Walker lost 21 killed, 124 wounded, 18 missing; total, 163. Brannan's loss reported was 43 killed, 294 wounded, 3 missing; total, 340. Colonel Walker closed his report of the battle of Pocotaligo by commending in highest terms the conduct of the whole command, mentioning particularly Capt. H. J. Hartstene, naval aid; Capt. W. W. Elliott, ordnance officer; Capts. John H. Screven and George P. Elliott; Corp. D. L. Walker, and Privates Fripp and Martin and E. B. Bell, all of whom served on his staff. R. M. Fuller and the Messrs. Cuthbert, father and son, serving on the staff, rendered efficient service to the colonel commanding. The battle over, and the enemy safe on his gunboats, ample reinforcements arrived from Hagood and Gist, and from Savannah, but too late to do more than congratulate Colonel Walker and his heroic and victorious troops.
With the battle of Pocotaligo and the repulse of the New York regiment at Coosawhatchie bridge, the aggressive movements of the land forces of the enemy on the coast of South Carolina closed for the year 1862.
The Federal position at New Bern, N. C., protected by the heavy batteries of the fleet and held by a strong force under Major-General Foster, in 1862, afforded a safe and easy base of operations against the railroad line connecting Wilmington with Petersburg and Richmond. Goldsboro, on this railroad, was connected directly with New Bern by a railroad which ran through Kinston, the latter place being about halfway between New Bern and Goldsboro.
At Kinston, Gen. N. G. Evans was in command, with his South Carolina brigade and some North Carolina troops, including Lieutenant-Colonel Pool's heavy battery on the river. The Neuse, open to gunboats, runs by both Goldsboro and Kinston, crossing the railroad line within four miles of the former place. General Foster planned an attack, first on Kinston and then on the railroad at the bridge near Goldsboro. For this purpose he marched from New Bern on December 11, 1862, with 10,000 infantry, eight light batteries, forty guns, and a regiment of cavalry 640 strong. Foster's force was composed of twelve Massachusetts, one Connecticut, one New Jersey, four New York, two Pennsylvania, and one Rhode Island regiments, light batteries from Rhode Island and New York, and cavalry from New York.
Evans' brigade was composed of the Holcombe legion, Col. P. F. Stevens; the Seventeenth South Carolina, Col. F. W. McMaster; the Twenty-second South Carolina, Col. S. D. Goodlett; the Twenty-third South Carolina, Col. H. L. Benbow, and Boyce's light battery. With this brigade and Radcliffe's regiment, Mallett's battalion and Bunting's and Starr's light batteries, North Carolina troops, he fought the battle of Kinston. Lieutenant-Colonel Pool, commanding the work on the river just below Kinston, successfully repelled the attack of the gunboats. Taking post on Southwest creek, about 4 miles due west of Kinston, Evans was attacked by Foster on the morning of the 13th. The Federal general marched up the west bank of the Neuse. With his overwhelming force, he turned both flanks of General Evans and compelled his retreat to a position about a mile from the town, covering the bridge over the Neuse. Foster moved on this position at once and attacked again with his infantry and artillery. The conduct of Evans' little command was heroic, and their firmness enabled him to hold Foster in check throughout the day.
Early the next morning the battle was renewed, General Evans taking the offensive; but the superior force of the Federal army enveloped the small command of General Evans, and after three hours of gallant battle, he ordered a retreat across the river and through the town. At the bridge Evans lost between 400 and 500 of his command, taken prisoners, but succeeded in taking over his artillery and most of his troops. He took up a strong position, toward Goldsboro, about 2 miles from Kinston, and was awaiting General Foster's advance when he received a summons from that general to surrender! This he promptly declined and prepared for battle, but night coming on, Foster gave up the further pursuit of General Evans on the east bank of the Neuse, and crossed to the west side of the river, encamping in that position for the night. On the 15th he resumed his march up the west bank toward the railroad bridge near Goldsboro, and followed with his attack upon the bridge and its destruction on the 17th. In this affair an attack was also made upon the county bridge crossing the Neuse, which was successfully defended by General Clingman and his gallant command of North Carolinians, strongly supported by Evans.
On the 18th of December, General Foster began his movement back to his base at New Bern. Almost without cavalry, the Confederate forces, now under the chief command of Maj.-Gen. G. W. Smith, could not follow him effectively, and he reached New Bern after suffering a total loss of 591, killed, wounded and captured. There is no record of the losses of the South Carolina brigade at Kinston, or at the railroad bridge in front of Goldsboro. General Clingman reported a loss of 20 killed, 107 wounded, and 18 missing; total, 145. Evans lost over 400 taken prisoners at the bridge at Kinston, and must have met heavier losses than Clingman in his battles on the 13th and 14th. His total loss could not have been less than 600 in killed, wounded and captured, out of a total in front of Kinston of 2,014. General Foster's rapid retreat from the railroad can only be accounted for upon the supposition that he exaggerated the forces sent from Wilmington, Petersburg and Richmond to reinforce Goldsboro. The aggregate of all arms at Goldsboro on the 18th could not have reached 7,000 effectives, and General Foster's army, after its losses on the 13th, 14th and 17th, was fully 10,500 of all arms.
General Evans in his official report mentioned especially the gallant conduct of Adjt. W. P. Du Bose and Capt. M. G. Zeigler, of the Holcombe legion; Capt. S. A. Durham, Twenty-third South Carolina; his personal staff, and Lieutenant-Colonels Mallett and Pool, and Colonels Radcliffe and Baker of the North Carolina troops.
The expedition of General Foster with so large a force, and the reported presence of a large fleet of transports, carrying an army under General Banks, in the waters of Beaufort, made General Whiting, commanding at Wilmington, apprehensive of an attack on that city. Pending the movement of Foster, General Whiting telegraphed to General Beauregard urgently to send troops to his assistance, as Wilmington was protected only by its forts and a small garrison. General Beauregard promptly sent a division of two brigades under Brig.-Gen. S. R. Gist. The first brigade was made up of troops from the First and Second military districts of South Carolina, under command of Col. C. H. Stevens, Twenty-fourth regiment, and the second from the military district of Georgia, commanded by the senior colonel. Three South Carolina light batteries accompanied the division, W. C. Preston's, Waities' and Culpeper's. The South Carolina infantry included the Sixteenth, Colonel McCullough; the Twenty-fourth, Lieutenant-Colonel Capers; Twenty-fifth, Colonel Simonton, and Nelson's battalion. By December 17th, the day of the attack in front of Goldsboro, General Gist's division had arrived in Wilmington, and went into camp. The Twenty-fourth, with Preston's battery, was stationed at the railroad crossing of the Northeast river, 9 miles east of Wilmington, and fortified the position and the roads approaching it.