Second Battle of Fort Fisher
Encyclopedia
The Second Battle of Fort Fisher was a joint assault by Union Army
and naval forces against Fort Fisher
, outside Wilmington, North Carolina
, near the end of the American Civil War
. Sometimes referred to as the "Gibraltar of the South" and the last major coastal stronghold of the Confederacy, Fort Fisher had tremendous strategic value during the war, providing a port for blockade runners supplying the Army of Northern Virginia
.
and setting sail for the Bahamas, Bermuda
or Nova Scotia
to trade cotton and tobacco for needed supplies from the British
were protected by the fort. Based on the Malakoff Tower
in Sevastopol
, Ukraine
, Fort Fisher was constructed mostly of earth and sand. This made absorbing the pounding of heavy fire from Union ships more effective than older fortifications constructed of mortar and bricks. Twenty-two guns faced the ocean, while twenty-five faced the land. The sea
face guns were mounted on 12 feet (3.7 m) batteries with larger, 45 foot batteries at the southern end of the fort. Underground passageways and bombproof rooms existed below the giant earthen mounds of which the fort consisted.
The fortifications were able to keep Union ships from attacking the port of Wilmington and the Cape Fear River
. On December 24, 1864, Union forces under Major General Benjamin F. Butler
and Rear Admiral David D. Porter launched a two-day attack, but were beaten back.
returned in January, this time under Major General Alfred Terry
. Terry was chosen by Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant
to lead a Provisional Corps of 9,000 troops from the Army of the James
. Rear Admiral David D. Porter returned with 60 vessels of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron to the North Carolina coast after the failed December attempt.
Provisional Corps - Maj.Gen. Alfred H. Terry:
North Atlantic Blockading Squadron - Admiral David D. Porter:
.jpg)
Major General W.H.C. Whiting commanded the District of Cape Fear and pleaded with the department commander, General Braxton Bragg
to send reinforcements. Bragg was unwilling to reduce his forces, which he felt were necessary to defend Wilmington
. He finally sent reinforcements to Colonel William Lamb's garrison bringing the total at Fort Fisher to 1,900. A division of 6,400 troops under Major General Robert Hoke
were stationed on the peninsula north of the fort. Whiting personally arrived at the fort and told the commander: "Lamb my boy, I have come to share your fate. You and your garrison are to be sacrificed."
Department of North Carolina - General Braxton Bragg
District #3 - Maj. Gen. W.H.C. Whiting
and understood the importance of coordinating with the Union Navy. He and Admiral Porter made well laid out plans for the joint attack. Terry would send one division of United States Colored Troops
under Charles J. Paine
to hold off Hoke's division on the peninsula. Terry's other division under Adelbert Ames
, supported by an independent brigade under Col. Joseph Carter Abbott
, would move down the peninsula and attack the fort from the land face, striking the landward wall on the river side of the peninsula. Porter organized a landing force of 2,000 sailors and marines to land and attack the fort's sea face, on the seaward end of the same wall.
On January 13, Terry landed his troops in between Hoke and Fort Fisher. Hoke was unwilling to risk opening the route to Wilmington and remained unengaged while the entire Union force landed safely ashore. The next day Terry moved south towards the fort to reconnoiter the fort and decided that an infantry assault would succeed.
On January 15, Porter's gunboats opened fire on the sea face of the fort and by noon they succeeded in silencing all but four guns. During this bombardment Hoke sent about 1,000 troops from his line to Fort Fisher, however only about 400 were able to land and make it into the defense while the others were forced to turn back. About this time the sailors and marines, led by Lt. Commander Kidder Breese
, landed and moved against the point where the fort's land and sea faces met, a feature known as the Northeast Bastion. The Union army original plan was for the naval force, armed with revolvers and cutlasses, to attack in three waves with the marines providing covering fire, but instead, the assault went forward in a single unorganized mass. General Whiting personally led the defense and routed the assault, with heavy casualties in the naval force.
The attack, however, drew Confederate attention away from the river gate, where Ames prepared to launch his attack. At 2:00 in the afternoon he sent forward his first brigade, under the command of Brevet Brig. Gen. Newton Martin Curtis
, as Ames waited with the brigades of Colonels Galusha Pennypacker
and Louis Bell. An advance guard from Curtis's brigade used axes to cut through the palisade
s and abatis
. Curtis's brigade took heavy casualties as it overran the outer works and stormed the first traverse. At this point Ames ordered Pennypacker's brigade forward, which he accompanied into the fort. As Ames marched forward, Confederate snipers zeroed in on his party, and cut down a number of his aides around him. Pennypacker's men fought their way through the river side gate, and Ames ordered a portion of his men to fortify a position within the interior of the fort. Meanwhile the Confederates turned the cannons in Battery Buchanan at the southern tip of the peninsula and fired on the northern wall as it fell into Union hands. Ames observed that Curtis's lead units had become stalled at the fourth traverse, and he ordered forward Bell's brigade, but Bell was killed by sharpshooters before ever reaching the fort. Seeing the Union attackers crowd into the breach and interior, General Whiting took the opportunity to personally lead a counterattack. Charging into the Union soldiers, Whiting received multiple demands to surrender, and when he refused he was shot down, severely wounded.
