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A Study of the Chicamacomico Races Battlescape (1-5 October 1861)

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A Study of the Chicamacomico Races Battlescape (1-5 October 1861) DETECTING ARCHAEOLOGICAL SIGNATURES IN SHALLOW WATER: A STUDY OF THE CHICAMACOMICO RACES BATTLESCAPE (1-5 OCTOBER 1861) By: James Michael Kinsella IV November 2018 Director of Thesis: Dr. Nathan Richards Department of History - Program in Maritime Studies After the Confederate surrender at Forts Hatteras and Clark in August of 1861, the Union took control of Pamlico Sound. Confederate soldiers, however, remained in control of an outpost on nearby Roanoke Island. This was their last line of defense against Union dominance of eastern North Carolina. In September 1861, Union forces set up an outpost at Chicamacomico (present-day Rodanthe on Hatteras Island). Once the Confederates discerned the Union’s presence at Chicamacomico, they launched an attack to retake Pamlico Sound. Both Union and Confederate forces engaged each other on land and at sea. There were few casualties and the balance of power did not shift between the two sides. The “Chicamacomico Encounter” (also known as the “Chicamacomico Affair,” and “Chicamacomico Races”) has been documented in the historical record; however there has not been extensive archaeological study of the battlefield. This may be because it represents a challenge to battlefield archaeologists. The area of conflict is not only inundated with sand and vegetation, but it has also gone through drastic coastal change. Moreover, its marine battlescape is potentially expansive, and lies within exceptionally shallow water -- requiring the adaptation and combination of terrestrial and underwater archaeological surveying techniques to study it. The present study is an archaeological analysis of the battlescape which utilized the principles of KOCOA survey techniques from the American Battlefield Protection Program (ABPP) to reconstruct battlefield behavior, analyze tactics and strategy, and in doing so considered the pros and cons of various surveying and remote sensing methodologies. DETECTING ARCHAEOLOGICAL SIGNATURES IN SHALLOW WATER: A STUDY OF THE CHICAMACOMICO RACES BATTLESCAPE (1-5 OCTOBER 1861) A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of The Department of History East Carolina University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in Maritime Studies By James Michael Kinsella IV November 2018 © James Michael Kinsella IV, 2018 DETECTING ARCHAEOLOGICAL SIGNATURES IN SHALLOW WATER: A STUDY OF THE CHICAMACOMICO RACES BATTLESCAPE (1-5 OCTOBER 1861) By James Michael Kinsella IV APPROVED BY: DIRECTOR OF THESIS: ____________________________ Nathan Richards, Ph.D. COMMITTEE MEMBER: ____________________________ Jennifer McKinnon, Ph.D. COMMITTEE MEMBER: ____________________________ Wade Dudley, Ph.D. COMMITTEE MEMBER: ____________________________ Lawrence E. Babits, Ph.D. CHAIR OF THE DEPARMENT OF HISTORY: ____________________________ Christopher Oakley, Ph.D. DEAN OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL: ____________________________ Paul Gemperline, Ph.D. Dedication This thesis is dedicated to my wife and children. Without your support and understanding, this thesis would not have been possible. Acknowledgements This thesis was a particularly challenging endeavor for me to undertake. This is due in part to my circumstances being different from most students who enter this graduate program. During course work and thesis writing, I commuted to campus from Orlando, Florida, while holding a full-time job in the process. With that said, many thanks are owed to Dr. Nathan Richards for his patience and understanding while I overcame several obstacles during this process. Additional thanks are due to Dr. Richards for his guidance and support while working on this thesis project. This thesis would not have been possible without his support and belief in my abilities. Thanks, are owed to my committee members for their patience and support while working on my final draft. Further thanks go out to Mark Keusenkothen, Jason Nunn, and East Carolina’s Water and Dive Safety Office for facilitating the use of a research vessel for the fieldwork portion of my thesis. Thank you to John Morris and Nathan Henry of the North Carolina Underwater Archaeology Branch for assisting with the fieldwork permit process. Additional thanks to Emily Schwalbe and Scott Rose for their assistance with fieldwork. A special thank you to Adam Parker for his assistance not only with fieldwork but for also assisting with troubleshooting GIS and Hypack software. I would also like to thank the staff at the Outer Banks History Center for allowing me access to their research materials. Additionally, I would like to thank the UNC Coastal Studies Institute for allowing me to use their equipment for fieldwork and the facility as a staging area for fieldwork activities. I would also like to acknowledge the North Carolina Department of Transportation for providing the Coastal Studies Institute with a grant to survey the Rodanthe Ferry channel; this survey data was invaluable to this project. I would also like to acknowledge Mr. Richard Almond from Geophysical Software Solutions, who provided valuable guidance towards pBlock variables. A final-thank you, goes out to my wife, Jackie Kinsella, thank you for supporting me while I went through this program. Thank you for the support and for “holding the fort down” at home while I traveled weekly to class. Thank you for putting up with me and for your faith in me while I pursued this degree. Table of Contents List of Tables ........................................................................................................................... xi List of Figures......................................................................................................................... xii Chapter 1 Introduction .............................................................................................................1 Chicamacomico Races .....................................................................................................1 Outer Banks Natural History ...........................................................................................2 Previous Research ...........................................................................................................4 Research Questions .........................................................................................................5 Thesis Structure ...............................................................................................................6 Chapter 2 “A Consideration of Theoretical Paradigms for Investigating the Chicamacomico Races” .............................................................................................................8 Introduction .....................................................................................................................8 Approaches from Battlefield Archaeology ........................................................................9 Application of Battlefield Archaeology .......................................................................... 10 Battlefield Pattern ........................................................................................................ 13 KOCOA ........................................................................................................................ 14 Approaches from Behavioral Archaeology ..................................................................... 17 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 21 Chapter 3 Precursor to the Chicamacomico Races: an historical discussion of events leading to the ‘affair’............................................................................................................... 23 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 23 Strategic Advantage of North Carolina’s Outer Banks ................................................... 23 Preparation for Coastal Defense ................................................................................... 27 Battle for Hatteras Inlet ‘a precursor event to the events at Chicamacomico’ ................ 29 Capture of the Union Gunboat, Fanny .......................................................................... 35 Fallout from the Fanny capture .................................................................................... 40 Union forces land at Chicamacomico ........................................................................... 42 Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 43 Chapter 4 Methodological Approach to Investigating the Chicamacomico Races ............... 44 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 44 Historical Research ....................................................................................................... 45 GIS Model ..................................................................................................................... 52 Creating the Historic Landscape in a Digitized Format ................................................ 56 Creation of Bathymetry Models .................................................................................... 66 Ship Placement into the GIS model ............................................................................... 67 Fields of Fire...............................................................................................................
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