Fort Fisher & Civil War Exhibit overview Part III

1865 to 1868: The Capture of Fort Fisher and the Ending in the Cape Fear THE RETURN OF FEDERAL FORCES Three weeks after the December failure, the Federal Army and Navy returned to the Cape Fear with a new commander and a new plan of attack. The poor planning and interservice rivalry, evident in December, were gone this time around. Gone also was the novel idea of a quick victory; this would be a brutal struggle. On the night of January 12, 1865, Confederate sentries witnessed the Federal fleet take position off Fort Fisher by counting their anchor lights. Knowing a second battle would soon commence, Colonel William Lamb hurried to his private residence, about one mile north of the fort, to wake his wife Daisy and their three children. Mrs. Lamb, her servant, and her kids crossed the Cape Fear River and fled three miles north seeking shelter at Orton Plantation. She saw and heard the bombardment and fighting over the next three days, just as she had done in December. Gragg, Rod. Confederate Goliath: The Battle of Fort Fisher. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1991. Page 190 As dawn broke over the horizon January 13th, the battle commenced with the Federal Navy bombarding the fort. Meanwhile, Federal troops began their second amphibious landing a few miles north. During the day, hundreds of Federal troops including nine regiments of freed or escaped and former African slaves called the United States Colored Troops, USCTs, poured ashore to expand and defend the beachhead. The contingent of United States Colored Troops made up about 40 percent of the total landing force. Moore, Mark A. Moore's Historical Guide to the Wilmington Campaign and the Battles for Fort Fisher. Mason City, Iowa: Savas Pub, 1999. Page162. Positioned just north of the landing site, Confederate Major General Robert F. Hoke decided against weakening his own lines to confront the landing force. Doing so would risk leaving Wilmington open to attack. On January 14th, as Federal forces continued to pour ashore, Federal ironclad gunboats continued their bombardment of Fort Fisher. Halfway down the peninsula, Federal soldiers started digging a line of entrenchments to protect against an attack by Hoke’s Confederates. During the day, a few Confederate reinforcements were landed at Battery Buchannan and had to run the gauntlet of fire to reach Fort Fisher. Late in the afternoon, leading elements of the Federal army arrived within a half mile of the fort and were able to witness the naval bombardment. After two days, the fleet had damaged nearly every cannon on the land face and Federal commanders agreed conditions were right for a land assault. The Federal Army’s plan was to attack the weakest part of the fort – the riverside sally port – by rushing through a marsh and across the River Road bridge using thirteen different regiments. During the night of January 14th, the Federal infantry, formed up into three brigades, and took up their positions in shallow trenches ready to attack Shepherd’s Battery the next afternoon. Not wanting to be outdone, the Federal Navy decided to gather an ad hoc collection of sailors and marines to attack along the beach. As darkness fell that night, both sides prepared for the attack that was to come the next day. A SECOND ASSAULT As January 15th, dawned clear and cold, the Federal Navy resumed its bombardment of Fort Fisher and the Federal Army was making its last arrangements. About one mile north of the fort, over 2,100 sailors and marines began landing on Federal Point with the mission of capturing the Northeast Bastion. As Federal troops readied themselves, Confederate forces prepared for the coming fight not knowing if help would come from Bragg’s and Hoke’s troops five miles away. At about 3:25 in the afternoon, the Federal fleet sounded a long blast from their steam whistles signaling the commencement of the Federal ground attack. Following the signal, Fleet Captain Kidder R. Breese began the assault on the Northeast Bastion with his naval shore contingent. Gragg, Page 142. The Federal Naval landing party rushed headlong toward the Northeast Bastion armed only with revolvers and cutlasses, without waiting to coordinate the assault with Federal Army. The Confederates amassed a large portion of their troops to defend the Bastion and unleashed a devastating fire upon the Federal sailors and marines. The naval contingent tried in vain to breach the fort’s defenses to no avail. As the routed sailors and marines retreated up the beach, Confederate defenders along the Northeast Bastion cheered wildly. However, reinforcing the defense there left Shepherd’s Battery and the River Road sally port to the west vulnerable to attack. The celebration quickly evaporated when Colonel Lamb and Major General Whiting saw several large Federal flags waving over Shepherd’s Battery to the west. When the signal was given by the Federal fleet to attack, the Federal Army was still getting organized. Quickly, Colonel Newton Martin Curtis began the assault on Shepherd’s Battery. As Confederate artillery thundered overhead, the First Brigade’s soldiers rose from their positions to attack the west end of the fort. Leading the First Brigade attack were sixteen volunteers tasked with enlarging the spaces in the stockade around Shepheard’s Battery. One of the men involved in this action was Bruce Anderson of the 142nd New York Volunteer Infantry. