Ausbon House

On December 10, 1862, in Plymouth, Lt. Col. John C. Lamb attacked U.S. forces occupying the town with several companies of the 17th North Carolina Infantry, a squadron of cavalrymen, and Moore’s Battery. After capturing most of the Union pickets, he found the remaining Federals blocking Main Street and dispersed them with a cavalry charge. He then turned his cannons on USS Southfield, the only gunboat supporting the garrison, disabled it, and drove it downstream. Capt. Barnabas Ewer, the Federal commander, abandoned his men and went aboard the vessel to escape; his superiors later judged his conduct disgraceful. Some of his men continued fighting, but the Confederates eventually withdrew because they did not have enough troops to hold the town. A Confederate sniper remained in the Ausbon House and kept firing on Union soldiers until he was killed, leaving bullet holes around the upstairs window. As the Confederates withdrew, they burned half the town, which suffered additional fighting the following year. Probably built about 1840 for Edmond Windley, later bought by the Ausbon family in 1885 and modified, the house is one of only four surviving antebellum houses in Plymouth.

Plymouth, North Carolina · United States