Plymouth NC012

supportedunresolved Wessells says that on the 13th his information was positive enough to request 5,000 men, but that on the 16th, having learned that no considerable force was on the Roanoke, he let the Tacony return on the 17th, 'and this decision is to be regretted'; the ram's construction was too well watched for him to obtain positive information, and she passed down on the 19th unnoticed. Cooke says that, failing to hear from the army, he knew nothing of the enemy's batteries and obstructions until Gilbert Elliott reconnoitered them by boat, and that Elliott later went by water up a creek in the rear of Plymouth, communicated with Hoke and sent Cooke dispatches.

Retrospective statements by the two commanders about what they knew; the warning letters themselves were not selected.

supportedunresolved Cooke says part of the Albemarle's machinery broke down on the night of the 17th and was repaired with a portable forge after about six hours, that the rudder-head then broke with a further four hours' delay, and that he moved the boat down stern foremost nearly all the way; after the surrender he reports immense quantities of commissary and other stores and probably 200 tons of anthracite coal captured. Wessells says the transport Massasoit carried women, children and non-combatants to Roanoke Island and that covered excavations along the line kept his loss comparatively slight.

Readiness and material statements from interested reports; no supply or ammunition return was inspected. The capture of stores is post-outcome.

supportedunresolved Cooke says he went down the Roanoke to cooperate with the army under Hoke in attacking Plymouth; NPS calls it a combined operation with the ram. Wessells says he had expected a vigorous effort to wrest North Carolina from Union possession, and that Flusser's plan was to fight the ram in the river with the Miami lashed to the Southfield while the Whitehead tried to disable her propeller.

Stated aims and plans from interested reports and a summary.

disputedpost_outcome The frozen result is a Confederate victory, and NPS says the garrison surrendered on the 20th. Wessells says he surrendered at 10 a.m. on April 20 with all the post contained, after the Confederates carried his left and captured Battery Worth; Cooke says the town was surrendered unconditionally at 12 m. that day. On the ram's action of the 19th, Cooke says he sank the Southfield and the Miami escaped after he struck her several times, adding that he has since learned that her captain was killed and that she sank after reaching Edenton; Wessells says the Southfield was sunk and Flusser killed. NPS names the sunk vessel the 'Smithfield' and says the Miami was damaged.

The outcome agrees; the surrender hour differs (10 a.m. against 12 m.) and the NPS vessel name differs from both reports. Cooke's report of the Miami's sinking is hearsay ('since learned') and conflicts with NPS's 'damaging the Miami'. Kept as recorded. 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 field reads 2,834 total; the live page reads 3200 total (US 2900; CS 300). The compiled Union return printed as addenda to Wessells's report gives killed, wounded and missing of 127 officers and 2,707 men, 2,834 in all, by command. Wessells, unable to report losses, believed his own casualties did not exceed 150 and gives, from medical officers, the lowest Confederate killed and wounded as 850. Cooke reports one man killed on the Albemarle and eight prisoners picked up by his small boat.

The frozen 2,834 equals the printed total of the compiled Union return (which includes the missing, that is the captured garrison); this is an observation, not a reconciliation, and the frozen figure's basis is not otherwise established. Wessells's 150 names no category. Confederate army losses are estimates relayed by Wessells; no Confederate return was inspected. The live figures are not adopted. 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.

supportedunresolved The frozen commanders are Hoke (Major General) and Wessells (Colonel). Wessells's reports are headed and signed as Brigadier General, and Cooke calls Hoke Brigadier General; the frozen and live ranks are kept as recorded and not adopted. Wessells divided his line among Colonels Fardella, Lehmann and Beach, and Flusser directed the naval force; he says Colonel Mercer commanded the column at the Eighty-fifth Redoubt. Hoke requested the interview at which surrender was demanded, and Wessells hoisted the white flag 'in compliance with the earnest desire of every officer'. Cooke acted 'in obedience to your order' from the Navy Secretary and turned his prisoners over to Hoke.

Roles attributed by the inspected reports. No listed commander receives automatic sole credit; subordinates who acted (Fardella, Lehmann, Beach, Flusser, Mercer, Cooke, Elliott) are named as attributed actors, not rated.

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.

disputedunresolved The frozen force field names the Plymouth garrison (4 infantry and artillery units) against Hoke's division; the frozen numeric bounds are blank and the live Forces Engaged field reads zero. Wessells's August 18 report, written from memory, gives the garrison 'distributed along this line' as the Sixteenth Connecticut (400 effective men), Eighty-fifth New York (450), One hundred and first Pennsylvania (300) and One hundred and third Pennsylvania (400), a six-gun battery, a cavalry detachment, two heavy artillery companies and portions of two North Carolina companies; the four regimental figures sum to 1,550 (a computation). His April 17 dispatch relays citizens' report of five brigades; his report says the attackers, as subsequently ascertained, were Hoke's, Ransom's and Kemper's brigades with field batteries and cavalry. Cooke brought the ram Albemarle and says he had only 20 seamen from Charleston; he gives the Southfield six guns and a crew of 117 (read '1 17' in OCR) and the Miami 13 guns.

Partial one-side figures with different bases: Wessells's effective men per regiment, undated in the passage (the list sits in his narrative of April 17 and was written four months later from memory), with no figure for artillery, cavalry or the North Carolina companies; unit identifications for the attackers; and ship armament and crew. The compiled casualty return (2,834 killed, wounded and missing) is an outcome record, not a strength figure. None is adopted as a matched opening strength; the live zeros are not measured absence.

supportedunresolved Wessells says the line of defense ran '2£' miles (apparently two and a half; OCR) from Fort Gray, two miles above the town on the river bank and separated from the main line by Welch's Creek and its marsh, to the crossing of Coneby Creek below the town; the Eighty-fifth Redoubt was a small detached work in front of the right, and Fort Williams an inclosed work in the center. Cooke says the high stage of the water let the Albemarle pass over the obstructions, that he passed a battery at Warren Neck with a 200-pounder Parrott and another in the town, and that the river is only 200 yards wide there. NPS instead says the Confederates captured 'Fort Comfort'.

Works and river described by two interested reports and a summary; no map verification. The works predate the attack; their effect is not scored, so the phase is left unresolved. NPS's Fort Comfort is not named in the inspected reports.