Elizabeth City, NC.

[5fish]

My mom's home town of Coinjock, NC. is near Elizabeth City, NC. I found a link to some the the civil war history of Elizabeth City.



From The Battle of Elizabeth City, February 10, 1862 by Jerome Flora


...As the Yankee fleet entered Elizabeth City's harbor, panic seized most of its nine hundred inhabitants. The Rev. E. M. Forbes, rector of Christ Episcopal Church, clad in his vestments, was accompanied to the waterfront by John C. Ehringhaus, a prominent local merchant, where the town was declared an ''open city'' to the invaders who promised to spare it. Meanwhile Col. Lucien D. Starke and several other citizens were so determined in their efforts to resist Yankee occupation that they were prepared to burn the town and at their request a Confederate colonel there had detailed some of his men to assist in the operation. Torches were made and several homes and buildings set fire before they could be caught and arrested. Among the buildings totally destroyed was the Pasquotank County courthouse. Sheriff George D. Pool removed most of the county's most valuable records in an ox-cart but the building itself was a total loss. • The Civil War in Elizabeth City

• The Battle of Elizabeth City

• The Bombardment (Or Surrender) Of Elizabeth City

• Aunt Mamie's Civil War Era Memories

• The Battle of South Mills, Camden County Civil War History

[gary]

Thank you for sharing that little known bit of local history with us. Too bad the town was torched by the Confederates.

[5fish]

One thing left out of the Battle of Elizabeth City was the ships and gunboats lost were called the "Mosquito Fleet". At the begining of the war these ship made up the state of NC personal Fleet. They later became past the the Confederate navy but I do not know how the ships got their nick name.

The Battle of Elizabeth City ended the "Mosquito Fleet"..

[diddyriddick]

Thanks, Fish. I'll have to check this out.