Know Your Park

National Park Service News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Cyndy Holda, Public Affairs Specialist, 252-473-2111, ext. 148

Know Your Park: The Civil War on Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands -
Presentation to be held at the Fessenden Center and Ocracoke Community
Center.

The National Park Service Outer Banks Group Know Your Park citizen science
program series continues this winter with a presentation from Civil War
historian Drew Pullen on Monday, February 28th at the Fessenden Center in
Buxton at 7:30 p.m. and on Tuesday, March 1st at the Ocracoke Community
Center at 7:30 p.m. The program is free and will last approximately 1 hour.

Civil War activities on Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands are a timely topic as
the sesquicentennial (150 year anniversary) of these events is fast
approaching. Some of these activities are important “firsts” during the
Civil War, including:

* July 10, 1861 -The first hostile shots fired by the U.S. Navy at
Southern-held territory on the oceanfront—The side-wheel steamer-boat
Harriet Lane shelled Fort Hatteras and Fort Clark at Hatteras Inlet;
* July 21, 1861 – The first true naval engagement—The USS Albatross
fought the North Carolina steamer Beaufort off Oregon Inlet;
* August 28, 1861 – The first amphibious landing – Union troops came
ashore to capture Fort Hatteras;
October 1, 1861 – The first capture of a United States
vessel—Confederate forces captured the Union tug Fannyin the Pamlico
Sound; and
* November 18, 1861 – The first provisional Unionist government within
a seceded state—Formed at Hatteras, it consisted of two men and did
not last long.

Mr. Pullen is the author of two books on the Civil War, Portrait of the
Past: The Civil War On Hatteras Island, North Carolina and Portrait of the
Past: The Civil War On Roanoke Island, North Carolina.

The Know Your Park citizen science program series is designed to further
connect the Outer Banks communities and residents with the rich natural
world and cultural heritage of their neighboring National Park sites; Cape
Hatteras National Seashore, Wright Brothers National Memorial and Fort
Raleigh National Historic Site. “These presentations offer park visitors
as well as local residents an opportunity to learn more about, and better
enjoy, the coastal environment and their National Parks” stated Mike
Murray, Superintendent, Outer Banks Group.

-NPS-