Washington NC011

supportedunresolved Foster says he left New Berne for Washington on learning an attack was to be made. Hill writes on April 20 that he had failed to get information from New Berne for some days and was very much in the dark. Foster says deserters reported the Confederate retreat on the morning of April 16.

Attributed knowledge in report texts written after events; no inspected message log.

supportedunresolved NPS says the Confederates could not shut off supplies and reinforcements arriving by ship. Foster says a schooner with ammunition and commissary stores ran the batteries on April 2, that the fort could not reply on April 8 for want of ammunition, and that a shortage of transports limited the first relief. Hill says the Federals got two supply boats into town, furnishing about twenty days' rations.

Supply statements from two opposing commanders and a summary; no inspected quartermaster or naval record.

supportedunresolved Hill writes that for four weeks around Washington and New Berne he had three objects: to harass the Federals, to get out supplies from the low country and to make a diversion for Beauregard, and that the first two succeeded. Foster says he stocked the fort with 10,000 rations to hold it to the last extremity.

Hill's objects span both expeditions, not the siege alone; stated objectives are his own report. Foster's intention is his own report.

supportedpost_outcome The frozen result reads Inconclusive (Confederates withdrew.) and the live result Indecisive. NPS says Hill withdrew on April 15; Foster says the main body withdrew with the artillery on the night of the 15th. He judges that the Kinston and Swift Creek movements, together with Hill's information of Heckman's brigade's arrival and Hill's failure to gain a single advantage after fourteen days of close siege, in all probability caused the retreat. Hill writes that he then abandoned the siege.

Retain the original result and engagement interval; later movements and campaign contribution are different measures. No new probabilities or individual causal credit. Foster's causal reading of the retreat is attributed, not adopted. The inspected reports do not date Prince's and Spinola's movements relative to the withdrawal on the night of the 15th.

supportedpost_outcome The frozen casualty text reads 100 total; the live NPS field reads zero. Foster's inspected reports give incidents rather than totals, for example Captain Lyon and 9 men wounded at Rodman's Point; the compiled Union return that follows them was not transcribed.

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. Live zeros are not measured absence; the frozen 100 has no side split.

supportedunresolved Foster says he went to Washington himself and on April 14–15 ran the blockade to lead the relieving force, leaving Brigadier General Potter in command. NPS says that after a week of confusion and mismanagement Hill was maneuvered out of his siegeworks. The frozen and live ranks give Foster Brigadier General, while his reports are signed Major-General; the live heading ranks Hill Colonel against the frozen Major General.

Command roles from an interested commander's report and a summary; the frozen commanders Foster and Hill do not receive automatic sole credit. Neither heading nor signature rank is adopted.

unknownunresolved

No inspected return establishes matched personnel at a common opening boundary. The frozen side-specific numerical strength bounds are blank (missing_numeric_strength). No figure in this pass is adopted as a simultaneous opening force.

supportedunresolved The frozen force field gives 6 regiments and artillery units and Hill's Division without counts; the live field reads zero. Foster reports finding a garrison of sixteen infantry companies, one artillery company and 25 cavalry, 1,200 men in all, later joined by the Fifth Rhode Island. No Confederate count for the siege is given in the inspected texts; Hill writes on April 20 that there were then but four brigades in the State.

A garrison count at Foster's arrival is not a matched opening strength, and Hill's state-wide remark is not a siege count. Live zeros are not measured absence.

supportedunresolved NPS says the town was ringed with fortifications by March 30. Foster says he examined the works on arrival and ordered them strengthened, and from April 2 had traverses and merlons built and the ditches enlarged and flooded, while Confederate batteries at Rodman's and Hill's Points fired on vessels on the river.

Pre-existing works and works improved during the siege under Foster's orders are combined while boundaries are unset; Foster is an interested reporter. No map verification.