Porter's gunboats helped maintain the Federal momentum. His gunners' aim proved to be deadly accurate and began clearing out the defenders as the Union troops approached the sea wall. Curtis's troops gained the heavily contested 4th traverse. Colonel Lamb began gathering up every last soldier in the fort, including sick and wounded from the hospital, for a last ditch counterattack. Just as he was about to order a charge, he fell severely wounded and was brought next to General Whiting in the fort's hospital. General Ames made a suggestion for the Union troops to entrench in their current positions. Upon hearing this notion, a frenzied Curtis grabbed a spade and threw it over Confederate trenches and shouted, "Dig Johnnies, for I'm coming for you." About an hour into the battle, Curtis fell wounded while going back to confer with Ames. Colonel Pennypacker also fell wounded before the battle ended.
The grueling battle lasted for hours, long after dark, as shells plunged in from the sea and General Ames struggled with a division that became increasingly disorganized as his regimental leaders and all of his brigade commanders fell dead or wounded. General Terry sent forward Abbott's brigade to reinforce the attack, then joined Ames in the interior of the fortress. Meanwhile in Fort Fisher's hospital Colonel Lamb turned over command to Major James Reilly and General Whiting sent one last plea to General Bragg to send reinforcements. Still believing the situation in Fort Fisher was under control and tired of Whiting's demands, Bragg instead dispatched General Alfred H. Colquitt
to relieve Whiting and assume command at Fort Fisher. At 9:30p.m. Colquitt landed at the southern base of the fort just as Lamb, Whiting and the Confederate wounded were being evacuated to Battery Buchanan.
At this point, the Confederate hold on Fort Fisher was untenable. The seaward batteries had been silenced, almost all of the north wall had been captured, and Ames had fortified a bastion within the interior. Terry, however, had concluded to finish the battle that night. Ames, ordered to maintain the offensive, organized a flanking maneuver, sending some of his men to advance outside the land wall, and come up behind the Confederate defenders of the last traverse. Within a few minutes the Confederate defeat was unmistakable. Colquitt and his staff rushed back to their rowboats just moments before Abbott's men seized the wharf. Major Reilly held up a white flag and walked into the Union lines to announce the fort would surrender. Just before 10 p.m. General Terry rode to Battery Buchanan to receive the official surrender of the fort from General Whiting.
depended upon came through Wilmington; there were no remaining seaports near Virginia that the Confederates could use practically. It also ended any chance of European recognition, being viewed "by many as the final nail in the Confederate coffin." A month later, a Union army under General John M. Schofield would move up the Cape Fear River and capture Wilmington
.
On January 16, Union celebrations were dampened when the fort's magazine exploded killing and wounding 200 Union and Confederate soldiers that were sleeping on the roof of the magazine chamber or nearby. U.S. Navy Ensign Alfred Stow Leighton died in the explosion while in charge of a squad trying to recover bodies from the fort parapet. Although several Union soldiers initially thought Confederate prisoners were responsible, an investigation opened by Terry concluded that unknown Union soldiers (possibly drunken marines) had entered the magazine with torches and ignited the powder.
William Lamb survived the battle but spent the next 7 years on crutches. General Whiting was taken prisoner and died while in Federal captivity. Colonel Galusha Pennypacker's
wounds were thought to have been fatal and General Terry assured the young man he would receive a brevet promotion to brigadier general. Pennypacker did receive a brevet promotion as Terry had promised but on February 18, 1865 he received a full promotion to brigadier general
of volunteers at age 20. He remains the youngest person to have held the rank of general in the U.S. Army. Newton Martin Curtis
also received a full promotion to brigadier general and both he and Pennypacker received the Medal of Honor
for their part in the battle. Secretary of War
Edwin M. Stanton
made an unexpected visit to Fort Fisher where General Terry presented him with garrison's flag.
for their actions.
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...
and naval forces against Fort Fisher
Fort Fisher
Fort Fisher was a Confederate fort during the American Civil War. It protected the vital trading routes of the port at Wilmington, North Carolina, from 1861 until its capture by the Union in 1865....
, outside Wilmington, North Carolina
Wilmington, North Carolina
Wilmington is a port city in and is the county seat of New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. The population is 106,476 according to the 2010 Census, making it the eighth most populous city in the state of North Carolina...