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions that day. He is one of 25 African American Civil War Medals of Honor recipients. Congressional Medal of Honor Society Information. https://www.cmohs.org/recipients/lists/black-african-american-recipients Federal troops began pouring through the gaps and clambering up the ramparts of Fort Fisher. The fighting around the first two traverses became furious and, at such a close range, it devolved into hand to hand combat. The Second Brigade was called up and quickly joined the assault as Confederate artillery continued to rake the attackers with shell and canister. Driven by sheer weight of numbers, the Federal infantry managed to capture Shepherd’s Battery and the Confederates, greatly outnumbered, fell back. To stem the tide of blue-clad soldiers, Confederate artillery along the sea face and at Battery Buchannan unleashed long-range fire killing and maiming friend and foe alike. For the wife of Sergeant Thaddeus Davis of Company G, 40th North Carolina Troops, she and some ladies from Wilmington found a spot on the western side of the Cape Fear River to see the battle. As the women watched the struggle for the River Road sally port, they thought of their husbands and prayed for their safety. As darkness fell, the women could only see the flashes of cannons and muskets unsure of what was happening. They left and headed back to Wilmington followed by the sounds of battle. It would take her a month before she received a letter from him letting her know he had survived the battle. It was almost six months until she saw him again. “The Fall of Fort Fisher.” The Confederate Veteran Magazine. Volume XIII, Number 3. Atlanta, GA: Confederate Veteran, 1906. Page 131. As Federal causalities began to mount, the advance began losing momentum at the fourth traverse. The Third Brigade joined the assault and again the Confederates were pushed back. By late afternoon, nearly 4,000 Federal soldiers were pouring over the walls of Shepherd’s Battery and were flowing onto the parade ground behind the battery. A little over thirty minutes had passed when Major General Whiting organized a counterattack. Striking the Federal troops around the sixth traverse, Confederates managed to push the enemy to the fourth traverse. Whiting was seriously wounded when he charged into the third traverse. He was carried from the battle causing the counterattack to falter. In a last ditch effort, Colonel Lamb gathered all available Confederate forces to continue the counterattack, but he too was seriously wounded just as he gave the order to charge. For the second time that day, the Federal advance lost momentum. The Federal Navy began shelling the fort to erode the Confederate defense. Knowing he would need more troops to finish the job, Major General Terry ordered Colonel Joseph Abbot’s 1,400 man Brigade of USCTs to enter the fort through the River Road sally port to support the attack on Fort Fisher’s garrison. Moore, Page 56. By 8:00pm, Major General Terry ordered the 27th USCTs to aid in clearing out sporadic groups of defenders along the land face and Northeast Bastion. With the final Federal effort to capture the fort, Confederate Major James Reilly and the remaining defenders retreated south to Battery Buchanan carrying the wounded Colonel Lamb and Major General Whiting with them. As the Confederates arrived at Buchanan, they realized there was no way to retreat further. The 27th continued its pursuit. As Confederate stragglers continued to arrive, the shouts of triumph from the Federals were becoming clearly audible. As the leading elements of 27th USCTs became visible from Battery Buchanan, Major Reilly knew surrender was the only option. Major General Terry was summoned to Buchannan and received the official surrender of Fort Fisher from Major General Whiting. Returning to the fort, Major General Terry accepted the fort’s large garrison flag, removed from atop the Mound Battery, as a prize of war. By 10:00pm, the news of Fort Fisher’s fall had been transmitted to the Federal Navy which lit up the night sky with signal rockets to join the celebration. The morning after the battle soldiers, sailors, and marines of both sides were awakened by the tremendous explosion of Fort Fisher’s main powder magazine. Many men who survived the previous day’s fighting were killed in the blast. The exact number of casualties from the two battles at Fort Fisher will never be accurately known. Confederate