By Clint Johnson

Jackson, NC, is not normally a tourist destination. This small town lies about 18 miles east of U.S. Highway 158 and Interstate 95 at Roanoke Rapids.

But one of the most unusual incidents of the Civil War occurred just west of Jackson at Boon’s Mill Pond on July 28, 1863, when a small battle saved Robert E. Lee’s exhausted Army of Northern Virginia, which had just returned from Gettysburg.

A Civil War battle in North Carolina was not unusual, but the way it was fought was. The Confederates at Boon’s Mill fought in the nude. Call it the Battle of the Buck Nekkids.

Heading east toward Jackson on U.S. 158 from Roanoke Rapids, drivers will notice an old railroad bridge over the Roanoke River just outside Weldon.
This bridge was the vital Wilmington-Weldon Railroad Bridge, carrying supplies brought in by blockade runners that were loaded on train cars in Wilmington and sent north to feed and resupply Lee’s army.

Bridge Was Key
Lee declared Wilmington was the most important port city in the Confederacy. If this bridge had been destroyed by the Federals, it would have meant the end of Lee’s ready access to food.

That fact was not lost on the Federals.

In mid-July at least two regiments started marching for Weldon Bridge. Confederate spies soon figured out their objective, and a frantic telegram was sent to Richmond asking for reinforcements. None were to be had, but Gen. Matt Ransom, who had a home nearby, rushed by train from the capital city down to Boon’s Mill to lead the 200 Confederates who were stationed around the mill pond.

When Ransom arrived at Boon’s Mill, he told the men to stay alert while he scouted in the direction of Jackson.

Ransom rode into Jackson, did not find anything amiss and was riding back toward the mill pond when he said he “heard a great shout” behind him.

Hot Pursuit
Ransom turned around and saw Yankee cavalry bearing down on him. Soon the lone general and the pursuing Union cavalry were in a race for the mill pond. As Ransom neared the mill pond, he shouted for his new command to pull up the boards of the bridge that crossed the small creek that fed the mill pond.

The Confederates, who had been skinny-dipping in the mill pond on a hot July day, were surprised to see their commander and even more surprised to see the Yankees shooting at him. They did not take time to put on their uniforms before throwing on their cartridge and cap boxes and grabbing their muskets.

Ransom had only 200 men, but he started shouting orders out to regiments (1,000 men) that did not exist. The Federals, confused by the shouted commands, pulled back lest they advance too far into a cross fire.

Dug-in
For the rest of the afternoon the Federals tried to attack the dug-in, little-clothed Confederates. At that time the surrounding land was swampy so the only way forward was straight ahead into the supposed fire of all those muskets that Ransom had been ordering around. After a few hours the Federals withdrew and broke off their attack.

The Wilmington Weldon Railroad and the bridge over the Roanoke River remained open for most of the rest of the war. Had that bridge been captured in July 1863, Lee might have been forced to surrender at least a year earlier because his supply lines would have been strained.

The mill pond survives today with a Civil War Trails sign describing the action that day.