Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1871-08-25
From the Atlantic MONTH";
THE CAPTURE OF FORT
FISHER.
FIRST EXPEDITION


The capture of Fort Fisher was one of
the most brilliant naval end militia.
achievements of the war. This formidotir
earthwork was situated on Federal Point
N. g., In the department ~ Virginia oni
North Carolina, and was built more ny
ticularly to guard the entrance of Nav
let, while Fort Caswell served the so,a ~,
purpose in respect to the West Inlet. '1i-i0
This department. was under the cor,
mand of Major-General Benjamin e Pm
Ter.
There were other extensive fortiico4;,.
on Smiths Island and on the banks of tLo
Cape Fear River. Although LARGE on3
expensive blockading feet was kept Con
tinually opposite these inle.s, still. on ~
count Of the peculiar formation of tLa
mouth of Cape Fear River and the effact
of 0torms, it was next to an impossihiI;tn
on the one hand to prevent the exno,ta,
lion of cotton and other products Of tha
South, and. on the other, entirely to eTl
clude foreign supplies and munitions of
war from the port of Wilmington. The
necessity OF putting an end to this illicit
commerce with the rebels, by the cantnrs
of these defences of Wilmington, had iong
been urged upon the government.
But there were also other great object
to be accomplished. General Sherman
was rapidly approaching Savannah, and it
was believed that after taking that CITY he
would march to Goldsboro, N. c. +
therefore became important that the gov.
eminent should have possession of Viii
mington, 60 that supplies might be sent
up the Cape Fear River.
| The reduction of these defences could
not be accomplished by the navy, and
ton it could not be effected or even
wisely attempted" In the fall of 1861
the War and Navy Departments agreed
to organize joint movement which would
insure success The Secretary of the Navy
said In his report, in relation to the naval
branch Of the expedition, that to place
that force under the command of the first
officer in the navy was duty. ViceAl-
miral Farragut was therefore selected to
conduct the enterprise, but impaired
health, the result of exposure and unre-
mitted exertions during two years of active
labor and unceasing efforts IN the Gulf,
rendered it imprudent for that distin-
guished and energetic officer to enter upon
this SERVICE" Admiral Farragut having
declined to serve for the reasons above
stated. on the 221 day of September, 1864,
the Secretary of the Navy detached Rear
Admiral d. D. Porter, from the command
of the Mississippi Squadron, and ordered
him to proceed to Beaufort, N. O., and re.
I10V0 6CI1UB Lee, III
command of the North Atlantic Blockading
Squadron.
Fort Fisher having been the objective
point Of the two expeditions. it may not
be inappropriate TO add brief description
of it.
Fort Fisher is situated on the PENN
sula between the Cape Fear river and tie
Atlantic Ocean, about a mile and half
northeast of Federal Point. For five uiies
north of Federal Point this peninsula is
sandy and low, not rising more than fifteen
feet above high tide, the interior abound
ing in fresh water sTamIs often wood ID
and almost impossible, while much dry
land, till one gets within half mile of
Fort Fisher, is covered with wood or low
underground, except strip about three
hundred yards wide along the sea shore.
"Fort Fisher consists of two fronts
the first, or land front, running across
the peninsula at this point, seven hun
dred yards wide, is four hundred
AMI eighty yards in length; while the sec
ond, or sea front, runs from the right of
the fist parallel 10 the boa h to the Mound
Battery, distance of thirteen hundred
yards. The land front is intended to re-
sist any attack from the north, the sea
front to prevent any of our naval vessels
from running through New Inlet, or land.
ing troops on Federal Point.
81. Land Front.-This Front consists
of a half-bastion on the left, or Cape Fear
River side, como led by a curtain with "a
bastion on the ocean side. The parapet
is twenty-five feet thick, averages twenty
feet in height, with traverses rising ten
feet above it and running back on their
tops, which were from eight to twelve feet
in thickness, to a distance of from thirty
to forty feet from the interior crest. The
traversss on the left half bastion were
about twenty-five feet in length on the
TOP.
''The earth for this heavy parapet, and
the enormous traverses at their inner ends,
more than thirty feet in height, was OBJ
tanned partly from shallow exterior ditch,
but mainly from the interior of the work.
Between each pair of traverses there was
one or two guns. The traverses on the
right of this front were only partially COM
pleted. palisade, which is loop holed
and has banquette, runs in front of this
face at distance of about fifty feet III
front of the foot of the exterior slope from
the Cape Fear River to the ocean, with a
position for gun between the left of the
front and the river, and another between
the right of the front and the OCEAN
Through the middle traverse on the cur
tain was bomb proof postern, whose ex
terror opening was covered by small re-
PANNSOb
along the curtain. The traverses were
generally bomb-proofed, for men or maya
zines. The slopes of the work appear to
have been reverted with marsh sod, or
covered with grass, and to have had an in
clination of forty five degrees, or little
less. There was formid-
able system CT torpedoes two
hundred yards in advance of this front,
the torpedoes being about eighty feet
apart and each containing about one hun
dred pounds of powder. They were con-
nected with the fort by three sets Of
wires.
$50. Sea Front.-This front consists of
a series OF batteries, mounting in all TWEEN
ty- four guns, the different batteries being
connected by a strong infantry parapet, SO
as to form a continuous line. The same
system Of heavy traVerses for the protec-
ton of the guns, is used as on the land
front, and these traverses are also gener-
ally bomb-proofed. 1t may be added that.
in the thirty bomb proof magazines and
the passages, there we're fourteen thousand
five hundred feet of floor space, not inclu-
ding the main magazine. which was ex-
ploded and whose dimensions are un.