, near the end of the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. Sometimes referred to as the "Gibraltar of the South" and the last major coastal stronghold of the Confederacy, Fort Fisher had tremendous strategic value during the war, providing a port for blockade runners supplying the Army of Northern Virginia
Army of Northern Virginia
The Army of Northern Virginia was the primary military force of the Confederate States of America in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War, as well as the primary command structure of the Department of Northern Virginia. It was most often arrayed against the Union Army of the Potomac...
.
Background
Wilmington was the last major port open to the Confederacy on the Atlantic seacoast. Ships leaving Wilmington via the Cape Fear RiverCape Fear River
The Cape Fear River is a long blackwater river in east central North Carolina in the United States. It flows into the Atlantic Ocean near Cape Fear, from which it takes its name. The overall water quality of the river is continuously measured and monitored by and conducted by the , , and the...
and setting sail for the Bahamas, Bermuda
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
or Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
to trade cotton and tobacco for needed supplies from the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
were protected by the fort. Based on the Malakoff Tower
Malakoff Tower
Malakoff Tower is a tower located in Recife Antigo, Recife. This monument was built between 1835 and 1855 to be used as an observatory and as the main entrance and gateway for Arsenal da Marinha square...
in Sevastopol
Sevastopol
Sevastopol is a city on rights of administrative division of Ukraine, located on the Black Sea coast of the Crimea peninsula. It has a population of 342,451 . Sevastopol is the second largest port in Ukraine, after the Port of Odessa....
, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, Fort Fisher was constructed mostly of earth and sand. This made absorbing the pounding of heavy fire from Union ships more effective than older fortifications constructed of mortar and bricks. Twenty-two guns faced the ocean, while twenty-five faced the land. The sea
Sea
A sea generally refers to a large body of salt water, but the term is used in other contexts as well. Most commonly, it means a large expanse of saline water connected with an ocean, and is commonly used as a synonym for ocean...
face guns were mounted on 12 feet (3.7 m) batteries with larger, 45 foot batteries at the southern end of the fort. Underground passageways and bombproof rooms existed below the giant earthen mounds of which the fort consisted.
The fortifications were able to keep Union ships from attacking the port of Wilmington and the Cape Fear River
Cape Fear River
The Cape Fear River is a long blackwater river in east central North Carolina in the United States. It flows into the Atlantic Ocean near Cape Fear, from which it takes its name. The overall water quality of the river is continuously measured and monitored by and conducted by the , , and the...
. On December 24, 1864, Union forces under Major General Benjamin F. Butler
Benjamin Franklin Butler (politician)
Benjamin Franklin Butler was an American lawyer and politician who represented Massachusetts in the United States House of Representatives and later served as the 33rd Governor of Massachusetts....
and Rear Admiral David D. Porter launched a two-day attack, but were beaten back.
Forces
The Union ArmyUnion 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...
returned in January, this time under Major General Alfred Terry
Alfred Terry
Alfred Howe Terry was a Union general in the American Civil War and the military commander of the Dakota Territory from 1866 to 1869 and again from 1872 to 1886.-Early life and career:...
. Terry was chosen by Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...
to lead a Provisional Corps of 9,000 troops from the Army of the James
Army of the James
The Army of the James was a Union Army that was composed of units from the Department of Virginia and North Carolina and served along the James River during the final operations of the American Civil War in Virginia.-History:...
. Rear Admiral David D. Porter returned with 60 vessels of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron to the North Carolina coast after the failed December attempt.
Provisional Corps - Maj.Gen. Alfred H. Terry:
- 1st Division (XXIV Corps)
- 2nd Brigade - Col. Joseph C. Abbott
- 2nd Division (XXIV Corps) - Brig. Gen. Adelbert AmesAdelbert AmesAdelbert Ames was an American sailor, soldier, and politician. He served with distinction as a Union Army general during the American Civil War. As a Radical Republican and a Carpetbagger, he was military governor, Senator and civilian governor in Reconstruction-era Mississippi...
- 1st Brigade - Brevet Brig. Gen. Newton M. Curtis
- 2nd Brigade - Col. Galusha PennypackerGalusha Pennypacker-External links:...
- 3rd Brigade - Col. Louis Bell
- 3rd Division (XXV Corps) - Brig. Gen. Charles J. PaineCharles Jackson PaineCharles Jackson Paine was an American railroad executive, soldier, and yachtsman who was a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Biography:...
- 2nd Brigade - Col. John W. Ames
- 3rd Brigade - Col. Elias Wright
- Artillery
- Siege Artillery - Brevet Brig. Gen. Henry L. AbbotHenry Larcom AbbotHenry Larcom Abbot was a military engineer and officer in the United States Army.-Early life:Henry Larcom Abbot was born in Beverly, Massachusetts. Abbot attended West Point and graduated second in his class with a degree in military engineering in 1854...
