1861, an expedition, consisting of the United States steam frigates Minnesota, Susquehanna and Wabash, and steamers Pawnee, Monticello and Harriet Lane, the whole under the command of Flag-Officer Stringham, sailed from Hampton Roads to attack the batteries at Hatteras. A land force of about 900 men, under Gen. B. F. Butler, accompanied the expedition. On the afternoon of the 26th, the vessels anchored off the inlet, and on the 7th the bombardment commenced. The enemy landed a force of 315 men, and soon took possession of a small fort near the main one. The garrison at these forts consisted of one regiment, the Seventh North Carolina volunteers. On the 28th Commodore Samuel Barron arrived on the steamer Winslow,and at the earnest solicitation of Colonel Martin landed with his aides, Lieutenants Murdaugh and Sharp, and assumed supreme command an unwise proceeding on his part, as events afterward proved. The bombardment was renewed on the morning of the 29th, when the fort surrendered.
The defense of Hatteras was not much to the credit of the Confederates. They should have captured the small force landed on the 27th. Indeed, those who landed expected it. But this was early in the war, and our men were not accustomed to the fire of heavy shot and shell. They afterward learned to treat the fire of ships with indifference. Lieut. William H. Murdaugh, of the navy, was badly wounded on the morning of the 29th, but his friends succeeded in carrying him off to the steamer Winslow. He was spoken of in high terms by his comrades in the fort, and he deserved their praise. The Confederate steamers Winslow (Capt. Arthur Sinclair) and Ellis (Commander W. B. Muse) were present at this affair but could render no assistance. They took off the garrison at Ocracoke inlet, together with the women and children of the village, and returned the first to New Bern and the others to Washington on the Pamlico river. Oregon inlet was also abandoned and the guns
