Fort Macon

March 23-April 26, 1862
Carteret County, NC
Campaign: Blockade and Coastal Raids

Brig. Gen. John G. Parke, USA
Lt. Col. Moses J. White, CSA

The Union had a division of infantry, the Confederates only the fort's garrison. The Confederates lost 480 men, the Union only 10.

In late March, Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside's army advanced on Fort Macon, a third system casemated masonry fort that commanded the channel to Beaufort, 35 miles southeast of New Berne. The Union force invested the fort with siege works and, on April 26, opened an accurate fire on the fort, which soon breached the masonry walls. Within a few hours the fort's scarp began to collapse, and the Confederates hoisted a white flag. This action demonstrated the inadequacy of masonry forts against large-bore, rifled artillery.