- Siege Artillery - Brevet Brig. Gen. Henry L. Abbot
North Atlantic Blockading Squadron - Admiral David D. Porter:
- Monitors
- USS MahopaUSS Mahopac (1863)- External links :***...
- USS CanonicusUSS Canonicus (1863)|-See also:* American Civil War* Union Navy* Confederate States Navy...
- USS SaugusUSS Saugus (1863)USS Saugus was a monitor constructed for the Union Navy during the third year of the American Civil War. She saw most of her military action in the rivers of Virginia, including being there for the fall of Richmond, Virginia. Post-war, she was recommissioned for further service with the U.S...
- USS Monadnock
- USS Mahopa
- Line Number 1
- USS New IronsidesUSS New Ironsides (1862)USS New Ironsides was a wooden-hulled broadside ironclad built for the United States Navy during the American Civil War. The ship spent most of her career blockading the Confederate ports of Charleston, South Carolina, and Wilmington, North Carolina in 1863–65...
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- USS MohicanUSS Mohican (1859)The first USS Mohican was a steam sloop of war in the United States Navy during the American Civil War. She was named for the Mohican tribe....
- USS TaconyUSS Tacony (1863)USS Tacony was a double-ended, side-wheel steamboat acquired by the Union Navy during the third year of the American Civil War. She was outfitted as a heavy gunboat with powerful guns and used in the Union blockade of the waterways of the Confederate States of America.- Built in Philadelphia,...
- USS KansasUSS Kansas (1863)USS Kansas was a gunboat constructed for the Union Navy during the middle of the American Civil War. She was outfitted with heavy guns and assigned to the Union blockade of the waterways of the Confederate States of America. She was the first U.S...
- USS UnadillaUSS Unadilla (1861)USS Unadilla was a built for service with the United States Navy during the American Civil War. She was the lead ship in her class.Unadilla was used by the Navy to patrol navigable waterways of the Confederacy to prevent the South from trading with other countries.- Built in New York City in 1861...
- USS Huron
- USS PequotUSS Pequot (1863)The first USS Pequot was a wooden screw gunboat of the Union Navy during the American Civil War. The ship was launched on 4 June 1863 by the Boston Navy Yard; and commissioned there on 15 January 1864, Lt. Comdr. Stephen P. Quackenbush in command...
- USS Yantic
- USS MaumeeUSS Maumee (1864)USS Maumee was a steamer purchased by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. With her heavy guns, she was planned by the Union Navy for use as a bombardment gunboat, but also as a gunboat stationed off Confederate waterways to prevent their trading with foreign countries.Maumee was launched...
- USS SenecaUSS Seneca (1861)USS Seneca was a built on behalf of the United States Navy for service during the American Civil War. Seneca was outfitted with guns for horizontal fire as well as with two howitzers for bombardment of shore targets...
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- USS PontoosucUSS Pontoosuc (1864)USS Pontoosuc was a Union Navy vessel in the American Civil War. A side wheel gunboat, Pontoosuc was built under contract with G. W. Lawrence and the Portland Company, Portland, Maine, was commissioned at Portland, on 10 May 1864, Lt. Comdr. George A...
- USS NyackUSS Nyack (1863)USS Nyack was a wooden-hulled screw gunboat of the United States Navy, that saw action in the American Civil War. The ship was laid down at New York Navy Yard in 1863, launched on 6 October 1863, and commissioned on 28 September 1864, Lieutenant Commander L...
- USS New Ironsides
- Line Number 2
- USS TiconderogaUSS Ticonderoga (1863)The second USS Ticonderoga was a 2526-ton Lackawanna-class screw sloop-of-war laid down by the New York Navy Yard in 1861; launched on 16 October 1862; sponsored by Miss Katherine Heaton Offley; and commissioned at New York on 12 May 1863, Commodore J. L...
- USS VicksburgUSS Vicksburg (1863)USS Vicksburg was a wooden steamship built in 1863 at Mystic, Connecticut; purchased by the United States Navy at New York City on 20 October 1863; converted into a gunboat; and commissioned at the New York Navy Yard on 2 December, Lieutenant Commander L. Braine in command. Vicksburg was named in...
- USS ShenandoahUSS Shenandoah (1862)The first USS Shenandoah was a wooden screw sloop of the United States Navy.Shenandoah was built by the Philadelphia Navy Yard and launched on 8 December 1862. She was sponsored by Miss Selina Pascoe; and was commissioned on 20 June 1863, Captain Daniel B...
