Talk:Battle of South Mills

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"Inconclusive" designation ?

The info box on the right of the article states the battle was "inconclusive". Is this correct, or should this be a Confederate "victory"? A couple of points if I may:
1) The Federals withdrawal left the battlefield completely to the Confederates in this case.
2) The Federals failed to accomplish their stated objective of destroying the Dismal Canal locks (the locks are immaterial to this battle, I realize...but if the Federals had extended this small campaign by backing up, regrouping, and trying another way I'd be more inclined to call this little battle "inconclusive". They didn't do that though - they withdrew all the way to New Bern)
3) The Confederates completely achieved their objective - stopping the Federal advance on the locks.
4) The casualties are distinct - 25 to 114 in the Confederates favor.
5) There is a link in the info box to the Battle of Tranter's Creek. Its rather similar in nature - but this time the Confederates retreated and the Federals failed to pursue. It lists this one as a Union victory...??
Now, of course you can have more casualties than your enemy and still win a battle, and you can fail an overall objective and still win individual battles, but taken as a whole I don't see how S. Mills is anything but a Confederate victory, even if small and local...or, to put it differently, what was "inconclusive" about it??? Engr105th 19:16, 20 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The Union held the costal area around the locks making the canal worthless. Even with the locks intact, the rebel forces could not move naval assets through the canal. Dominick ^(TALK) 18:09, 23 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]