Hatteras Inlet Batteries NC001

supportedunresolved Martin says he saw the fleet about 4 p.m. on August 27 and made out seven war steamers, two crowded transports and two or three tugs; his call for aid from Portsmouth did not arrive until the next morning. Stringham says the fort's colors came down early on the 29th, which many took for surrender, but no attention was paid because the same had happened the day before, before the fort fired on the Monticello.

Observations from the two reports; no signal log inspected.

supportedunresolved Martin says Fort Clark fired until every charge of powder and every primer was exhausted, and that its guns were spiked with nails for want of proper spikes. Stringham ordered the Monticello and Pawnee to embark the troops on the beach or provision them.

Supply statements from the two reports; no ordnance return inspected.

supportedunresolved NPS says the expedition was to capture Hatteras Inlet as part of seizing coastal enclaves to enforce the blockade. Stringham calls the inlet the key to all the ports south of Hatteras and expects its capture to end the privateering carried on there.

Stated aims from a summary and an interested report.

supportedpost_outcome The frozen and live results read Union victory. Stringham reports the flags down on both forts at 12:25 p.m. on the 28th, Fort Clark occupied, and a white flag at 11:10 a.m. on the 29th, followed by unconditional capitulation; Martin says Fort Clark was abandoned when its ammunition ran out and the garrison fell back to Fort Hatteras.

Retain the original result and engagement interval; later movements and campaign contribution are different measures. No new probabilities or individual causal credit.

disputedpost_outcome The frozen casualty text reads 773 (US 3; CS 770); the live field reads 673 (US 3; CS 670). NPS says the Federals lost only one man. Stringham says there was no accident to a single officer or man of the Navy, Army or marines and that he could not get a correct list of the enemy's killed and wounded; his prisoner list is described by the compilers as 670 names. Martin reports one and possibly two men killed on the 28th and doubts the accuracy of his captains' returns.

Original casualty returns were not inspected; preserve totals, categories, cutoffs and differences. No canonical reconciliation or casualty-based opening count; related actions must not be added without resolving population overlap. The live Confederate 670 equals the compilers' count of Stringham's prisoner list, so it appears to be a prisoner count; the basis of the frozen 770 is not established. Prisoners are not added to any other loss figure.

supportedunresolved The frozen and live commanders are Major General Benjamin Butler and Colonel William F. Martin. NPS says Butler and Stringham led the expedition. Stringham commanded the squadron's attack, Butler took passage on the flagship and went into the inlet in the tug Fanny to take possession, and the articles of capitulation were signed by Stringham and Butler and by Barron, Martin and Andrews. Martin says he and Major Andrews gave command of the defenses to Commodore Barron on the evening of the 28th, before the surrender.

Command roles from the two reports and a summary. The listed Confederate commander had handed over command before the capitulation; Butler's own reports are in Army Official Records Volume IV, which was not inspected. No automatic sole credit.

unknownunresolved

No inspected return establishes matched personnel at a common opening boundary. Imported numerical estimates remain unchanged; this pass does not validate them as simultaneous opening forces.

disputedunresolved The frozen force field reads '9th and 20th New York regiments (est. 2,000) [US]; Hatteras Island Garrison (900) [CS]'; the live field reads 2,000 (US 2,000; CS 0). Stringham says the transports carried parts of two regiments and a company of regulars. Martin says he had about 350 men at the post when the fleet appeared, that the forts needed at least 225 to work the guns, and that reinforcements of 60, 73, 64 and 50 men with their officers reached him on the evening of the 28th. NPS gives the garrison surrendered on the 29th as 670, and the compilers note that Stringham's omitted prisoner list contained 670 names.

The frozen US figure is marked an estimate; the frozen 900 and the surrendered 670 are different populations from Martin's garrison at the start. None is adopted as a matched opening strength. The live Confederate zero is not measured absence.

supportedunresolved Stringham says a heavy surf ran on the beach on the 28th, the troops landing near a wreck about two miles east of Fort Clark, and that the forts' shot fell short or passed over the ships. Martin says the enemy kept beyond the reach of his guns and that the fortification was not well enough constructed to endure the fire; NPS calls the inlet an important haven for blockade-runners.

Ground and works from the two reports and a summary; no chart inspected.