Naval Action at the Battle of Roanoke Island 7 February 1862

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Naval Action at the Battle of Roanoke Island 7 February 1862 Abstract A DETERMINATION WORTHY OF A BETTER CAUSE: NAVAL ACTION AT THE BATTLE OF ROANOKE ISLAND 7 FEBRUARY 1862 By Lucas Samuel Simonds Director: Dr. Nathan Richards DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY The Battle of Roanoke Island, during the American Civil War, was one of the first major amphibious landing operations in U.S. military history. As the Union Army landed troops on the island, an accompanying Union Naval squadron engaged a squadron of Confederate gunboats and some small forts on the island. This was the first in a series of battles known as the Burnside Expedition, which established a Union presence in eastern North Carolina that would last until the end of the Civil War. While the battle is historically important in its own right, here it serves as a case study for the application of a revised theory of battlefield archaeology that has been developed expressly for the purpose of studying human behavior during conflict. Drawing from a number of established theories of battlefield archaeology, this study incorporates a theory of military forces as complex systems, which redirects the focus of those established theories more closely on the study of human behavior. Using historical, geospatial, and archaeological data, this study explores the motivations behind the decisions made by the Union and Confederate naval commanders during the battle. Additionally, a limited side-scan sonar survey was conducted in order to assess the current state of submerged cultural resources related to the battle. A DETERMINATION WORTHY OF A BETTER CAUSE: NAVAL ACTION AT THE BATTLE OF ROANOKE ISLAND 7 FEBRUARY 1862 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 Lucas Samuel Simonds ©Copyright 2012 Lucas Samuel Simonds A DETERMINATION WORTHY OF A BETTER CAUSE: NAVAL ACTION AT THE BATTLE OF ROANOKE ISLAND 7 FEBRUARY 1862 By Lucas Samuel Simonds APPROVED BY: DIRECTOR OF THESIS: Nathan Richards, Ph.D. COMMITTEE MEMBER: Michael A. Palmer, Ph.D. COMMITTEE MEMBER: Wade Dudley, Ph.D. COMMITTEE MEMBER: Tom Allen, Ph.D. CHAIR OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY: Gerald J. Prokopowicz, Ph.D. DEAN OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL: Paul J. Gemperline, Ph.D. Acknowledgements Thanks first and foremost to Dr. Nathan Richards for guiding me through the process of creating this thesis, coordinating the remote sensing surveys, introducing me to the wonderful taste of vegemite, and countless other things along the way. Thanks as well to the professors of my committee for their insights on this topic. Thanks to the UNC Coastal Studies Institute for the use of their equipment during the surveys. For proofreading the entirety of this thesis in one day, thanks to Chelsea Freeland. For their help during the remote sensing surveys thanks to Adam Parker, Will Sassorossi, and all those who helped during the Program in Maritime Studies’ Fall Field School. Thanks also to my parents for pushing me to even attempt this in the first place. Finally, for her support, motivation, proofreading, advice, and for listening to me obsess about the minutiae of Civil War naval armament (among other equally obscure facets of this thesis), thanks to Allison Miller. Table of Contents Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................................... 1 Previous Research ....................................................................................................................... 3 Objectives ................................................................................................................................... 8 Research Questions ..................................................................................................................... 8 Thesis Structure .......................................................................................................................... 9 Chapter 2: Theory ......................................................................................................................... 11 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 11 KOCOA .................................................................................................................................... 13 The Principles of War and METT-T ......................................................................................... 15 Differences in Approach between Babits and Bright ............................................................... 17 Multiscale Complex Systems Analysis ..................................................................................... 19 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 21 Chapter 3: Methodology ............................................................................................................... 22 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 22 Historical Research ................................................................................................................... 23 Archaeological Survey .............................................................................................................. 25 Compilation............................................................................................................................... 27 Historical and Statistical Data ............................................................................................... 27 Creation of GIS ..................................................................................................................... 28 Analysis..................................................................................................................................... 46 Chapter 4: The Battle of Roanoke Island in its Historical Context .............................................. 54 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 54 The Blockade and Early Operations in North Carolina ............................................................ 54 The Formation of the Burnside Expedition .............................................................................. 58 Confederate Defensive Preparations ......................................................................................... 63 The Burnside Expedition Heads South ..................................................................................... 68 Events of the Battle ................................................................................................................... 74 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 82 Chapter 5: Analysis – The Application of a Revised Theory of Battlefield Archaeology to the Battle of Roanoke Island ............................................................................................................... 83 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 83 Structures of Complex Systems: Command and Control ......................................................... 85 Confederate ........................................................................................................................... 86 Union..................................................................................................................................... 88 Discussion ............................................................................................................................. 91 Environmental Influences: METT-T ........................................................................................ 91 Mission .................................................................................................................................. 92 Enemy ................................................................................................................................... 96 Terrain ................................................................................................................................... 99 Troops Available ................................................................................................................. 120 Time Available.................................................................................................................... 135 Internal Influence: Tactics ...................................................................................................... 136 Principles of War ................................................................................................................ 137 Specific Tactical Principles ................................................................................................. 143 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 146 Chapter 6: Revised Account of the Battle – The Synthesis of the Historical Narrative, New Interpretations, and Archaeological Data ................................................................................... 148 Introduction ............................................................................................................................
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