The Battle of Fort Fisher, N.C.

Friday, May 6, 2011

A Fort Fisher Editorial

From the April 22nd Wilmington Star-News editorial.

The editorial was accompanied by a photo taken after the battle of a Confederate cannon with the mouth of it blown off from the bombardment. Union soldiers are standing around it.

North Carolina did not secede until May 20, 1861, way after Fort Sumter was captured. It might not have, but when Virginia seceded, the Old North State was surrounded by the new Confederacy.

Other states may have had more famous battles, but North Carolina and the port of Wilmington played a key role.

By far, the most prominent Civil War site in the Wilmington area was Fort Fisher. Today, only a tiny fraction of the once massive fort remains. During the war, it protected the eastern entrance (New Inlet) of the Cape Fear River, a favorite of the blockade-runners.

The fort held out until near the end of the war when it was captured after two massive Union attacks.

The newspaper wants Wilmington residents to make a trip out to Fort Fisher and other area Civil War sites during this Sesquicentennial Commemoration of the Civil War.

I second That Motion. --Old B-R'er

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