North Carolina militia led by Major John J. Hedrick acted on a rumor of federal reinforcement and seized Forts Johnston and Caswell at the mouth of the Cape Fear River in the early morning hours. Each installation had only one U.S. soldier on post, Ordnance Sergeant James Reilly at Johnston and Ordnance Sergeant Dardingkiller at Caswell. On hearing of this, Governor John W. Ellis ordered the forts be returned on January 11, 1861 and the two sergeants resumed control three days later. (By John Osborne)
Source Citation
John Gilchrist Barrett, The Civil War in North Carolina (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1963), 7-8.
Record Data
Date Certainty
Exact
Type
Battles/Soldiers
