_From an engraving by Hinshelwood of the painting by Manzoni._] The Hatteras Inlet, which lies thirteen miles southwest of Cape Hatteras, is the most important. Here the water over the bar is, at high tide, usually fourteen feet deep; within is a safe anchorage for any ship that can pass in. But a mile inside the bar lies another, where the water is ordinarily but seven feet deep. Once across that, plenty of deep water is found, both north and south, and away inland to the ports whence came, in those days, the bounties of nature called naval stores. Hatteras is of small importance in these days, since railroads have been stretched along the coast, but the time was when not a small fleet of coasters used it regularly. It was from among these vessels and their crews that the “Hatteras pirates” came in the first four or five months of the Civil War. They were, of course, lawfully commissioned private cruisers, but the records of their deeds have been lost, save, as it is known, that one bark, seven brigs, and eight schooners had been carried in there as prizes previous to August 28, 1861, and condemned and sold. The _Transit_, of New London; the _Wm. S. Robins_, and the _J. W. Hewes_ were lying at Newbern alone, on the first of July, awaiting adjudication. Then, too, it speedily became a haunt of blockade-runners seeking cotton as well as naval stores, and to dispose of manufactured goods from England. To the Northern merchant Pamlico Sound was a “pirates’ nest” that needed immediate attention, and the next chapter shall tell what was done. CHAPTER V THE FORT AT HATTERAS INLET TAKEN AN EXPEDITION PLANNED BY THE NAVY DEPARTMENT THAT RESULTED IN THE FIRST FEDERAL VICTORY OF THE CIVIL WAR--AN AWKWARD LANDING FOLLOWED BY INEFFECTUAL FIRE FROM SHIPS UNDER WAY--ONE FORT TAKEN AND ABANDONED--ANCHORED BEYOND RANGE OF THE FORT AND COMPELLED SURRENDER BY MEANS OF THE BIG PIVOT GUNS--A WEARISOME RACE FROM CHICAMICOMICO TO HATTERAS LIGHTHOUSE WON BY THE FEDERALS--CAPTURE OF ROANOKE ISLAND--ORIGIN OF THE AMERICAN MEDAL OF HONOR. For the work that was to be done in restoring the Federal authority over Hatteras Island and adjacent inland waters a large force was prepared, because no accurate estimate of the Confederate force there was obtainable. To Flag Officer Silas H. Stringham was assigned the command of the expedition. His squadron consisted of the frigate _Minnesota_, Capt. G. I. Van Brunt; the frigate _Wabash_, Capt. Samuel Mercer; the _Monticello_, Capt. John P. Gillis; the _Pawnee_, Capt. S. C. Rowan, and the _Harriet Lane_ (revenue cutter), Capt. John Faunce. The tug _Fanny_, under Lieut. Pierce Crosby, went along as a tender, while the transports _Adelaide_, Capt. H. S. Stellwagen, and _Peabody_, Capt. R. R. Lowry, carried 860 soldiers under Gen. B. F. Butler. The troops under Butler had orders to return to Fort Monroe as soon as the object of the expedition was attained. [Illustration: S. H. Stringham