In early December 1862 a regiment of North Carolinians surprised and routed the blue-coated soldiers occupying Plymouth, and the furious battle leaving the town mostly rubble and ashes. Several months later the enemy returned to construct a formidable fortress of redoubts, bombproofs and palisades around the few remaining buildings. This became a base for raids up the Roanoke River against military targets, but more often included "total war" upon civilians in their homes and farms. Relief would come in April 1864 when Brigadier General Robert F. Hoke's division and the ironclad CSS Albemarle overwhelmed the fortress in one of the Civil War's most brilliantly executed and epic battles.

While marauding troops in blue bring to mind Sherman in 1864 Georgia, northeastern North Carolinians experienced this much earlier and longer, and well-documented in this volume.

When compared to the pantheon of well-known American Civil War battlefields, Plymouth, North Carolina does not come quickly to mind as does Gettysburg, Sharpsburg and Shiloh. Too often overlooked in the shade of late-war battles in North Carolina such as Fort Fisher and Bentonville, the epic battle fought here in mid-April 1864 was a much-needed triumph of mostly North Carolina forces led by Brigadier General Robert F. Hoke. President Jefferson Davis was so elated by Hoke's signal victory he immediately promoted him to Major-General.