The Gospel Army

General Wild Expedition

“The most ambitious of Butler's raids was also an experiment to test Negro troops. It was an expedition lasting thirty days from Norfolk down the line of the Dismal Swamp Canal into North Carolina. Remote from any important Confederate military center, this swamp and farming country contained a sprinkling of guerrilla encampments, made up chiefly of soldiers who from sickness or desertion had become separated from the Confederate Army. On this raid Butler sent i8oo colored troops, backed up at a distance by two companies of white cavalry and a battery of artillery. Two steamers of Butler's Marine Brigade accompanied them down the canal while a naval gunboat showed the flag in Albemarle Sound.”

“In summarizing the results of his month long campaign, Wild reported nine boatloads of Negroes and their effects sent to Roanoke Island, two to Norfolk, and four long wagon trains dispatched overland to Norfolk, About 2500 Negroes were brought in. "We burned 4 guerrilla camps - over a dozen homesteads, 2 distilleries, took a number of prisoners, including 6 Confederate soldiers, provided with furloughs." 10 Wild's losses in action had been 7 killed, 9 wounded and 2 taken prisoner.”

Robert S. Holzman, Stormy Ben Butler, P222-225

Colored Troops, Under General Wild, Liberating Slaves In North Carolina, Harpers Weekly, January 23, 1864