Black Jack-Four Corners or The Chapel - Greenville NC - Civil War Discovery Trail Sites on Waymarking.com

Black Jack-Four Corners or The Chapel— Potter's Raid —(preface)
On July 18, 1863, Union Gen. Edward E. Potter led infantry and cavalry from New Bern to destroy the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad bridge at Rocky Mount. The infantry feinted toward Kinston and returned to New Bern. Potter raided Greenville, then sent part of his cavalry to Rocky Mount and occupied Tarboro. The raiders damaged or destroyed bridges, trains, munitions, and mills before returning to New Bern on July 23, but the Confederates restored rail service by Aug. 1.

(main text)
At 8 a.m. on Sunday, July 19, 1863, Union Gen. Edward E. Potter rode into Black Jack (which the Federals called Four Corners or The Chapel) with 800 cavalrymen. Potter’s men—elements of the 3rd, 12th, and 23rd New York Cavalry, 3rd New York Light Artillery, and 1st North Carolina Union Volunteers—overran a small Confederate picket post here at Black Jack Free Will Baptist Church. The picket, from Capt. C.A. White’s company of Maj. John N. Whitford’s 1st Battalion North Carolina Local Defense Troops, occupied the grounds of the building, which dated from 1831 and stood on the site of the present structure. Potter’s men took fifteen prisoners here, including one who was shot through the thigh. Before riding on to Greenville, Potter paroled them and burned their tents and equipment.

Black Jack later attracted more attention from Union troops because of its position on the important Lower New Bern Road near the eastern edge of Confederate–controlled territory. Federal raiders from New Bern and Washington struck here several times. A detail of the 1st North Carolina Union Volunteers attacked Confederate pickets near here on March 26, 1864. The Federals reported one Confederate officer and eight men killed. Capt. George W. Graham burned the church to prevent its further use.

(captions)
(lower left) Corp. James Daniel Boyd, 1st North Carolina Union Volunteers. Born in Beaufort Co., Boyd enlisted on May 7, 1862. — Courtesy John Boyd; Burning of Black Jack Church. — Courtesy Roger Kammerer
(upper right) U.S. Cavalry (2nd U.S. Cavalry Regiment), photographed near Falmouth, Va., in the summer of 1863. — Courtesy Library of Congress
(lower right) Potter's Raid from New Bern to Rocky Mount and Tarboro; (Inset) Gen. Edward E. Potter Courtesy U.S. Army Military History Institute

Type of site: Battlefield Address: 2972 Black Jack Simpson Road On the grounds of the Black Jack Free Will Baptist Church Greenville, NC USA 27858 Admission Charged: No Charge Website: [Web Link] Phone Number: Not listed Driving Directions: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   10/08/2021 Don.Morfe visited it