records are sketchy and incomplete. The Federal Naval landing force were volunteers. The Federal Army was an ad hoc provisional corps without normal infrastructure for personal information. There is also a wide discrepancy existing between the various Federal numbers published. The best estimate for the number of causalities in the battle would be somewhere between 1,167 to 1,710 killed and wounded Federal troops with about 600 killed and wounded Confederates. Moore, Pages 70-71. Gragg, Page 235. Using those estimates, the total causalities for both sides in during the two battles equal about 40% of the total troops involved. Lastly, for their actions during the savage fighting at Fort Fisher, seventy-two Medals of Honor were awarded to Federal soldiers, sailors, and marines. AFTERMATH AND FALL OF THE COFEDERACY With the capture of Fort Fisher, the Federal Navy could enter the Cape Fear River at will making the defenses south of New Inlet worthless to Confederate defenders. Confederate forces started a general retreat on the western side of the river heading for Fort Anderson. On the eastern side Major General Robert F. Hoke kept his forces around the Sugarloaf lines, which were directly opposite of Fort Anderson. Over the next few weeks, General Terry reconditioned Fort Fisher to withstand a possible counterattack and sent members of the United States Colored Troops north to probe for weaknesses in the Sugarloaf lines. Unable to break through the lines, Federal troops were sent to the west side of the river to prepare for a move against Fort Anderson. By mid-February, with the Federal Navy providing support from the river, Federal troops were able to force the Confederates to abandon Sugarloaf and head for a new position halfway to Wilmington at Forks Road. On the west side of the river, Federal troops outflanked the garrison of Fort Anderson forcing them to retreat north to Town Creek. Fighting around Town Creek and Fork’s Road, drove the Confederates into Wilmington, which they abandoned a few days later. On February 22, 1865, Federal troops entered Wilmington from the south and west closing the port once and for all to the Confederacy and occupied the lower Cape Fear. As Federal troops, under Major General William T. Sherman, entered North Carolina, Confederate forces retreated to the town of Bentonville. The March battle would be the largest fought in North Carolina, saw three days of intense fighting, and the last successful Confederate counterattack of the war. On April 9th, short of supplies Confederate General Robert E. Lee was surrounded by Federal forces in Appomattox, Virginia. He surrendered the Confederate Army under his command. Another two weeks would pass before Confederate forces would enact the largest surrender of the war at Bennett Place outside of Durham, North Carolina. Meanwhile in the lower Cape Fear, Federal troops continued to staff Fort Fisher and Federal Point under the military’s occupation policy. OCCUPATION AND CLOSING OF FORT FISHER Although occupation should have been uneventful, there were accidents, incidents, and issues. In March 1865, a Special Order was published instructing Federal troops to create vegetable gardens to supply the garrison just as the Confederate garrison had. Later in April, one of the Fort’s cannon’s burst when used to fire a salute marking the return of Federal forces to Fort Sumter. Throughout the summer and fall of 1865, numerous Federal troops occupied Fort Fisher until they were mustered out of service and sent home. Various members of the United States Colored Troops regiments took their place. These USCTs, including several companies of the 37th USCTs, staffed not only Fort Fisher, but other Cape Fear District forts until they were mustered out or transferred. The reassignment of the 37th USCTs to Fort Fisher had more to do with bitter strains between that unit and the larger white community than it did with coastal security. Internal altercations between officers and men were common and revealed the fragile bond between white and black Federal soldiers. Some of the men of the USCTs were transferred to western states to assist with the escalation of armed conflicts with Native Americans. In 1867, the United States government purchased a few acres of land from a Wilmington resident for the construction of Wilmington National Cemetery https://www.cem.va.gov/cems/nchp/wilmington.asp. The Federal dead from the battle of Fort Fisher and the fighting in the Cape Fear area were removed and reinterred in the new cemetery. The Confederate dead would have their remains moved from Fort Fisher to a mass grave at Oakdale Cemetery in Wilmington. As the year progressed, the need to occupy Fort Fisher and the Cape Fear area ended. The last soldier to manage Fort Fisher was a lone ordnance sergeant from the 40th US Infantry who left in 1868. With his leaving, Fort Fisher’s role in the Civil War finally ended and the land returned to nature.