North Carolina's War Governor, William Hawkins-- Part 2

A strong supporter of the federal government during the war and assisted in raising an additional volunteer militia of nearly 7,000.

Even though he supported the war effort, he believed the national government ignored his state.

At the beginning of the war, the state had less than 10,000 militia.  Madison asked for 7,000 militia troops from N.C. and they were sent.  Many of these were of Scotch descent.

In July 1813, British Admiral George Cockburn had nearly 100 ships off the N.C. coast at Ocracoke.  It was feared an attack on New Bern was forthcoming.

Hawkins routinely surveyed the state's coastal defenses.

--Brock-Perry

North Carolina's War Governor, William Hawkins-- Part 1

From Wikipedia.

This is the man who took a particular interest in Fort Hampton.

William Hawkins, governor of North Carolina during the War of 1812.

Born 1777, died May 17, 1819.  17th governor, serving from 1811 to 1814.Born on the Pleasant Hill Plantation in Vance County, N.C..  Studied law at Princeton and worked two years in Georgia as the Creek Indian agent.

Returned to N.C. to practice law in 1801.  Elected governor by the North Carolina General Assembly in 1811  He served terms that ran concurrent with the War of 1812.

--Brock-Perry

Fiort Hampton Had Some Major Problems-- Part 8

Besides having the problem of garrisoning it, there were other major problems with the fort.

In August 1813, North Carolina Gov. William Hawkins visited the fort and found pressing structural problems.  It and its sister forts of the Second System had been built quickly and cheaply with little thought to structural longevity.

The guns had been mounted on low carriages, so low they they couldn't be fired over the crest of the parapet.  So, the platforms were raised so the guns could be fired over the parapet, but now the gun crews were protected only from their knees down.  Hawkins immediately ordered the carriages raised and the platforms lowered.

Another problem was that the fort was vulnerable from land side attack and the guns faced seaward.

The fort was occupied intermittently  by small detachments from an artillery company Fort hampton shared with its sister fort, Fort Johnston, at Southport.

N.C.'s Fort Hampton-- Part 6: British Never Attacked

The British never attacked Fort Hampton during the War of 1812.  However, a landing at nearby Ocracoke Island did cause some serious consternation.

And, this was a good things as there were definite problems with the fort.

One was the difficulty of keeping it garrisoned.  In July 1812, the Army withdrew its regulars posted there.  North Carolina Governor William Hawkins rushed militia in to take their place.  There was no attacks and they were withdrawn in November and replaced by a company of regulars from the 10th U.S. Infantry Regiment who stayed there nine months.

In July 1813, the British raided Ocracoke Inlet which set off a near-panic in the state, but even then the regulars were withdrawn and again militia was rushed in. and stayed there for the remainder of 1813.  The British later withdrew from Ocracoke of their own accord.

--Brock-Perry