- USS Juniata
- USS TuscaroraUSS Tuscarora (1861)The first USS Tuscarora was a sloop of war in the United States Navy during the American Civil War.Tuscarora was laid down on 27 June 1861 at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by Merrick & Sons; launched on 24 August 1861; sponsored by Miss Margaret Lardner; and commissioned on 5 December 1861, Commander...
- USS Powhatan
- USS SusquehannaUSS Susquehanna (1847)USS Susquehanna, a sidewheel steam frigate, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for a river which rises in Lake Otsego in central New York and flows across Pennsylvania and the northeast corner of Maryland to empty into the Chesapeake Bay.Her keel was laid down by the New York...
- USS MackinawUSS Mackinaw (1863)The USS Mackinaw was a 974 ton sidewheel steamer of the United States Navy during the American Civil War.-Service:The ship was built in New York in 1863 and was launched on 22 April 1863.Commissioned at New York on 23 April 1864 with Commander J. C...
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- USS MinnesotaUSS Minnesota (1855)USS Minnesota was a wooden steam frigate in the United States Navy. Launched in 1855 and commissioned eighteen months later, the ship served in east Asia for two years before being decommissioned...
- USS Ticonderoga
- Line Number 3
- USS IoscoUSS Iosco (1864)The USS Iosco was a 1173 ton Sassacus class "double-ender" steam gunboat built at Bath, Maine. The ship fought during the Civil War, and was an important combatant during the battles at Fort Fisher...
- USS Quaker City
- USS Keystone StateUSS Keystone State (1853)USS Keystone State was a wooden sidewheel steamer that served in the Union Navy during the American Civil War.Keystone State was built at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1853 by J. W. Lynn. She was chartered by the Navy on 19 April 1861 from the Ocean Steam Navigation Co. at Philadelphia, and...
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- USS AlabamaUSS Alabama (1861)The USS Alabama was a wooden side-wheel steamer, built at New York City in 1850 and operated thereafter in commercial service in the western Atlantic.-Civil War service:...
- USS MonticelloUSS Monticello (1859)The first USS Monticello was a wooden screw-steamer in the United States Navy during the American Civil War. She was named for the home of Thomas Jefferson. She was briefly named Star in May 1861....
- USS Rhode IslandUSS Rhode Island (1861)|-References:*Bauer, Karl Jack and Roberts, Stephen S. : Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775-1990: Major Combatants, Greenwood Publishing Group, ISBN 9780313262029.-External links:*...
- USS Maratanza
- USS R. R. CuylerUSS R. R. Cuyler (1860)USS R. R. Cuyler was a steamer in the United States Navy during the American Civil War. She was outfitted by the Union Navy as a gunboat and was assigned to the Union blockade of the Confederate States of America....
- USS ChippewaUSS Chippewa (1861)The third USS Chippewa was a which saw service with the U.S. Navy during the American Civil War.One of the "Ninety-day gunboats", Chippewa was launched 14 September 1861 by Webb and Bell, New York; outfitted at New York Navy Yard; and commissioned 13 December 1861, Lieutenant Andrew Bryson in...
- USS SassacusUSS Sassacus (1862)The first USS Sassacus, a wooden, double-ended, side-wheel steamer, was launched on December 23, 1862 by the Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery, Maine, sponsored by Miss Wilhelmina G. Lambert. Sassacus was commissioned at the Boston Navy Yard on October 5, 1863, Lieutenant Commander Francis A...
- USS OsceolaUSS Osceola (1863)The first USS Osceola was a wooden, sidewheel, double-ended United States Navy gunboat in commission from 1864 to 1865 which saw combat in the American Civil War.-Construction and commissioning:...
- USS Fort JacksonUSS Fort Jackson (1862)USS Fort Jackson was a wooden side wheel steamer in the United States Navy during the American Civil War.Fort Jackson was in New York in 1862, formerly named Kentucky and Union, was purchased by Rear Admiral Hiram Paulding for the Navy from C. W. Vanderbilt on 20 July 1863 and placed in commission...
- USS Santiago de CubaUSS Santiago de Cuba (1861)USS Santiago de Cuba was a brig acquired by the Union Navy during the first year of the American Civil War. She was outfitted as a gunboat with powerful 20-pounder rifled guns and 32-pounder cannon and was assigned to the Union blockade of the Confederate States of America.- Commissioned in New...
- USS Iosco
- Reserves
- USS AriesUSS Aries (1863)USS Aries was a 820-ton iron screw steamer built at Sunderland, England, during 1861-1862, intended for employment as a blockade runner during the American Civil War. She was captured by Union Navy forces during the Union blockade of the Confederate States of America, and was commissioned as a...
- USS HowquahUSS Howquah (1863)USS Howquah was a screw steamer purchased by the Union Navy in Boston from G. W. Upton on 17 June 1863, for action against Confederate commerce raider CSS Tacony which was then preying upon Northern merchantmen during what Professor Richard S...
