Avenue of War

For many years before the war, Currituck Sound was a busy avenue of commerce sheltered from the Atlantic Ocean by the Outer Banks. Vessels carried produce and goods between North Carolina and Virginia. After hostilities began, the sound became strategically important for both the Union and Confederate navies and armies.

On June 9, 1861, Confederate Gen. Walter Gwynn, commander of the coastal defenses, urged Currituck County's citizens to send both enslaved and free black laborers to build fortifications on Roanoke Island. Local boats also played an important role in fortifying the North Carolina coast. One, CSACurrituck, was a wooden, screw-propeller steamer, constructed in Norfolk in 1860. The vessel was small, about 44 tons and 60 feet in length. It transported supplies through the sound, carried troops, towed schooners, and finally was sent back to Roanoke Island in February 1862 under a flag of truce with terms of surrender, which were not accepted. After the Battle of Roanoke Island, Currituck removed Confederate supplies across the sound to Point Harbor here at the southern tip of Currituck County.

Union control of the sounds and coastal watercourses strengthened the Federal blockade of Southern ports. The Confederates scuttled a ship north of here in Currituck Sound to obstruct the Narrows but with little effect. After the fall of Roanoke Island until the end of the war, the north-eastern sounds were under Union control, although the Confederate ironclad Albemarle steamed briefly into Albemarle Sound in April 1864.

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Show me all markers in:  Point Harbor, NC  |  Currituck County  |  27964  |  North Carolina  |  United States of America

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