Ambrose Burnside and the Burnside expedition

Ambrose Burnside was one of the series of generals who had command of the Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War, and possibly one of the least suited to hold that place. When commanding smaller scale operations, he proved himself to be one of the more able Union commanders of the civil war. His first major successes came on the coast of North Carolina. After an earlier expedition captured Hatteras, Burnside saw how vulnerable the Confederate coast was. In the spring of 1862 he led an expedition that won a series of battles at Roanoke Island, Elizabeth City, South Mills, New Berne and Fort Macon, closing most of the North Carolina coast to Confederate shipping.