Wilmington, Fort Fisher, and Historiography

Monument at Fort Fisher. 

   Has the importance of Fort Fisher and the great Wilmington area been missed in the historiography of the past 160 years? I recently came up with this question during our annual visit to the greater Wilmington area. In working on my upcoming book on food and the Army of Northern Virginia, I came to the conclusion that Wilmington, at least during the second half of the war, was second only to Richmond.

   So what do the historians say? How important were Wilmington, Fort Fisher, and the Cape Fear River area? Charles Roland, The Confederacy (1960), William C. Davis, Look Away! A History of the Confederacy (2002), and Russell F. Weigley, A Great Civil War (2000) make no real mention of the importance of the area.

   Keegan, while making mention of Fort Fisher and the ensuing battle, does not really get to the importance of the area, writing that  “The most important military operation in North Carolina during the closing phase of the war was not the work of Sherman’s army but a deliberate and separate operation to close down the South’s last large blockade-running port at Wilmington…”[1] Vandiver writes that “In Wilmington. . . the best of the blockade ports outside of Bagdad, Mexico, things settled into a pattern of hard work. Most citizens decamped in fear of invasion or of pestilence from foreign ships, or because the town became little more than a military depot.” Once again, he does not really seem to get the importance that Wilmington had to the entire war effort.[2]  

   There are a couple of historians who kind of get it. James McPherson writes that “Wilmington became the principal Confederate port for blockade runners because of the tricky inlets and shoals at the mouth of the Cape Fear River…”[3] Edward Pollard, in his early (as in 1867) history of the Confederacy, concludes that Wilmington was the “the most important sea-coast port left to the Confederates, through which to get supplies from abroad, and send cotton and other products out by blockade-runners.”[4]

Only two of the texts in the sample survey (i.e., books on my shelf) seem to get the importance. Robert S. Henry writes in 1931 that Wilmington was “most important of all” ports in the South. Due to this, it became “one of the great centers of the business of blockade running.”[5]    One other example comes from the pen of Shelby Foote. Foote tells us that in the last nine weeks of 1864, supplies landed at the port of Wilmington included “8,632,000 pounds of meat, 1,507,000 pounds of lead, 1,933,000 pounds of saltpeter, 546,000 pairs of shoes, 316,000 pairs of blankets, 520,000 pounds of coffee, 69,000 rifles, 97 packages of revolvers, 2,639 packages of medicine, 43 cannons,” along with other munitions. “Just how important those cargoes were to the continued resistance by the rebels was shown by the fact that R.E. Lee himself had sent word…that he could not subsist his army without supplies brought in there.”[6]

   Overall, I think the importance of the port of Wilmington, with its surrounding fortifications, has been underrepresented in the greater portion of the historiography of the past 160 years.

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[1] Keegan, The American Civil War, 278.

[2] Vandiver, Their Tattered Flags, 107.

[3] McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom, 380.

[4] Pollard, The Lost Cause, 671.

[5] Henry, The Story of the Confederacy, 239, 437.

[6] Foote, The Civil War: A Narrative, 3:741.

Site Visit Saturday: Battery Buchanan

 

  Fortifications below Wilmington, and along the Cape Fear River in North Carolina, began not long after North Carolina left the Union. These fortifications would eventually grow into places well known to us today, places like Fort Fisher on the east bank of the river, and Fort Anderson on the west bank.

   In 1864, another fortification was constructed on the furthest tip of the peninsula, now known as Federal Point, but called Confederate Point during the war. The new fortification was called Battery Buchanan, named for Admiral Franklin Buchanan of the Confederate Navy. It was a two-tiered, oval-shaped earthwork one mile south of Fort Fisher. Within this sand battery were four cannons – two 10” Columbiads and two 10” Brooke Smoothbores. They were under the command of Captain Robert Chapman and manned by Confederate sailors, and then later Confederate States Marines.

   Even after the capture of Fort Fisher by Federal forces in January 1865, Battery Buchanan held, kind of. Some of the Confederate defenders of Fort Fisher fell back to this position, including the wounded Major General WHC Whiting, and Fort Fisher’s commanding officer, Colonel William Lamb. Yet these new soldiers found that the Battery’s defenders had spiked their guns and withdrawn across the Cape Fear River. With the threat of being overrun by the 27^th USCT, those inside the abandoned Battery surrendered.

   The remnants of Battery Buchanan were declared a National Historic Landmark in 1961, and the site is open for visits. More information can be found at the Fort Fisher visitor center.

   I have visited this site numerous times over the past twenty-five years. This image was taken in June 2012.  

Ft. Fisher anniversary

This weekend, our friends at Ft. Fisher are holding their anniversary events. If you live in the area, please drop in and check out the living histories and special speakers. Two years ago, I was there, with thousands of others, including Ed Bearss and Governor McCory. It was a great event and I really enjoyed being a part of it. Above is the video of my presentation on the 150th anniversary weekend. I'm really looking forward to seeing my spot on Blood and Fury this upcoming Wednesday. At least I will not be in a big thick coat with gloves - kind of cold at Fort Fisher two years ago.

