Did you know that Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands were the place for several key Civil War milestones?
Some of those events included:
• July 10, 1861: The first hostile shots fired by the U.S. Navy at Southern-held territory on the oceanfront — The side-wheel steamer-boat Harriet Lane shelled Fort Hatteras and Fort Clark at Hatteras Inlet;
• July 21, 1861: The first true naval engagement –The USS Albatross fought the North Carolina steamer Beaufort off Oregon Inlet;
• August 28, 1861: The first amphibious landing – Union troops came ashore to capture Fort Hatteras;
• October 1, 1861: The first capture of a United States vessel–Confederate forces captured the Union tug Fanny in the Pamlico Sound; and
• November 18, 1861: The first provisional Unionist government within a seceded state was formed at Hatteras; it consisted of two men and did not last long.
To learn more about these Civil War events attend the National Park Service Outer Banks Group Know Your Park citizen science program series with a presentation from Civil War historian Drew Pullen on Monday, February 28th at the Fessenden Center in Buxton at 7:30 p.m. and on Tuesday, March 1st at the Ocracoke Community Center at 7:30 p.m. The program is free and will last approximately 1 hour. For more information visit nps.gov.
You can also register for the Civil War Sesquicentennial Event programs planned for the summer of 2011 on Hatteras Island by visiting http://www.flagsoverhatteras.com/index.htm.