Ordered to New Bern for combat, the CSS Neuse ran aground on April 22, 1864 after traveling only half a mile. CS Gens. R. F. Hoke and P. T. G. Beaureguard rushed to Kinston and concluded the gunboat was not available for the New Bern campaign. Heavy rains on May 19, 1864, freed the ironclad and the CSS Neuse returned to the Confederate Naval Station at Kinston, NC. Photo and rendition by William H. Rowland, 2005. Graphics by Jimmy D. Taylor, Lenoir Community College, 2014.

Ordered to protect Confederate troops retreating from the Wyse Fork Battlefield on March 11, 1865, Capt. Joseph Price maneuvered his ironclad gunboat warship within a narrow and sharp 128 degree bend in the river toward his destination. Photo and rendition by William H. Rowland, 2005. Graphics by Jimmy D. Taylor, Lenoir Community College, 2014