Thoughts on Ft. Fisher

A week ago, I was just getting home from the Fort Fisher event. I had meant to post some thoughts earlier, but book proofs and other things got in the way. So, here are my thoughts:

Overall, it was a fantastic event, and, I believe, a model for others to emulate. The mix of speakers and historians, the living historians and re-enactors, and various other groups, all came together to produce a great event.

We arrived on Saturday morning and got checked in, and began to scope out the area. Having been to the Ft. Fisher State Historic site on several occasions, I was familiar with the area. Talks started at 10:00 am, and I had a chance to sit in on the portions of the lectures delivered by several, including Rod Gragg and Chris Fonvielle. Pat McCory, Governor of North Carolina, spoke at the monument at Battlefield Acre shortly after 11:00 am on Saturday, followed by Ed Bearss. The battle portion of the reenactment started at 1:00 pm on Saturday with a shot from the Fort's 32-pounder. Saturday evening concluded with a lantern tour. Estimated visitor count on Saturday was placed at 12,500 folks.

Late Saturday night and into early Sunday morning, the rains blew through the area. Despite the sogginess, there were still throngs of visitors at the site. The reenactment scheduled to begin at 10:00 am was pushed back to 12:00. I spoke again at 1:30, and about 3:30, we started back toward the mountains.

As I mentioned before, it was good to see the reenactors and sutlers, the living history displays, listen to the lectures, and visit with the Friends of Ft. Fisher and the various Sons of Confederate Veterans camps set up. Kudos to the George Davis Camp, SCV. They had brought their notes and records, along with their North Carolina Troop books, and were helping people look up their Confederate ancestors. There was also a reunion during the weekend for people whose ancestors had originally served on the Confederate or Union side during the war at Ft. Fisher.

Overall, it was a fantastic event.

There are many other events coming up in the next three months, including reenactments in Wilmington and at Ft. Fisher, Averasboro, Bentonville, and the Bennett Place. I know I will be at Averasboro and the Bennett Place. I look forward to seeing you out and about.

Looking for NC's Civil War: Headquarters at Fort Fisher

Instead of me trying to retell the story, I'll just let the marker at Fort Fisher do that. This image was taken in July 2011.

Here stood the Headquarters of Fort Fisher. The construction of the fort began in the summer of 1862 under the direction of Colonel William Lamb Commandant, who with General W.H.C. Whiting and Major James Reilly served until the fort was captured on January 15, 1865. Each of the bombardments by the Federal fleet of December 24-25, 1864, and January 13-15, 1865, was heavier than any other naval demonstration in the history of the world. In the January attack were engaged 58 warships, which landed with attendant transports an army of about 10,000 men.

Fort Fisher protected, against Federal opposition, a large and important foreign trade in war supplies necessary to the existence of the Confederacy.

Near this point stood a flag staff of Fort Fisher which was shattered by a Federal shell on December 24, 1864. A new staff was erected and Private Christopher C. Bland, of the 36th N.C. Regiment, volunteered during the heavy bombardment to replace the flag. It was again shot down, and Bland once more climbed the staff and attached the colors.

Adventures and thoughts on a Florida cemetery

Well, as you have probably figured out, I’ve been gone for the past week. We left the Wilmington area and spent a week in Florida. I always have these grand illusions that I’ll post while I am gone, or that I will write something and post it while I am gone, but I never seem to get it done. Maybe I should just say up front that I’ll be gone….

The weekend in the greater Wilmington area was great. I spent Saturday at Fort Fisher, talking to folks and selling a few books. I even got to watch the firing of their new 32-pounder – a real treat. I spent time on the beach, and just wandering around the site. On Sunday, I spoke to the SCV Camp in Whiteville, and even got a picture of the Columbus County Confederate Monument to add to my collection. I also learned of a previous monument at Fort Fisher, one that is no longer there. Thanks, Fort Fisher staff, for that tidbit, for a super lunch, and for taking such good care of me generally!

One of the days we were in Orlando, after visiting the Orange County History Center, we drove over to the Greenwood Cemetery. I’ve been in this cemetery at least once before. There are numerous veterans of the Blue and Gray interred there – you can see a list here – including a few Tar Heels who relocated after the War.

What strikes me as interesting (ok, cemeteries are interesting), is that there are separate, post-war (in some cases, graves from the 20th century) plots for US Civil War soldiers, and CS WBTS soldiers. Yes, there are other veterans scattered across the older parts of the cemetery, and yes, there are non-Civil War soldiers buried in these sections, but I don’t think I have ever come across a cemetery with post-war sections designated for the two different groups. Have you? Chances are there are, and I’ve probably been there, but I surely cannot recall them.

Both sections are surrounded by a small (6-inch ?) wall, with an opening for an entrance. The US section has a GAR monument. The CS does not have a monument, but there is a large CS monument a few blocks away (around Lake Eola). The Confederates are marked with iron crosses. All of the US graves had flags on them. The sections are only a baseball’s throw away from each other.

So those are my adventures in the land of heart and humidity, and I look forward to your comments.