

Soon after midnight on the morning of 19 April, Reno's force landed about four miles below Elizabeth City. Local Confederates, led by Col. Ambrose R. Wright, had prepared for the enemy. They dug a ditch across the road with marsh woodland at each end, then filled it with wood from fences and buildings and set it on fire to block the Union's movement. This ditch, known as "the roasted ditch," is still extant.
Wright, commanding 900 men, stationed five companies and three guns in a ditch crossing the road on which Reno was advancing. Reno's troops arrived late in the morning and deployed for attack. Wright's outnumbered men held off the Union force for four hours, until they had exhausted their ammunition. Wright fell back and assumed another defensive position, but Reno's men were too shaken and exhausted to follow.
Reno himself was troubled by inaccurate rumors of massive Confederate reinforcements assembling at Norfolk and abandoned the expedition, returning that night to the Federal ships below Elizabeth City. In the engagement, Reno lost 13 killed, 101 wounded, and 13 missing. Wright lost 6 killed, 19 wounded, and 3 captured.