in that region as a substitute for tea.
The appeal of Mr. Taylor in behalf of these people was nobly responded to by generous gifts of money, food, and clothing.
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