- USS WildernessUSS Wilderness (1864)USS Wilderness was a wooden-hulled, side-wheel steamship in the United States Navy during the American Civil War. After the war, she served as a revenue cutter. In 1873, she was renamed John A. Dix for John Adams Dix....
- USS CherokeeUSS Cherokee (1864)The USS Cherokee was a 606 ton screw steam gunboat in the US Navy during the American Civil War ship. The ship later served in the Chilean Navy.-Captured blockade runner:...
- USS AdvanceUSS Advance (1862)USS Advance, later known as the USS Frolic, was a blockade runner captured by the Union Navy during the closing years of the American Civil War. She was purchased by the Union Navy and outfitted as a gunboat and assigned to the blockade of the waterways of the Confederate States of America...
- USS MoccasinUSS Moccasin (1864)The first USS Moccasin, a wood screw tug, was built as Hero in 1864 at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and purchased by the US Navy on 11 July 1864 from S. & J. M...
- USS EolusUSS Eolus (1864)The USS Eolus was a 368-ton side wheel steamship that served in the Union Navy from 1864 to 1865 before becoming a commercial steamship.-Union Navy:...
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- USS Aries
- Naval Landing Party - Fleet Captain Kidder R. BreeseKidder BreeseCaptain Kidder Randolph Breese USN was an officer in the United States Navy during the Mexican-American War and the American Civil War.-Early life and career:...
:- 1st Division (USMCUnited States Marine CorpsThe United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
) - Captain Lucien L. Dawson - 2nd Division - Lt. Commander Charles H. Cushman
- 3rd Division - Lt. Commander James Parker
- 4th Division - Lt. Commander Thomas O. Selfridge
- 1st Division (USMC
Major General W.H.C. Whiting commanded the District of Cape Fear and pleaded with the department commander, General Braxton Bragg
Braxton Bragg
Braxton Bragg was a career United States Army officer, and then a general in the Confederate States Army—a principal commander in the Western Theater of the American Civil War and later the military adviser to Confederate President Jefferson Davis.Bragg, a native of North Carolina, was...
to send reinforcements. Bragg was unwilling to reduce his forces, which he felt were necessary to defend Wilmington
Wilmington, North Carolina
Wilmington is a port city in and is the county seat of New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. The population is 106,476 according to the 2010 Census, making it the eighth most populous city in the state of North Carolina...
. He finally sent reinforcements to Colonel William Lamb's garrison bringing the total at Fort Fisher to 1,900. A division of 6,400 troops under Major General Robert Hoke
Robert Hoke
Robert Frederick Hoke was an American businessman, railroad executive, and a Confederate Army general during the American Civil War. Hoke and his division played a decisive role during the Battle of Cold Harbor in 1864....
were stationed on the peninsula north of the fort. Whiting personally arrived at the fort and told the commander: "Lamb my boy, I have come to share your fate. You and your garrison are to be sacrificed."
Department of North Carolina - General Braxton Bragg
Braxton Bragg
Braxton Bragg was a career United States Army officer, and then a general in the Confederate States Army—a principal commander in the Western Theater of the American Civil War and later the military adviser to Confederate President Jefferson Davis.Bragg, a native of North Carolina, was...
District #3 - Maj. Gen. W.H.C. Whiting
- Defense, Mouth of the Cape Fear - Brigadier General Louis HébertLouis Hébert (Confederate Army officer)Louis Hébert was an American educator, civil engineer, writer and soldier who became a brigadier general in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War.-Biography:...
- Fort Fisher Garrison - Col. William LambWilliam Lamb (Confederate States Army officer)William Lamb was an officer in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. He is best remembered for his role in commanding the Confederate garrison at Fort Fisher.The newly-promoted Colonel Lamb assumed command of Fort Fisher on the 4th of July 1862...
wounded; Maj. James Reilly
- Fort Fisher Garrison - Col. William Lamb
- Hoke's Division - Maj. Gen. Robert F. Hoke
- Clingman's Brigade - Col. Hector McKethan
- Colquitt's Brigade - Brig. Gen. Alfred H. ColquittAlfred H. ColquittAlfred Holt Colquitt was a lawyer, preacher, soldier, 49th Governor of Georgia and two term U.S. Senator from Georgia where he died in office. He served as an officer in the Confederate army, reaching the rank of major general....
