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Location of two Confederate forts commanded by Samuel Barron, and deemed a valuable passage for landing the ammunition and supplies of the Confederacy, and for sending cotton out of the country. General Butler and Commodore Stringham fitted out an expedition against these forts, Clark and Hatteras, and sailed from Hampton Roads August 26, 1861, with ten vessels carrying 158 guns and 900 men. Fort Clark, the weaker position, was speedily reduced, August 27, by the guns of the Federal ships "Minnesota," "Wabash" and "Susquehanna," and Hatteras was captured after protracted bombardment the next day. Barron and 700 Confederates were made prisoners.