On July 18, 1863, Union Gen. Edward E. Potter led infantry and cavalry from New Bern to destroy the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad bridge at Rocky Mount. The infantry feinted toward Kinston and returned to New Bern, while Potter raided Greenville, sent part of his cavalry to Rocky Mount, and occupied Tarboro. The raiders damaged or destroyed bridges, trains, munitions, and mills before returning to New Bern on July 23, although the Confederates restored rail service by Aug. 1. At 8 a.m. on Sunday, July 19, 1863, Potter entered Black Jack, which Federals called Four Corners or The Chapel, with 800 cavalrymen. Elements of the 3rd, 12th, and 23rd New York Cavalry, 3rd New York Light Artillery, and 1st North Carolina Union Volunteers overran a small Confederate picket post at Black Jack Free Will Baptist Church. The picket, from Capt. C.A. White’s company of Maj. John N. Whitford’s 1st Battalion North Carolina Local Defense Troops, occupied the grounds of the church, which dated from 1831 and stood on the site of the present structure. Potter’s men took fifteen prisoners there, including one who was shot through the thigh, then paroled them and burned their tents and equipment before riding on to Greenville. Black Jack later drew more Union attention because of its position on the important Lower New Bern Road near the eastern edge of Confederate-controlled territory, and Federal raiders from New Bern and Washington struck there several times. On March 26, 1864, a detail of the 1st North Carolina Union Volunteers attacked Confederate pickets nearby; Federals reported one Confederate officer and eight men killed. Capt. George W. Graham then burned the church to prevent its further use.