Side A:
Fort ClarkHatteras Inlet, defended by Forts Clark and Hatteras, was a strategic port of entry for troops and supplies providing deep water access to the vital intercoastal waterways. In later May of 1881, the Federal Blockade Board of Strategy began implementing General Winfield Scott's "Anaconda Plan" intending to constrict the South's warfare capability. Initially, they regarded the "...sterile, half drowned shores of North Carolina" as unimportant; less than one month later, they acknowledged this same coast as being "...the most dangerous stretch of shore in the whole Confederacy." All along the coast, lighthouses were "blacked out," channel buoys were sunk, and forts were constructed to defend navigable inlets.
Side B:The Bombardment of Fort HatterasAfter North Carolina joined the Confederacy, Hatteras became a principal port of privateering. With Cape Hatteras Lighthouse serving as a lookout tower, privateers freely passed through Hatteras Inlet taking dozens of ships and millions of dollars in cargo. Once more, the distinction between pirating and privateering became vague and depended upon the allegiance of the individual. Northern losses were so great, the nation's largest maritime insurance companies demanded the destruction of the "nest of pirates" and smugglers at Hatteras. In response to corporate and public outcry, and in desperate need of an easy victory, the first joint military operation of the war was authorized by the United States Navy. Hatteras and its defenses fell on August 29, 1861 after two days of naval bombardment.
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