Garrard's Raid
— Foster's Raid —
(preface)
Late in 1862, Union Gen. John G. Foster garrison was well entrenched in New Bern and made several incursions into the countryside. On December 11, Foster led a raid from New Bern to burn the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad Bridge over the Neuse River at Goldsboro and to demonstrate in support of Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside attack at Fredericksburg, Virginia. Foster force consisted of 10,000 infantry, 650 cavalry and 40 cannons.
(main text)
After capturing Kinston on December 14, 1862, Foster marched to Whitehall, where he fought an engagement on the morning of December 16. He also dispatched Maj. Jeptha Garrard with 500 cavalrymen of the 23rd New York Artillery to strike Mount Olive station on the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad here. Garrard mission was to destroy the depot and as much of the railroad here as possible. Arriving in Mount Olive about 3:00 p.m., Garrard found the ticket agent selling tickets, passengers loitering about the station, mail lying on the platform, and a few paroled prisoners awaiting transport to Wilmington.
Gerrard and his men arrested stationmaster Lemuel W. Kornegay and all the bystanders and cut the telegraph wires. Two companies rode seven miles south, destroyed track in several places set fire to the rail ties to bend the rails, and burned the trestle and bridge over Goshen Swamp near Faison. Another company rode almost four miles toward Goldsboro, where it ambushed the mail train and put three artillery shells into it as it backed out of range. Before leaving Mount Olive about 8:00 p.m. to rejoin Foster main force at Whitehall, Garrard burned the station here.
(sidebar)
At the time of Garrard raid, Mount Olive had fewer than 100 residents, a post office, some frame stores and turpentine distilleries, and several houses. The village had been surveyed and platted in 1854, but Mount Olive was not incorporated as a town until March 1, 1870.
(captions)
(lower left) Mount Olive Depot (ca.1900) replaced late 1830 depot burned by Maj. Jeptha Garrard in 1862.
(upper right) Destroying railroads included heating and "wrapping" the rails.
(lower right) Approximate route of Gen. John G. Foster's raid from New Bern to Goldsboro, December 1862
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