Battle of Fort Fisher

The Battle of Fort Fisher lasted for two days, and began in 1865 towards the end of the war. The importance of the fort was to maintain a steady stream of supplies to the Confederacy because almost all of the other ports in the region had been captured by Union troops, and the port at Wilmington was the only major one left. The fort was named after a fallen colonel who had died in the Battle of Bull Run. There were several major batteries installed on the fort, which is located between the marshlands of the Cape Fear River mouth, and the Atlantic Ocean. There were in fact two separate battles at fort Fisher. Ditches were placed, along with landmines and wire to deter Union amphibious attacks. This was successful for the first battle, in which it managed to hold off Union forces. General Bragg, who I have written about previously, was one of the North Carolina generals that later provided reinforcements for the veterans of the fort. The initial loss was also caused by confusion amongst the Union troops, and they were called off to prevent further damage. The Bahamas and Nova Scotia were two major resources to the Confederates, and were vital to the war effort. The secret of the fort and its ability to withstand the many bombardments of the Union ships was the fact that it was made of piled dirt, and secret passageways between each bunker. After visiting this fort many times, I always wondered why it was made of dirt and there were wooden doors opening into mounds of earth that they never let us in, but this research really helped to clear this out. This picture was also pretty cool.


"Fort Fisher - The Fort." NC Historic Sites. Web. 05 Jan. 2010. .