The Wilmington Star News has been running columns taken from the newspaper dating back 100 years ago called "Back Then."
The July 15th one went back to 1909, 44 years after the fort fell to Union forces January 15, 1865.
There were still plenty of Civil War veterans around, and many who had valiantly defended the fort.
July 5, 1909, the Reverend J. A. Smith and Mr. William Mayo, 80, had spent a day at Fort Fisher trying to locate the boundaries of the battle.
Reverend Smith wrote:
"The sea face of the old fort is about gone but the land face is in a pretty good state of preservation, but this is not apparent to the visitor who is ignorant of the situation. This, owing to the fact that all of the old mounds and batteries on the land face are completely hidden from view by trees, grass, and undergrowth of all kinds....
Some of the best and bravest men of the Old North State fall at Fort Fisher and they are buried there today in the marshes forgotten and no slab to indicate hat they fell there....
We stood with our aged companion in front of Fisher's bloody gate, where my company lost 85 percent in killed and wounded....
We, the survivors of both sides, are fixed and determined to have a National Park down there.... In the present condition of the fort we would be ashamed to carry a visitor there and it would be almost an impossibility to give a stranger a clear concise idea of the position occupied by various troops that fought the battle."
An Interesting Look After the Battle. My Comments Next. --Old B-Runner
The Battle of Fort Fisher, N.C.
