Beaufort: Union Occupation and Confederate Spies
Item
Dublin Core
Title
Beaufort: Union Occupation and Confederate Spies
Subject
North Carolina--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
Sisters of Mercy
Nuns as nurses
Women--1860-1870
Nursing--United States--History
Beaufort (N.C.)
Civil War Trails
Historical markers
Sound recordings
Description
Historical marker and audio recording of an information sign in Beaufort, NC. During the Union occupation of Beaufort, the Sisters of Mercy traveled from New York to nurse the wounded and sick at the Atlantic Hotel. Renamed Hammond Hospital in 1862, the site of the Atlantic Hotel is referred to as a point of interest on a Beaufort map.
Creator
Civil War Trails, Inc.
Source
Civil War Collection
Publisher
North Carolina Digital Collections
Date
2004
Contributor
North Carolina Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
Rights
Submit permissions requests for further use to Civil War Trails, Inc http://www.civilwartrails.org/
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Relation
Is Part Of Civil War Collection
Format
Information Signs
02:04 sound file
Language
English
Type
Text
Still Image
Sound
Identifier
https://digital.ncdcr.gov/digital/collection/p15012coll8/id/10968
Coverage
1860-1876
Beaufort (N.C.)
Text Item Type Metadata
Text
BEAUFORT
★ ★ ★
Union Occupation and Confederate Spies
Before the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, local citizens formed the
Beaufort Harbor Guards. These Confederate sympathizers, led by Capt.
Josiah Pender, occupied Fort Macon when the sole guard, U.S. Army Ord-nance
Sgt. William Alexander, quietly surrendered.
During the siege of Fort Macon (Mar. 23–Apr. 25, 1862), Union sig-nalmen
on the porch of the Atlantic Hotel directed the Federal artillery in
the dunes so that the shells fell accurately on the fort. Afterward, the
hotel served U.S. forces as Hammond Hospital until the war ended,
when it reopened as the Atlantic Hotel. The Sisters of Mercy,
Roman Catholic nuns from New York, cared for the wounded
and sick of Beaufort between July 1862 and May 1863.
Josiah Fisher Bell, whose house stands on the grounds
of the Beaufort Historic Site, served as a Confederate secret
agent and helped coordinate the movement of Southern troops
into and out of the area. In April 1864, he planned and executed a
mission to destroy the Cape Lookout lighthouses. His group succeed-ed
in destroying one lighthouse and severely damaging the other.
The Old Burying Ground here contains the burial markers of both
Confederate and Union soldiers as well as the graves of slaves and free
blacks. Broad Street (to the north) became a major center for black
refugees, and the area was known as Union City. During the Federal occu-pation
of Beaufort, the deep-water port became an important coaling and
repair station for the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron.
ORANGE STREET
MOORE STREET
TURNER STREET
CRAVEN STREET
QUEEN STREET
POLLOCK STREET
ANN STREET
FRONT STREET
Union City
MIDDLE LANE
General Burnside
Headquarters
Site of
Atlantic Hotel
Josiah
Bell
House
Leecraft Old Burying Ground
Houses
Hatsell
House
Easton
House
You Are Here
Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, April 28, 1862, View of Fort Macon and Beaufort Harbor.
Josiah Fisher Bell
Below are a few points of interest. A more detailed
walking tour brochure is available inside the Historic
Site Welcome Center.
★ ★ ★
Union Occupation and Confederate Spies
Before the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, local citizens formed the
Beaufort Harbor Guards. These Confederate sympathizers, led by Capt.
Josiah Pender, occupied Fort Macon when the sole guard, U.S. Army Ord-nance
Sgt. William Alexander, quietly surrendered.
During the siege of Fort Macon (Mar. 23–Apr. 25, 1862), Union sig-nalmen
on the porch of the Atlantic Hotel directed the Federal artillery in
the dunes so that the shells fell accurately on the fort. Afterward, the
hotel served U.S. forces as Hammond Hospital until the war ended,
when it reopened as the Atlantic Hotel. The Sisters of Mercy,
Roman Catholic nuns from New York, cared for the wounded
and sick of Beaufort between July 1862 and May 1863.
Josiah Fisher Bell, whose house stands on the grounds
of the Beaufort Historic Site, served as a Confederate secret
agent and helped coordinate the movement of Southern troops
into and out of the area. In April 1864, he planned and executed a
mission to destroy the Cape Lookout lighthouses. His group succeed-ed
in destroying one lighthouse and severely damaging the other.
The Old Burying Ground here contains the burial markers of both
Confederate and Union soldiers as well as the graves of slaves and free
blacks. Broad Street (to the north) became a major center for black
refugees, and the area was known as Union City. During the Federal occu-pation
of Beaufort, the deep-water port became an important coaling and
repair station for the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron.
ORANGE STREET
MOORE STREET
TURNER STREET
CRAVEN STREET
QUEEN STREET
POLLOCK STREET
ANN STREET
FRONT STREET
Union City
MIDDLE LANE
General Burnside
Headquarters
Site of
Atlantic Hotel
Josiah
Bell
House
Leecraft Old Burying Ground
Houses
Hatsell
House
Easton
House
You Are Here
Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, April 28, 1862, View of Fort Macon and Beaufort Harbor.
Josiah Fisher Bell
Below are a few points of interest. A more detailed
walking tour brochure is available inside the Historic
Site Welcome Center.
Original Format
Marker
Citation
Civil War Trails, Inc., “Beaufort: Union Occupation and Confederate Spies,” HUM 502, accessed October 19, 2026, https://kkbrawley.com/hum502/items/show/15.