Battle of Whitehall-- Part 2: Foster's Raid

The battle continued for several hours until the Union cavalry burned the village and returned to camp.

Foster arrived at Whitehall the next day and engaged the Confederates, trying to make them believe he intended to cross the country, thinking he could then slip his army past Whitehall to attack a railroad trestle bridge four miles south of Goldsboro.

The Comfederates were not fooled amd the battle lasted into sunset. By nightfall on December 16th most of Foster's army had marched on, leaving just a small force at Whitehall (also spelled White Hall) to remove the wounded and bury the dead.

On December 18th, Foster withdrew back through Whitehall on his return to New Bern. A Confederate patrol afterwards found a hundred Union bodies left unburied.

Many northern newspapers figured the expedition had been a failure because of losses and failure to capture the bridge at Goldsboro.

--Old Secesh

Battle of Whitehall-- Part 1: Fighting Near Goldsboro, N.C.

From the Encyclopedia of North Carolina.

The 11th North Carolina under Col. Collett Levanthorpe was at this battle that took place not too far from where I am right now, Goldsboro, NC. It was one of the unit's first actions. It occurred Dec. at present-day Seven Springs in Wayne County when Confederates under Brig. Gen. B.H. Robertson and Union Maj. Gen. John G. Foster during what is referred to as Foster's Raid.

The objective of the raid was to destroy the railroad junction at Goldsbboro, NC, particularly where the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad crossed a bridge.

Late Dec. 15th, Union cavalry scouts reached Whitehall shortly after Confederate troops crossed over the bridge on the Neuse River, set it on fire and took up defensive positions.

Union cavalry rolled hundreds of barrels of pitch to he river bank and set fire to them to light up the Confederate positions. Union artillery opened fire on the incomplete ironclad CSS Neuse.

Old Secesh

Battle of Goldsborough Bridge 150th Anniversary-- Part 5: Restoring the Field

The withdrawing Union forces had no idea that two North Carolina regiments were forming to attack them.  The 51st and 52nd NC regiments came streaming out of the treeline to an open field.  As they came, they gave the famed rebel yell, alerting the Federals.

According to Randy Sauls, "They were mowed down at that point.  That's where most of the casualties of the in this battle occurred."

Sauls made his first trip to the site in the 1990s, when it was a horse farm.  The site was in bad shape, "but had been left alone.  It had not been developed, but it hadn't been lost either."  With county government approval and the group he founded, Sauls began working to restore the battlefield.  And, they have admirably succeeded.

I went out to it, but was the only one there and didn't go beyond the visitors' parking lot.  You never know who you might run into there and I mean people of a bad sort.

According to Sauls: "It is particularly interesting to be  out here by yourself--  to be in the woods walking the trail out there-- and when it's quiet, you kind of catch the moment a little bit."  he says that every once in awhile, a train even comes down the track, which really sets the scene.

"You know, the Battle of Goldsborough Bridge, it was a wonderful tactical success for the Union, but strategically, it ended up having very little value...because Fredericksburg was a disaster.."

A Little-Known Battle getting Its Due.  --Old Secesh

The Battle of Goldsborough Bridge 150th Anniversary-- Part 4

Randy Sauls continued:"There would be a lot of concussion.  It would be very, very loud.  There would be a whole lot of smoke on the battlefield and you would hear musket fire from the other side of the railroad, and where we are standing now, you would see the 17th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment just along the tree line here fighting their way up."

By early afternoon, Union forces were close to their target.  By 2:00, two Union regiments were jut a few yards from the bridge.  Foster ordered his artillery up and started pounding away at the Confederates on the other side of the river.

Six or seven men run forward and set fire to the bridge.  The fighting continued for a short time and then got quiet as Foster's men started tearing up railroad tracks.  By 4:30, they were leaving the field with their goal accomplished.

But, the Battle Wasn't Yet Over.  --Old Secesh

The Battle of Goldsborough Bridge 150th Anniversary-- Part 3

The Union two-pronged attack didn't work out as planned.  Fredericksburg was a disaster for Burnside.  Foster's men, though, did not know what had transpired in Virginia (hard to believe with the telegraph).

They had already encountered enemy at Kinston and Whitehall (where they endangered the Confederate ironclad Neuse which was under construction.

Confederate commanders hastily scraped together a much smaller force to keep the Union troops from destroying the bridge: 8th, 51st, 52nd and 61st North Carolina infantry regiments.

December 17, 1862 dawned an unusually warm winter day in the South.  One hundred and fifty years later, it was about the same for the re-enactment.  Randy Sauls said the New England soldiers much have felt this day to be completely different from what they were used to back home.

From about 10-11 AM, there was a huge artillery bombardment at the bridge.  Sauls continued, "You would see shells going through the air and they have a fuse as they're burning so you would see a little streak of light."

Getting Hot Out There.  --Old Secesh