The principal fight was a few miles beyond Kinston, where the enemy had intrenched themselves. The Third New York Cavalry, Colonel Mix's, had a hand to hand conflict with the Second North Carolina Cavalry. The New Yorkers routed the North Carolinians after a hard fight. All the Union troops are reported to have behaved well, exhibiting in many instances great courage and fearlessness.
Our wounded were placed in unoccupied houses in Kinston and the dead buried.
The advance continues toward Goldsboro; but before reaching that point we shall have to encounter further and still stronger opposition. With the large and well disciplined forces of Generals Foster and Wessell, every obstruction will be overcome, and the object sought attained.
Twelve miles beyond Kinston, at a place called Mosely Hall, the enemy have a battery of ten heavy guns, so planted as to deal a very destructive fire upon an advancing foe.
In the attack upon Lieutenant-Colonel Manchester's transports in the Neuse River the rebels suffered severely as reported by a deserter this morning. The shells from the Allison fell directly in the midst of the battery, killing and wounding several, and, for a time, dispersing the working force of the battery, together with an infantry reserve of some two hundred men, with two regiments at hand.
The Ocean Wave was fired upon from an open field by a force of one hundred and ten North Carolina rebel troops, commanded by Captain Whitfield.
The first brush with the enemy commenced about 8 o'clock on Friday morning, about twenty miles from New Berne, on the main road to Kinston, a little to the right of Trenton when Company B, Captain Marshall, Third New York Artillery, encountered them.
The enemy's force consisted of one company of cavalry and four companies of infantry, of Major Nethercote's North Carolina battalion. After a brief skirmish we dispersed the rebels, killing two, wounded and missing amounting to fifty. Our loss was two wounded and four missing. The advance then moved on, after crossing a bridge, partly destroyed, over a creek, and being delayed an hour in fixing the same. Captain N. encamped the same night within nine miles of Kinston.
On Saturday morning Company K, Captain Cole, Third New York Cavalry, took the advance, and while moving forward captured two prisoners, belonging to Nethercote's battalion, who gave some valuable information, proceeded thence to Southwest creek, about five miles from Kinston. On Captain Cole's approach, the enemy were found engaged in endeavoring to destroy the bridge over the creek. Captain Cole dismounted a platoon, who fired a volley upon the enemy while they were at work. The enemy then retreated, but soon after fired from a battery of two six-pounders, howitzers, upon our advance, wounding one man—a private, named John Costello—who was shot through the head.
Colonel Heckmann, of the Ninth New Jersey (the advance guard of the infantry), here came forward and ordered the Ninth to deploy as skirmishers. This order was quickly executed, and had the effect of partly dispersing the enemy; and Schenck's Third New York battery coming up, fired about a dozen shells, driving the enemy entirely away. On the Ninth New Jersey crossing the bridge, four of the enemy were found dead, the wounded being carried on with the retreating enemy. The Ninth succeeded in capturing one of their howitzers, which was brought into New Berne this morning.