Fort Fisher State Historic Site - Civil War Discovery Trail Sites on Waymarking.com

Referred to by officers on both sides of the conflict as the Gibraltar of the South, this massive earth and sand fort kept Federal blockading ships at a distance from the Cape Fear River, protecting Wilmington from attack and ensuring relatively safe passage for Confederate naval travel. Wilmington was the last major port open to the Confederacy and the destination of many blockade runners attempting to smuggle European provisions into the CSA. Once the cargo reached Wilmington, food and materiel could be loaded onto critical confederate supply lines such as the Wilmington & Weldon Railroad, which was used to support General Lee's Army of Northern Virginia.

The main task of bolstering the defenses at Fort Fisher began in July 1862 under the direction of the new fort commander Col. William Lamb. Inspired by the design of Russian defensive works at Fort Sebastopol, Lamb engineered long lines of interconnected, earthen batteries that formed an "L" shape. A line of shore-perpendicular batteries stretched from the Cape Fear River to the Atlantic Ocean. The land face was flanked by two massive structures, Battery Shepherd and the NE Bastion, and fronted by palisades. This provided a daunting defensive barrier against landward attacks from the north. A Seaface series of batteries stretched for almost a mile to the South where it terminated at the gigantic Battery Lamb (Mound Battery). Rising to a height of over 43 feet, Battery Lamb was also used as a signal tower to communicate with blockade runners out at sea.

The fall of Mobile, Alabama in August 1864 left Wilmington as the last major Southern seaport open to the outside world. On December 24, 1864 the impending federal invasion of Fort Fisher was initiated when Adm. David Porter's armada of 64 US Navy ships unleashed over 20,000 rounds of solid shot and explosive rounds on the earthen fort. On Christmas day an amphibious assault, lead by Bvt. Brig. Gen. N. Martin Curtis along with Gen. Godfrey Weitzel and about 500 men of the First Brigade (2nd Division, XXIV Army Corps), was launched against the confederate defenders at Federal Point. After a brief engagement with confederate skirmishers, a sudden lull in the federal bombardment allowed confederate soldiers and artillery to return fire on the advancing Union army, forcing Curtis and the first brigade to retreat. Fearing they were outnumbered and would not be able to capture the fort, Maj. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler called off the siege departed with his army for Hampton Roads, Virginia.

Angered by the failure to capture Fort Fisher, Gen. Ulysses S. Grant chooses Maj. Gen. Alfred Terry (commander of the XXIV Corps, Army of the James) to lead the second expedition against Fort Fisher. By mid January, 1865 Terry arrives with transports carrying over 10,000 troops, which would be supported by 58 warships under the direction of Adm. David D. Porter. While Potter initiated another massive bombardment of the resilient earthen fort, Terry and infantry stormed mighty NE Bastion. Despite the numerous pleas of Maj. Gen. W.H.C. Whiting (the Senior Confederate Officer at Fort Fisher) for the support of Maj. Gen. Robert F. Hoke's reinforcements stationed on the mainland at nearby Sugarloaf. Unfortunately for the defenders of Fort Fisher, the newly appointed Commander of the Cape Fear District Gen. Braxton Bragg refused to engage the Union northern line with Hoke's Division. After a brutal hand-to-hand engagement, the federals finally seized the Fort, forcing the outnumbered confederates to surrender the garrison.

Type of site: Battlefield Address: 1610 Fort Fisher Blvd. S Kure Beach, NC 28449 Admission Charged: No Charge Website: [Web Link] Driving Directions: From Interstate 40 take College Road (State Road 132) south through Wilmington to U.S. 421. Take U.S. 421 south through Carolina Beach and Kure Beach. Fort Fisher is on the right just south of Kure Beach. Phone Number: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   05/11/2023 wardnkathy visited it 04/15/2023 Don.Morfe visited it 11/11/2017 NAVY-guy visited it 11/10/2012 FRESH AIR53 visited it 04/08/2010 ChapterhouseInc visited it 10/04/2009 NCDaywalker visited it 05/30/2009 ECPirates visited it 06/29/2008 geodave88 visited it 03/19/2008 kJfishman visited it

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