Battle of South Mills

{{short description|Battle of the American Civil War}}

{{Infobox military conflict

| conflict = Battle of South Mills

| partof = the American Civil War

| image = Battle of South Mills map.jpg

| caption = A map of the battle

| date = {{Start date|1862|4|19}}

| place = Camden County, North Carolina

| result = Inconclusive{{cite web |title=Battle Detail - The Civil War (U.S. National Park Service) |url=https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-battles-detail.htm?battleCode=nc005 |website=www.nps.gov |access-date=18 October 2022 |language=en}}{{cite web |url=http://npshistory.com/publications/battlefield/cwsac/technical-v2.pdf | title=Civil War Sites Advisory Commission Report on the Nation's Civil War Battlefields, Technical Volume II: Battle Summaries | publisher = National Park Service|year=1998| access-date=17 October 2022 | page=92}}

| combatant1 = {{flagicon|USA|1861}} United States (Union)

| combatant2 = {{flagicon|CSA|1861}} CSA (Confederacy)

| commander1 = Jesse L. Reno

| commander2 = Ambrose R. Wright

| units1 = Department of North Carolina

| units2 = 3rd Georgia Infantry
Ferebee's North Carolina Militia
McComa's Battery
Gillett's Southampton Cavalry Co.

| strength1 = 3,000{{cite book|author=Earl J. Hess|title=Field Armies & Fortifications In The Civil War: The Eastern Campaigns, 1861-1864|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k96hzmOJX6sC&pg=PA65|accessdate=20 January 2013|year=2005|publisher=Univ of North Carolina Press|isbn=978-0-8078-2931-8|page=65}}

| strength2 = ~1,000

| casualties1 = 13 killed
101 wounded
13 missing

| casualties2 = 6 killed
19 wounded
3 captured

| campaignbox = {{campaignbox Burnside's North Carolina Expedition}}

}}

The Battle of South Mills, also known as the Battle of Camden, took place on April 19, 1862 in Camden County, North Carolina as part of Union Army Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside's North Carolina expedition during the American Civil War.

Learning that the Confederates were building ironclads at Norfolk, Burnside planned an expedition to destroy the Dismal Swamp Canal locks to prevent transfer of the ships to Albemarle Sound. He entrusted the operation to Brig. Gen. Jesse L. Reno's command, which embarked on transports from Roanoke Island on April 18. By midnight, the convoy reached Elizabeth City and began disembarking troops.

On the morning of April 19, Reno marched north on the road to South Mills. At the crossroads a few miles below South Mills, elements of Col. Ambrose R. Wright's command delayed the Federals until dark. Reno abandoned the expedition and withdrew during the night to the transports at Elizabeth City. The transports carried Reno's troops to New Bern where they arrived on April 22. Union forces later pushed Confederate units out of the coastal areas, which they occupied for the duration of the war.