Hatteras Forts Surrender

USS Pawnee

During the night, reinforcements had arrived at Fort Hatteras. They hoped they might be able to hold out with more troops that were on the way. But in the morning the Northern fleet returned. They found they could stand just outside the range of the fort's guns and pour in a heavy fire. They were able to keep away a ship bringing more reinforcements to the garrison. The fort remained under this fire for three hours. At that point, even though they had suffered few casualties, they decided to surrender. The white flag was shown at 11:00 AM. Almost 700 men surrendered with the fort. The capture of these forts opened up the way for further Union attacks on North Carolina and Southwest Virginia. It also gave the Northern people a morale boost after the defeat at Bull Run.