The Bachelor’s Creek Explosion

The Atlantic and North Carolina Railroad crosses Bachelor’s (Batchelder’s Creek) about 8 miles west of New Bern. This was the area of the outer line of defense for the city of New Bern. A series of blockhouses and entrenchments were placed along the creek. The defense of the railroad bridge was a particularly important part of that line and two blockhouses (one each on opposite sides of the creek) and earthworks were established. The modern-day bridge and Bachelor’s Creek are shown below.

The Union first occupied the area in mid-March 1862. Eventually it became a permanent outpost, and a railroad depot was established along with a signal tower. The area was first manned by the 27th MA, but subsequently the 17th, 23rd and 27th MA along with the 58th PA also saw duty here. The 132nd NY established Camp Claasen in 1863. In April of 1864 the Confederates captured the town of Plymouth on the Roanoke River 50 miles to the north with the aid of the ironclad ram the CSS Albemarle. Union forces in New Bern knew that Confederates were constructing another ironclad the CSS Neuse upstream on the Neuse River in order to attack the city. As a result, army engineer Lieutenant William Rice King began work on a line of 13 underwater “torpedoes” (mines) in the Neuse River several miles upstream of New Bern. Each torpedo contained 250 pounds of gunpowder in a barrel reinforced with iron hoops. In order to reach the site in the river where the torpedoes were to be placed, they had to be first transported by rail to Bachelor’s Creek and then move by water from Bachelor’s Creek to the river. The area of the railroad depot is shown below.

Nine of 13 torpedoes were already in place in the river and the last 4 left New Bern by train on the afternoon of May 26, 1864. The afternoon train also delivered the daily mail and newspapers, so a large group of men was there to meet it. Lieutenant King was not present at the station for the delivery of the torpedoes. They were made using pork barrels and no one had informed the station quartermaster of their contents, as a result no special care was utilized in unloading them from the train. As the last barrel was being rolled down the ramp its percussion cap was activated, and it exploded igniting the other barrels in a chain reaction. A total of about 1,000 pounds of gunpowder exploded. Human remains were scattered for hundreds of yards in all directions. One body was found 75 yards off the ground in a tree. The 20 by 80-foot log depot building, its 100-foot-long platform, the signal tower and commissary building were completely destroyed. Two soldiers from the Signal Corps were killed, and the other wounded. Many of the dead could not be identified. Commissary Sergeant David Jones was identified by a distinctive ring on his severed arm. The train was not destroyed by the blast and the wounded were transported to Foster General Hospital in New Bern. The exact death toll remains unclear since no one knew how many different civilians (at least one known- Hezekiah Davis) and contrabands (thought to be 20-25) were killed at the station at the time of the blast. At least 28 men died from the 132nd NY, 4 from the 158th NY, 1 from the 12th NY Cavalry and 1 from the 58th PA. The highest-ranking soldier killed was Lieutenant W. W. Wells of the 58th PA who was an aide to Colonel Classen. The youngest casualty was the 16-year-old drummer boy Henry McFarland, while the oldest was thought to be 48-year-old private Michael Brisco.

I was able to locate many of the deceased in the New Bern National Cemetery.

Section 5