South Mills was a Civil War engagement fought in North Carolina, 1862. The outcome was inconclusive.
Learning that the Confederates were building ironclads at Norfolk, Burnside planned an expedition to destroy the Dismal Swamp Canal locks to prevent transfer of the ships to Albemarle Sound. He entrusted the operation to Brig. Gen. Jesse Lee Reno's command, which embarked on transports from Roanoke Island on April 18. By midnight, the convoy reached Elizabeth City and began disembarking troops. On the morning of April 19, Reno marched north on the road to South Mills. At the crossroads a few miles below South Mills, elements of Col. Ambrose Wright's command delayed the Federals until dark. Reno abandoned the expedition and withdrew during the night to the transports at Elizabeth City. The transports carried Reno's troops to New Berne where they arrived on April 22.
Fought on April 19, 1862, the Battle of South Mills unfolded in Camden County, North Carolina, and is also remembered as the Battle of Camden. It formed one episode within the North Carolina expedition led by Union Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside during the Civil War.
Burnside had discovered that Confederate forces were constructing ironclads at Norfolk, and in response he devised a plan to knock out the locks of the Dismal Swamp Canal, thereby blocking any route for moving the vessels into Albemarle Sound. Command of this mission fell to Brig. Gen. Jesse L. Reno, whose troops departed Roanoke Island aboard transports on April 18. The convoy arrived at Elizabeth City by midnight and soldiers began coming ashore.
When morning broke on April 19, Reno's men headed north toward South Mills. A few miles short of that town, at a crossroads, troops from Col. Ambrose R. Wright's command held the Union advance in check until nightfall. Faced with this delay, Reno called off the mission and pulled his forces back under cover of darkness to the waiting transports in Elizabeth City. From there, the troops sailed to New Bern, reaching it on April 22. Although this particular operation failed, Union forces would eventually drive Confederate units from the coastal region and hold that ground for the rest of the conflict.
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