Last year, the good folks at HMdb (Historical Marker Database, a great place to check out if you are of the historical bent. They focus on those "History on a Sticks", that most of us don't slow down to read). checked out a marker at Fort Anderson, North Carolina, on the banks of the Cape Fear River.
It was constructed between 1861 and 1863 under the direction of Col. William Lamb and Maj. John Hedrick, who also were involved with Fort Fisher. It was one of several Confederate strongholds built to protect Wilmington, a major blockade-running port (hey, my kind of place).
They enlarged the existing Fort St. Phillip (named for the ruins of the St. Phillip Anglican Church 9the site was also where the colonial town of Brunswick was located until it was abandoned in favor of Wilmington further up the river.
They modeled it after Crimean War fortifications. In July, Lamb assumed command of Fort Fisher. After the fall of Fisher, the Union Navy and Army moved up the Cape Fear River and attacked Fort Anderson, which also fell.
Submitted March 23, 2008, by J. J. Prats of Springfield, Va..
www.hmdb.org.
Archaeological work done a few months ago revealed the existence of a lost gun platform at Fort Anderson.
Like a Mini-Fort Fisher. --Old B-R
