Newport Barracks, North Carolina were located near the town of Shepherdsville (now Newport

Newport, North Carolina

Newport is a town in Carteret County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 3,349 at the 2000 census.-History:Newport was officially chartered in 1866. Although the crossroads community on the Newport River was known by that name decades earlier, the area was also known as Bell's Corner...

), near the site of an early defensive fortification built in the 1830s. The camp was near the tracks of the Atlantic and Coastal Railroad and paralled a creek that led to the Newport River (which in turn leads to Beaufort Inlet

Beaufort Inlet

Beaufort Inlet also locally known as Pallinup Estuary is an inlet located in the Great Southern region of Western Australia about east of Albany. There is a similarly named inlet leading from the Atlantic Ocean to the town of Beaufort, N.C...

).

The camp was heavily fortified by occupying Union

Union Army

The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...

 forces based in New Bern

New Bern, North Carolina

New Bern is a city in Craven County, North Carolina with a population of 29,524 as of the 2010 census.. It is located at the confluence of the Trent and the Neuse rivers...

 following the Battle of New Bern

Battle of New Bern

The Battle of New Bern was fought on 14 March 1862, near the city of New Bern, North Carolina, as part of the Burnside Expedition of the American Civil War. The US Army's Coast Division, led by Brigadier General Ambrose E...

 on March 14, 1862, and was guarded by Fort Benjamin, a small earthwork defensive structure with 6 and 12-pound cannon armament. Primary occupants of the site were infantry

Infantry

Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...

 and artillery

Artillery

Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...

 units from Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

, Connecticut

Connecticut

Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...

 and Rhode Island

Rhode Island

The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...

.

The site was overrun by Confederate

Confederate States Army

The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...

forces in 1863 and briefly held.

As of 2006, no remains are visible and the site is adjacent to a strawberry farm and electrical power substation. A historical marker is located on Old U.S. 70 before the bridge as a traveller enters the town of Newport from the east.