- Hagood's Brigade - Col. Robert F. Graham
- Kirkland's Brigade - Brig. Gen. William Kirkland
The battle
Alfred Terry had previously commanded troops during the Second Battle of Charleston HarborSecond Battle of Charleston Harbor
The Second Battle of Charleston Harbor, also known as the Siege of Charleston Harbor, Siege of Fort Wagner, or Battle of Morris Island, took place during the American Civil War in the late summer of 1863 between a combined Union Army/Navy force and the Confederate defenses of Charleston, South...
and understood the importance of coordinating with the Union Navy. He and Admiral Porter made well laid out plans for the joint attack. Terry would send one division of United States Colored Troops
United States Colored Troops
The United States Colored Troops were regiments of the United States Army during the American Civil War that were composed of African American soldiers. First recruited in 1863, by the end of the Civil War, the men of the 175 regiments of the USCT constituted approximately one-tenth of the Union...
under Charles J. Paine
Charles Jackson Paine
Charles Jackson Paine was an American railroad executive, soldier, and yachtsman who was a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Biography:...
to hold off Hoke's division on the peninsula. Terry's other division under Adelbert Ames
Adelbert Ames
Adelbert Ames was an American sailor, soldier, and politician. He served with distinction as a Union Army general during the American Civil War. As a Radical Republican and a Carpetbagger, he was military governor, Senator and civilian governor in Reconstruction-era Mississippi...
, supported by an independent brigade under Col. Joseph Carter Abbott
Joseph Carter Abbott
Joseph Carter Abbott was a Union Army colonel during the American Civil War who was awarded the grade of brevet brigadier general of volunteers and a Republican United States Senator from the state of North Carolina between 1868 and 1871. During his career in private life he was a lawyer,...
, would move down the peninsula and attack the fort from the land face, striking the landward wall on the river side of the peninsula. Porter organized a landing force of 2,000 sailors and marines to land and attack the fort's sea face, on the seaward end of the same wall.
On January 13, Terry landed his troops in between Hoke and Fort Fisher. Hoke was unwilling to risk opening the route to Wilmington and remained unengaged while the entire Union force landed safely ashore. The next day Terry moved south towards the fort to reconnoiter the fort and decided that an infantry assault would succeed.
Kidder Breese
Captain Kidder Randolph Breese USN was an officer in the United States Navy during the Mexican-American War and the American Civil War.-Early life and career:...
, landed and moved against the point where the fort's land and sea faces met, a feature known as the Northeast Bastion. The Union army original plan was for the naval force, armed with revolvers and cutlasses, to attack in three waves with the marines providing covering fire, but instead, the assault went forward in a single unorganized mass. General Whiting personally led the defense and routed the assault, with heavy casualties in the naval force.
The attack, however, drew Confederate attention away from the river gate, where Ames prepared to launch his attack. At 2:00 in the afternoon he sent forward his first brigade, under the command of Brevet Brig. Gen. Newton Martin Curtis
Newton Martin Curtis
Newton Martin Curtis was a Union brigadier general during the American Civil War and a member of the United States House of Representatives from New York.-Early life:...
, as Ames waited with the brigades of Colonels Galusha Pennypacker
Galusha Pennypacker
-External links:...
and Louis Bell. An advance guard from Curtis's brigade used axes to cut through the palisade
Palisade
A palisade is a steel or wooden fence or wall of variable height, usually used as a defensive structure.- Typical construction :Typical construction consisted of small or mid sized tree trunks aligned vertically, with no spacing in between. The trunks were sharpened or pointed at the top, and were...
s and abatis
Abatis
Abatis, abattis, or abbattis is a term in field fortification for an obstacle formed of the branches of trees laid in a row, with the sharpened tops directed outwards, towards the enemy. The trees are usually interlaced or tied with wire...
. Curtis's brigade took heavy casualties as it overran the outer works and stormed the first traverse. At this point Ames ordered Pennypacker's brigade forward, which he accompanied into the fort. As Ames marched forward, Confederate snipers zeroed in on his party, and cut down a number of his aides around him. Pennypacker's men fought their way through the river side gate, and Ames ordered a portion of his men to fortify a position within the interior of the fort. Meanwhile the Confederates turned the cannons in Battery Buchanan at the southern tip of the peninsula and fired on the northern wall as it fell into Union hands. Ames observed that Curtis's lead units had become stalled at the fourth traverse, and he ordered forward Bell's brigade, but Bell was killed by sharpshooters before ever reaching the fort. Seeing the Union attackers crowd into the breach and interior, General Whiting took the opportunity to personally lead a counterattack. Charging into the Union soldiers, Whiting received multiple demands to surrender, and when he refused he was shot down, severely wounded.
Porter's gunboats helped maintain the Federal momentum. His gunners' aim proved to be deadly accurate and began clearing out the defenders as the Union troops approached the sea wall. Curtis's troops gained the heavily contested 4th traverse. Colonel Lamb began gathering up every last soldier in the fort, including sick and wounded from the hospital, for a last ditch counterattack. Just as he was about to order a charge, he fell severely wounded and was brought next to General Whiting in the fort's hospital. General Ames made a suggestion for the Union troops to entrench in their current positions. Upon hearing this notion, a frenzied Curtis grabbed a spade and threw it over Confederate trenches and shouted, "Dig Johnnies, for I'm coming for you." About an hour into the battle, Curtis fell wounded while going back to confer with Ames. Colonel Pennypacker also fell wounded before the battle ended.
