Throughout the American Revolution, British vessels and privateers made numerous raids at Ocracoke Inlet; with several attempts to blockade the inlet against all vessels sustaining the Patriot cause. These activities led to the establishment of American land and naval forces at the inlet, which continued to serve as a crucial artery of supplies until the struggle for independence was won.

Throughout the War of 1812, Ocracoke Inlet served as a base of operations for privateers and as an important avenue for supplies bound for southeastern Virginia through the "back door." An enemy attack on the area had been feared since the beginning of hostilities; and in the summer of 1813 the British made their appearance in considerable force: At daybreak, July 12, the residents of Portsmouth, Ocracoke, and Shell Castle awoke to find a formidable British fleet anchored just off the Bar, including nine large war vessels. Barges soon put off from the ship-one observer counted nineteen barges, each carrying forty men-and when they entered the inlet they attacked two American privateers, the Anaconda and the Atlas, and a revenue cutter, capturing the privateers and forcing the cutter to retreat up the sounds. Then the British troops landed at Portsmouth and Ocracoke, collected hundreds of cattle and sheep, and after five days on the Banks weighed anchor and sailed away, announcing before their departure that the entire coast of North Carolina was under blockade (Dunbar 1958:39,150). Admiral Cockburn, commander of the British naval force, had initially planned to proceed up the Neuse River and capture New Bern. The escape of the revenue cutter to New Bern, however, removed the necessary element of surprise, and the proposed attack was abandoned. This was to be the only British incursion into the area of Ocracoke Inlet. When hostilities ceased , attention was directed toward methods of improving the inlet as an artery of commerce (Dunbar 1958:39).

Soon after the outbreak of the Civil War, Confederate forces seized the existing forts along the coast of North Carolina and began construction of additional fortifications on Roanoke Island and at Hatteras, Oregon, and Ocracoke Inlets. The Ocracoke facility was situated on Beacon Island (Figure 4.4), where an earlier fortification had existed during the War of 1812. Of octagonal shape, the Civil War installation was known alternatively as Fort Ocracoke or Fort Morgan. In addition to a garrison there, it was reported that several hundred troops were stationed at Portsmouth and on the beach below Ocracoke Inlet. All told, there were about 500 Confederate troops in the area (Rush 1914:80).

The existence of the Navy and Coast Guard installations on Ocracoke during World War II brought numerous servicemen from outside the area and had an invigorating effect on the local economy. Ocracoke prior to the war was seeing approximately 3,000 visitors each summer to fish and swim while another 500 visitors flocked to the island each fall and winter for duck hunting (United States Congress No.325:6). The establishment of Cape Hatteras National Seashore in 1953 brought a steady flux of outsiders. Restricting the flow of tourists were the difficulties in reaching the island and the lack of roads on the island itself. These impediments were eliminated in 1957 with the creation of the state's establishment of year-round, toll-free ferry service across Hatteras Inlet and the completion of a paved road between Ocracoke Village and the ferry terminal.

Since 1953 all of Ocracoke Island, with the exception of Ocracoke Village, has been under federal ownership as a part of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, administered by the National Park Service. The island remains unspoiled and in its natural state, the only improvements being the state road and about ten miles of sand-fence barrier.

The British Cemetery at Ocracoke

The tiny British graveyard on Ocracoke Island contains four graves, two of which are marked "Unknown." A third bears the name of Lt. Thomas Cunningham; the fourth that of Stanley R. Craig, A.B. The words "Royal Navy" and "Body found May 14, 1942" are inscribed on all four of the bronze plaques on concrete crosses erected at the time of burial. All bodies are identified as members of the crew of "HMS Bedfordshire" which disappeared with all aboard en route from Norfolk to Morehead City, its temporary "home" port. Rites at Ocracoke were held by the late Amasa Fulcher, prominent layman of the local Methodist Church. A year later, at Mrs. Cunningham's request, a Catholic service was held by the Navy chaplain, then stationed at Ocracoke. Land for the British burials was given by Mrs. Alice Wahab Williams near the Williams family graveyard. Markers were made by the T.A. Loving Construction Co., then building the Navy base nearby. A service at the cemetery is held every year.

For more information on Fort Ocracoke and Ocracoke during the Civil War, please check out the SIDCO site, and the latest information from Earl O'Neal here.