Batchelder's Creek: Hoke and Pickett Strike

Three hundred yards to the north stood a Union blockhouse and earthwork outpost that was attacked on February first, eighteen sixty-four. The earthworks were part of a warning network the Federals had built around New Bern after capturing the city in eighteen sixty-two, with outposts positioned to give advance notice of any Confederate attack. In late January eighteen sixty-four, Major General George Pickett assembled a Confederate force and launched a three-column assault on New Bern.

Brigadier General Robert Hoke led the northwestern column straight at Batchelder's Creek, hoping to surprise the Union garrison. The Federals fell back, and the fighting continued into the following days. The broader attack on New Bern ultimately failed, but the skirmish here showed the Confederacy's determination to reclaim the coast of North Carolina.