At 4 P.M. on April 17, 1864, an advanced Union patrol on the Washington Road was captured by Confederate cavalry, and a company of the 12th N.Y. Cavalry that attacked the Confederates was repulsed. Soon a large Confederate infantry force appeared on the Washington Road, while advanced Confederate infantry attacked Fort Gray two miles above Plymouth on the river bank. Skirmishing continued that evening from the Washington Road to the Acre Road as Union General Henry W. Wessells’ garrison of about 3,000, which had held Plymouth since December, 1862, came under attack by General Robert F. Hoke’s division of over 5,000 men. At 5:30 A.M. on April 18, heavy Confederate artillery fire struck Fort Gray, and Fort Gray and Battery Worth returned the fire. A Confederate barrage soon disabled the Union gunboat Bombshell. At 6:30 P.M. on April 18, the Confederates advanced their line and began an infantry assault on the Union position, but abandoned the attack at 8 P.M. The 85th Redoubt was then attacked and captured at 11 P.M. At 3 A.M. on April 19, the Confederates attacked Fort Gray again. Soon the Confederate iron-clad ram Albemarle, aiding the army, passed undetected down the river, engaged the Southfield and the Miami at 3:30 A.M., sank the former, drove the latter away, and then began to shell the Union defenses. On April 19, the Confederates opened fire on the Union line from the 85th Redoubt, and Fort Williams and Battery Worth returned the fire while heavy skirmishing continued all day. At 6:30 P.M., the Confederates crossed Coneby Creek in an unexpected advance and gained an important position east of Plymouth. At 5 A.M. on April 20, Confederates under General Matt W. Ransom assaulted the Union line east of Plymouth while General Hoke, with two brigades, demonstrated against the Union right. After capturing the Union defenses east of Plymouth, the Confederates halted and re-formed. Union infantry counterattacked, but a renewed Confederate advance repulsed them. Despite determined resistance by the garrison of Fort Williams, General Wessells surrendered the town at 10 A.M. The Confederate capture of Plymouth returned two rich eastern North Carolina counties to the Confederacy, supplied immense ordnance stores to the Southern war effort, and reopened the Roanoke River to Confederate commerce and military operations.