Fort Fisher, North Carolina
December 1864, three and a half years of war
have ravaged
and murdered the youth of nineteenth century America. Women widowed,
children
orphaned, and family bloodlines severed for all of eternity as the
American
Civil War continued to destroy the fragile lands of the Confederate
south.
The Confederate Army has courageously fought the Federal
juggernaut,
trying desperately to stem the tide of defeat looming over their once
promising
dreams of independence. Out manned and out gunned by the industrious
north,
their only means of supply was via seafaring trade with England and
Europe.
The Federal blockade of the southern ports was exacting its intended
stranglehold,
depriving the south of weapons, gold, and medicine. Blockade runners,
ships
outfitted for speed to outrun the federal navy, has but one port left
open
in which to take to sea for the mercy trade missions; Wilmington, North
Carolina. The stronghold keeping this port alive was Fort Fisher.
South of Wilmington, is a peninsula of land between the
Cape
Fear River and the Atlantic Ocean. At the point of this peninsula is
Fort
Fisher. Contemporary in its design, it was the only Confederate battery
left to defend the only open port of the Confederacy. Constructed from
mounds of earth and wood, this odd design was able to absorb the
concussion
from the explosive shells anticipated from the Federal navy.
On December 7, 1864, the Federal navy under Adm. David
D.
Porter began a bombardment of the fort for twenty days. Last minute
Confederate
reinforcements under Maj. Gen. Robert Hoke discouraged hopes for a
Union
assault.
The resolve of the Federal forces were
proven
when they began their second expedition against the fort on January 13,
1865. For two days the navy pounded the earthen fort while infantry
prepared
the ground attack.. Low on food and ammunition, the Confederates fought
valiantly, but surrendered on the 15th.
Very little of the fort remains today. Time and
the
elements have been unforgiving to this landmark. One can still walk
along
the inside of the walls, which resemble little more than large dirt
mounds.
If you stand upon the parapets during low tide, under the right
conditions,
you can still see the skeletons of the blockade runners; in eternal
slumber
beneath the waves.
It is said that on certain evenings, the ghostly
apparition
of a Confederate officer can be seen looking over the parapets toward
the
sea. Some claim him to be the ghost of Gen. William Whiting, commander
of the fort, who was wounded during the attack and later died in a
Union
prison camp. Visitors have claimed to hear footsteps along the wooden
walkway
inside the walls when the fort is vacant of other tourists.
Although the legends are abundant, the fact remains that
two
thousand men lost their lives while trying to take and defend the fort.
If ever in the area of Wilmington, North Carolina, a visit to this
eerie
landmark will touch one’s soul as this little area of land reverberates
with the emotions of a generation of hopes.
by phil@theshadowlands.net
|