The Confederate ironclad ram Neuse was constructed at Whitehall, present-day Seven Springs, beginning in October 1862. Its unfinished hull survived the fighting there during Union Gen. John G. Foster's raid in December 1863. It was docked at an area known as the Cat Hole, then outfitted with engines, iron plate, and armament. In April 1864, Neuse was ordered to aid Confederate Gen. Robert F. Hoke in his attempt to recapture New Bern, but the vessel ran aground on a sandbar and could not proceed. A month later Neuse was freed and returned to its dock, where it remained for ten months. Following the Battle of Wyse Fork in March 1865, Capt. Joseph Price took Neuse downriver to delay the Union army while Confederate forces evacuated. After the evacuation was complete, the crew set fire to Neuse and abandoned her. The scuttled vessel sank to the river bottom, where it rested for nearly a century. No serious efforts were made to recover it until 1961. For three years, salvagers worked to dig Neuse out of the mud. In 1964, the state of North Carolina took possession of the gunboat and developed it as a tourist attraction and state historic site.