Carried Into War
A Soldier's Life
Realities of War
The Home Front
Facing the Grim Reaper
Breaking the Blockade
The Last Campaigns
An Uncertain Future
Acknowledgments
|
|
The Gilbratar of the South
Stoneman's Raid
Sherman's Invasion of North Carolina
Confederate Surrender
Located on the coast near the mouth of the Cape Fear River, Fort Fisher protected blockade-runners as they dashed through the Federal blockade. The largest earthen fort in the world, Fort Fisher was essential for the protection of the port of Wilmington. Work on the fort began soon after North Carolina left the Union, and at times more than a thousand Confederate soldiers and African American freedmen and slaves labored together on the construction. In January 1865, the fort had twenty-two cannons facing the Atlantic Ocean, and another twenty-five facing the land approach.
The Battle of Fort Fisher and the Fall of Wilmington
It was a splendid yet wicked sight-what a shower of shell we must have pounded down on their devoted heads.
—Union seaman B. F. Blair, December 27, 1864
Aware of the strategic importance of Fort Fisher and Wilmington, the Union army and navy planned to assault and capture the fort. The first major Federal attack came in late December 1864 but ended in dismal failure and embarrassment for the Union commanders. The second attack, which brought victory to the North, began January 13, 1865, when 8,000 Union troops landed after an extensive bombardment by United States ships. On January 15, the fort surrendered after failing to receive support from nearby Confederate forces. The fall of Fort Fisher, along with smaller forts in the Cape Fear defense system, left Wilmington unprotected. Federal troops occupied the city on February 22.
William Lamb
A native of Norfolk, William Lamb was assigned to duty in Wilmington in September 1861. On July 4, 1862, Lamb became commander of Fort Fisher. A tireless worker, he directed much of the fort's expansion. Colonel Lamb was severely wounded and captured when the fort fell on January 15, 1865, and spent the remaining months of the war as a Federal prisoner.
William Henry Chase Whiting
The top graduate in the class of 1845 at West Point, William Henry Chase Whiting served brilliantly as an engineer in the United States Army until he resigned his commission and accepted service with the Confederacy in February 1861. Assigned as commander of the Military District of the Cape Fear, Whiting played a vital role in the construction of Fort Fisher. On January 15, 1865, while leading a countercharge at the fort, he was shot twice in the leg and taken prisoner. General Whiting died as a prisoner on March 10, 1865, of complications from his wounds.
|
Continue to the next section: Stoneman's Raid >>
|
|
|
Print this
