As anyone with any semblance of familiarity with the Civil War readily knows, the surrender of General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia did not occur until Palm Sunday, April 9, 1865, at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, and that General Johnston’s surrender to Sherman at Bennett Farm in Durham followed quickly on the April 26.
However, it can be argued that the true “fall” of the Confederacy actually happened exactly12 weeks prior to Appomattox - on January 15, 1865, to be precise, the date of the official surrender of Fort Fisher at the mouth of North Carolina’s Cape Fear River.
General Lee himself is noted to have said that the loss of Fort Fisher would inevitably result in the end of the war. The strategic importance of Wilmington, the final deepwater port open to the Confederacy and, with its railroad connections, the “Lifeline of the Confederacy,” was not lost on the military leaders. It was obvious that the loss of Wilmington would in turn sound the death knell of Lee’s and ultimately all other Southern armies in the field.
After a failed attempt to take the fort on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day of 1864, Federal forces were determined to find success in their subsequent efforts. General Grant, furious at General Benjamin Butler’s lackadaisical attempt to properly coordinate his army’s movements with the supporting naval bombardment of Admiral David Porter, replaced Butler with General Alfred H. Terry and ordered a second attack on the “Gibraltar of the South.”
The combined forces of the United States Navy (64 ships and gunboats with 2,000 sailors and marines) and Army (8,000 troops) numbered 10,000 men, well in excess of a four-to-one ratio to the less than 2,500 defenders (virtually all from North Carolina) of Fort Fisher.
A naval bombardment commenced at sunrise on Friday, January 13, with the frigate Brooklyn lobbing shells into the surrounding area north of the fort, preparing the area for the landing of soldiers. The main force of gunboats and monitor-class ironsides continued the shelling throughout the remainder of the day and night, not ceasing until 3 p.m. on Sunday the 15. At the height of the bombardment, as many as 100 shells per minute were hitting the fort.
Upon cessation of the naval artillery attack, sailors and marines landed on the beach and immediately advanced across the sand into the mouth of musket fire from the still well-defended Confederates. Roughly 200 Union sailors and marines were slaughtered in this preliminary attack on the northeast (ocean side) bastion.
Simultaneous with the beachside assault came an infantry movement against the western (river side) end of the fort. Two brigades under the command of Generals Newton Curtis and Galusha Pennypacker were able to infiltrate the defenses and advance, traverse by traverse, along the face of the fort itself, engaging the Confederates in deadly hand-to-hand combat the entire way. After approximately eight hours of bloody confrontations and over 1,500 total casualties (1,100 Union, 400 Confederate), the fort and, with its remaining 2,000 defenders, was ultimately surrendered by a wounded Colonel William Lamb, the official commander of the fort.
And just as prophesized by General Lee, an army that cannot be supplied with food, medicine or ammunition cannot long sustain itself. Fort Fisher fell on the 15 of January, followed by the surrender of Wilmington on February 22. And so, for all intents and purposes, the Civil War came to an end at Appomattox Court House, 12 weeks after the loss of Fort Fisher, just as Lee had feared.
An annual commemoration of the second Battle of Fort Fisher is held onsite on the Saturday closest to the 15 of January. Re-enactors, encampments, exhibits and lectures pertaining to life during the Civil War are made available to the public throughout the day, free of charge.
Fort Fisher is located 12 miles south of Wilmington just beyond Carolina Beach and Kure Beach.
Tax deductible donations can be made to Friends of Fort Fisher at 1610 Fort Fisher Boulevard South, Kure Beach, NC 28449. The website can be visited at www.FriendsofFortFisher.com and their e-mail address is Info@FriendsofFortFisher.com.
