Fort Fisher was the "last gibraltar" of the confederacy.
after the fall of just about every single southern port, Wilmington was still open to blockade runners, because of fort wilmington and its defense of the mouth of the cape fear river. the fort was captured in january 1865 after a failed attempt on christmas eve, 1864... unlike most forts, Fort Fisher was built of masonry walls that created a completely walled off interior. instead, Fort Fisher was a giant L. since fort fisher was situated on a peninsula, there was no need for walls on the other sides since th
ey were rotected by other forts in the cape fear estuary as well as the water.
another difference between fort fisher and most other forts was that it was constructed of sand. sand doesn't crumble when hit with large caliber munitions. fort sumter and fort pulaski's thick masonry walls were rapidly reduced by civil war era rifled artillery. fort fisher's sand construction protected thousands of yards of bombproof shelters beneath the san
d. during the 3 day bombardment no troops in the bombproofs were killed, however 90% of the forts artillery was destroyed. the yankee attack was two pronged, the army advanced upon the landward side to attack the fort. they had to deal with the palisade and a marsh as they all moved towards the parapets pictured to the right. as the yankee army advanced on the landward side, 1800 sailors and marines from the blockading fleet attacked from the seaward side. the sailors were heavily armed... in that they had a cutlass and revolver each. their attack was beaten back with heavy losses... however, the confederates were distracted by the sailors assault, and
the yankee army was busy assaulting the parapets. 9,000 federal troops assaulted parapets held by 300 confederates. the other 1500 were defending other parts of the line. particularly the seaward side being attacked by the sailors. over 1300 yankees and almost 600 of the confederate garrison were killed or wounded during the battle.
today, portions of the fort have been restored, although most of it has long since reverted to its previous form. in 1867 the fort was abandoned. during world war II, the army air corps actually flattened a portion
of the fort to build a runway. you can see these cub scouts playing with a cannon in that part of the field. it was neat to go there, i caught a free guided tour of the fort. the state of north carolina has free access to their historical sites. like vicksburg, its difficult to picture these mounds of earth as fortifications. it was easier here than at vicksburg, because the fortifications have been restored more, however, it still looks like large sand bumps surrounded by sharpened sticks. maybe, adding artillery to the parapets would help. there was one artillery piece, but it was wrapped
up in plastic...
the fort is literally across the street from a very nice beach. so go to the beach, and enjoy fort fisher the next time youre in wilmington.
after the fall of just about every single southern port, Wilmington was still open to blockade runners, because of fort wilmington and its defense of the mouth of the cape fear river. the fort was captured in january 1865 after a failed attempt on christmas eve, 1864... unlike most forts, Fort Fisher was built of masonry walls that created a completely walled off interior. instead, Fort Fisher was a giant L. since fort fisher was situated on a peninsula, there was no need for walls on the other sides since th
ey were rotected by other forts in the cape fear estuary as well as the water.
another difference between fort fisher and most other forts was that it was constructed of sand. sand doesn't crumble when hit with large caliber munitions. fort sumter and fort pulaski's thick masonry walls were rapidly reduced by civil war era rifled artillery. fort fisher's sand construction protected thousands of yards of bombproof shelters beneath the san
d. during the 3 day bombardment no troops in the bombproofs were killed, however 90% of the forts artillery was destroyed. the yankee attack was two pronged, the army advanced upon the landward side to attack the fort. they had to deal with the palisade and a marsh as they all moved towards the parapets pictured to the right. as the yankee army advanced on the landward side, 1800 sailors and marines from the blockading fleet attacked from the seaward side. the sailors were heavily armed... in that they had a cutlass and revolver each. their attack was beaten back with heavy losses... however, the confederates were distracted by the sailors assault, and
the yankee army was busy assaulting the parapets. 9,000 federal troops assaulted parapets held by 300 confederates. the other 1500 were defending other parts of the line. particularly the seaward side being attacked by the sailors. over 1300 yankees and almost 600 of the confederate garrison were killed or wounded during the battle.
today, portions of the fort have been restored, although most of it has long since reverted to its previous form. in 1867 the fort was abandoned. during world war II, the army air corps actually flattened a portion
of the fort to build a runway. you can see these cub scouts playing with a cannon in that part of the field. it was neat to go there, i caught a free guided tour of the fort. the state of north carolina has free access to their historical sites. like vicksburg, its difficult to picture these mounds of earth as fortifications. it was easier here than at vicksburg, because the fortifications have been restored more, however, it still looks like large sand bumps surrounded by sharpened sticks. maybe, adding artillery to the parapets would help. there was one artillery piece, but it was wrapped 
up in plastic... 
the fort is literally across the street from a very nice beach. so go to the beach, and enjoy fort fisher the next time youre in wilmington.
