CSS <i>Neuse</i>

The Confederate ironclad ram <i>Neuse</i> was constructed at Whitehall (present-day Seven Springs) beginning in October 1862. The unfinished hull survived the fighting there during Union Gen. John G. Foster's raid in December of 1863. It was docked at an area known as the Cat Hole, then outfitted with engines, iron plate, and armament. In April 1864, <i>Neuse</i> was ordered to aid Confederate Gen. Robert F. Hoke in his attempt to recapture New Bern. The vessel ran aground on a sandbar, however, and could not proceed. A month later <i>Neuse</i> was freed and returned to its dock where it remained for ten months. <br><br>Following the Battle of Wyse Fork in March 1865, Capt. Joseph Price took <i>Neuse</i> downriver to delay the Union army while Confederate forces evacuated. The evacuation complete, the crew set fire to <i>Neuse</i> and abandoned her. The scuttled vessel sank to the river bottom where it rested for nearly a century. No serious efforts were made at recovery until 1961. For three years, salvagers worked to dig <i>Neuse</i> out of the mud. In 1964, the state of North Carolina took possession of the gunboat and developed it as a tourist attraction and state historic site.<br><br><i>"I felt a wonderful spirit of resignation... as I saw the nose of that engine of death stuck fast in the mud."</i> - Chaplain Henry S. White, 5th Regiment Rhode Island Heavy Artillery