The grueling battle lasted for hours, long after dark, as shells plunged in from the sea and General Ames struggled with a division that became increasingly disorganized as his regimental leaders and all of his brigade commanders fell dead or wounded. General Terry sent forward Abbott's brigade to reinforce the attack, then joined Ames in the interior of the fortress. Meanwhile in Fort Fisher's hospital Colonel Lamb turned over command to Major James Reilly and General Whiting sent one last plea to General Bragg to send reinforcements. Still believing the situation in Fort Fisher was under control and tired of Whiting's demands, Bragg instead dispatched General Alfred H. Colquitt
Alfred H. Colquitt
Alfred Holt Colquitt was a lawyer, preacher, soldier, 49th Governor of Georgia and two term U.S. Senator from Georgia where he died in office. He served as an officer in the Confederate army, reaching the rank of major general....
to relieve Whiting and assume command at Fort Fisher. At 9:30p.m. Colquitt landed at the southern base of the fort just as Lamb, Whiting and the Confederate wounded were being evacuated to Battery Buchanan.
Aftermath
The loss of Fort Fisher sealed the fate of the Confederacy's last remaining sea port. This was important because the South was cut off from the newly forming industrialized global trade markets. Also, much of the military supplies which the Army of Northern VirginiaArmy of Northern Virginia
The Army of Northern Virginia was the primary military force of the Confederate States of America in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War, as well as the primary command structure of the Department of Northern Virginia. It was most often arrayed against the Union Army of the Potomac...
depended upon came through Wilmington; there were no remaining seaports near Virginia that the Confederates could use practically. It also ended any chance of European recognition, being viewed "by many as the final nail in the Confederate coffin." A month later, a Union army under General John M. Schofield would move up the Cape Fear River and capture Wilmington
Battle of Wilmington
The Battle of Wilmington was fought February 11 – February 22, 1865, during the American Civil War. It was a direct result of the Union victory at the Second Battle of Fort Fisher.-Background:...
.
On January 16, Union celebrations were dampened when the fort's magazine exploded killing and wounding 200 Union and Confederate soldiers that were sleeping on the roof of the magazine chamber or nearby. U.S. Navy Ensign Alfred Stow Leighton died in the explosion while in charge of a squad trying to recover bodies from the fort parapet. Although several Union soldiers initially thought Confederate prisoners were responsible, an investigation opened by Terry concluded that unknown Union soldiers (possibly drunken marines) had entered the magazine with torches and ignited the powder.
William Lamb survived the battle but spent the next 7 years on crutches. General Whiting was taken prisoner and died while in Federal captivity. Colonel Galusha Pennypacker's
Galusha Pennypacker
-External links:...
wounds were thought to have been fatal and General Terry assured the young man he would receive a brevet promotion to brigadier general. Pennypacker did receive a brevet promotion as Terry had promised but on February 18, 1865 he received a full promotion to brigadier general
Brigadier General
Brigadier general is a senior rank in the armed forces. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general. When appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000...
of volunteers at age 20. He remains the youngest person to have held the rank of general in the U.S. Army. Newton Martin Curtis
Newton Martin Curtis
Newton Martin Curtis was a Union brigadier general during the American Civil War and a member of the United States House of Representatives from New York.-Early life:...
also received a full promotion to brigadier general and both he and Pennypacker received the Medal of Honor
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed by the President, in the name of Congress, upon members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her...
for their part in the battle. Secretary of War
United States Secretary of War
The Secretary of War was a member of the United States President's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War," was appointed to serve the Congress of the Confederation under the Articles of Confederation...
Edwin M. Stanton
Edwin M. Stanton
Edwin McMasters Stanton was an American lawyer and politician who served as Secretary of War under the Lincoln Administration during the American Civil War from 1862–1865...
made an unexpected visit to Fort Fisher where General Terry presented him with garrison's flag.
Medals of Honor
During the Battle of Fort Fisher, fifty-one soldiers, sailors and Marines received the Medal of HonorMedal of Honor
The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed by the President, in the name of Congress, upon members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her...
for their actions.
See also
- Wilmington, North Carolina in the American Civil War
- Captain Carlo LombardiCarlo Lombardi (Unionist soldier)Carlo Lombardi was an Italian patriot and soldier whose military career as an officer spanned from the Risorgimento - the Italian Unification Wars - to the American Civil War.-Early years:...
, an Italian expatriate who died in the detonation of the powder magazine.