The Burning of Washington, North Carolina

Washington, North Carolina was the first American city to bear that name, and in April of eighteen sixty-four it was set ablaze by the very soldiers who had occupied it. After Confederate General Robert Hoke retook Plymouth on April twentieth, Union forces garrisoning Washington received orders to evacuate. As the last troops boarded their transports on April thirtieth, fires broke out across the riverfront warehouse district.

Federal soldiers looted homes and businesses for three days before the final departure. About half the city burned. Union General Innis Palmer condemned the conduct of the departing garrison, and Confederate accounts were equally harsh.

Washington, the Little Washington, had survived a Confederate siege the previous year only to be burned by its own occupiers on the way out.