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8 Nortu Carortina Troops, 1861-65.

the train was passing at its highest speed, and shots were
exchanged between the opposing parties. If success had at-
tended this movement, the purpose of General Hoke was to
place his troops on the train, run into the town and surprise
the garrison. Pickett’s expedition, however, was not suc-
cessful, and the troops fell back to Kinston, remaining there
a few weeks, and then marched on Plymouth.

THE BATTLE OF PLYMOUTH.

April 18, 19 and 20, 1864: General Hoke, who suc-
ceeded to the command of all the forces in this department,
directed the campaign, and was also authorized by the Navy
Department to secure the co-operation of the Confederate
ram, Albemarle, then near Hamilton on the Roanoke river,
in-an unfinished state and in charge of Commander Cooke.
Colonel Mercer, of the Twenty-first Georgia, commanded
Hoke’s Brigade. He was killed in a charge at night upon a
fort about half a mile in advance of the enemy’s line of works
at Plymouth, and Lewis, of the Forty-third, assumed com-
mand and was subsequently promoted to Brigadier-General.
The fort was taken and the Albemarle simultaneously
steamed down the river and engaged the enemy, sinking one
of their gunboats and driving their flotilla a considerable dis-
tance below Plymouth, thus relieving the land forces in
future movements of the apprehended attack from them.
During the night the different commands were placed in
position for the general assault upon the works around the
town, and this necessitated the moving of the troops by cir-
cuitous routes to avoid being discovered by the enemy, and
consumed all of the 19th. Accordingly, on the morning of
the 20th General Matt. Ransom attacked on the east side of
the town, Lewis on the west and Hoke, with the other brig-
ades, moved upon the enemy’s center. The town was taken
in a short while, the garrison and an immense amount of sup-
plies being captured. The brilliancy and dash of this move-
ment, which was planned and faithfully executed according
to the directions of the commanding officer, received recogni-
tion in the following:

Resolved by the Congress of the Confederate States of