Ft. Fisher Failure
23-25 DECEMBER 1864
FT. FISHER FAILURE
Several factors made Wilmington, North Carolina, a valuable entry port for blockade running. Wilmington was equidistant from the main smuggling bases in Nassau and Bermuda, with good rail connections inland. Positioned 28 miles up the Cape Fear River, she was out of range of deep-water Union guns. Entrance from the Atlantic could be afforded by either of two channels, and Union patrols had difficulty covering both. In addition, the northern channel, New Inlet, was guarded by the 75 guns of the massive earthen-walled Fort Fisher. Wilmington had been transformed by blockade running. As the rest of the South crumbled toward the end of the war, the steady supply of life’s finery and the affluence of a high profit industry were a cultural boon to the Cape Fear region. As well, success attracted the undesirable speculators, gamblers, and riff-raff. Both Lee and Grant appreciated what Wilmington represented to the South’s war effort. Thus, in late 1864, the capture of Wilmington became a priority for the new commander of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, RADM David Dixon Porter.
Porter’s first obstacle, Fort Fisher, was probably the Confederacy’s most impregnable fortification. Located athwart a narrow spit of land running due south into the mouth of the Cape Fear River, laborers had worked unheeded for four years to perfect the works and extensive bombproofs. The saw-toothed palisade was formidable, but in particular, the loose, sandy earth of the walls and floors swallowed cannonballs without damage. Porter’s 55-ship Union Navy flotilla, the largest ever assembled to that day, arrived off Ft. Fisher on December 20th.
Porter’s first attempt on the 23rd was a bombship. The sidewheel steamer LOUISIANA was laden with 350 tons of gunpowder and towed near the fort. Her detonation that evening was impressive, but alas, ineffective. Porter then rained upon Ft. Fisher an intensive two-day bombardment, at times reaching a rate of fire of 115 rounds per minute. Assigned to Porter were 6500 Union Army troops under the dubiously capable MGEN Benjamin F. Butler, who had previously bungled an attack on Richmond. On Christmas Day, 3000 of Butler’s troops were landed north of the fort for an assault. But these troops were surprised to observe that Ft. Fisher had withstood two days of intensive bombardment with little visible damage. Confederate commander COL William Lamb had lost fewer men than had been claimed by accidental explosions on the attacking Union ships! He was able to man the palisade in force against the assault, pinning down Butler’s men through the day. Unable to land more troops because of souring weather, Butler reembarked the stranded landing force. Porter was furious, but his ships had exhausted their ammunition in the pre-Christmas bombardment, and he was forced to re-group.
Continued 15 JAN 2025…
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Fowler, William M., Jr. Under Two Flags: The American Navy in the Civil War. New York, NY: Avon Books, 1990, pp. 263, 266-72.
Gragg, Rod. Confederate Goliath: The Battle of Fort Fisher. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State Univ. Press, 1991.
Page, Dave. Ships Versus Shore: Civil War Engagements along Southern Shores and Rivers. Nashville, TN: Rutledge Hill Press, 1994, pp. 82-102.
Reed, Michael and John T. Kuehn. “Triumph of Civil War ‘Jointness.'” Naval History, Vol 27 (6), December 2013, pp. 32-39.
Robinson, Charles M. Hurricane of Fire: The Union Assault on Fort Fisher. Annapolis, MD: USNI Press, 1998.
Site visit, Fort Fisher State Park, Kure City, North Carolina, 8 December 2001.
