separates New Bern from the land to its south. The slightly smaller Slocum's Creek, enters 16 miles (26 km) farther down the Neuse. It was to be the landing site for the attacking Federal forces. The entire action, aside from the takeover of the city, was confined to the land between these two streams. The railroad ran on a system of berms and occasional cuts about a mile (1.6 km) inland from the river. It entered the city on a bridge over the Trent River. A county road passed over the same land, also connecting New Bern with Morehead City and Beaufort. In the vicinity of the battle, it lay between railroad and the river, but it crossed the railroad about a mile and a half (2 km) north of what would be the battlefield. The road continued to the northwest, crossing the Trent on a drawbridge some 4 miles (6.4 km) west of the city. In the manner of the time, the road was unpaved, as the Union soldiers learned to their sorrow. Prelude Following the secession of North Carolina from the Union, the defenses of the state were neglected by the Confederate government in Richmond. The War Department, directed at first by Secretary Leroy P. Walker and later by Judah P. Benjamin, used the state's best-trained and best-equipped troops to take part in the campaigns in Virginia, which were given a higher priority. They were seen as protecting the Confederate capital of Richmond. When Hatteras Island fell to Union forces in August 1861, only six regiments of infantry were available to defend the entire coast of the state. By that time, the Confederacy had divided the coastal defense into separate districts for command purposes; the northern part, from near Cape Lookout to the Virginia border, was assigned to Brig. Gen. Daniel H. Hill, who set up the defensive lines around New Bern. South of the city, across the Trent River, he had built two primary lines. First was a system of breastworks named the "Croatan Works," near Otter Creek and extending inland as far as the railroad. Six miles (10 km) closer to the city was another substantial line anchored on the river by Fort Thompson. The fort held 13 guns, three of which bore on landward approaches. Hill ordered construction of a series of batteries along the river to defend against attack by naval forces. The Confederates