Abstract:
On July 9, 1862, Company B of the First Cavalry (Ninth North Carolina Regiment), under the temporary command of Lieutenant Alexander B. Andrews, participated in the first ever account of Cavalry versus Naval Vessels, successfully deterring three Federal gun-boats from destroying railroad bridges on the Roanoke river near Weldon. The events, including the actual encounter that took place near Hamilton, N.C. at Rainbow Banks (later Fort Branch), are told in Andrews own words, as quoted from the official history of the First Cavalry.