Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1871-09-01
From the Atlantic Monthly.
The Capture
FORT F IS H Z Z.
FIRST EXPED;TIO~,

The following are statements made 10y q
len. Whiting. the rebel commander OF the d
ort. lust previous 10 bis death, IN leply 10 t
series OF questions framed by Gen. but- J
er and bearing upou the subject OF the t
strength and reinforcement of tie garrison I
Of Fort Fisher, and likewise upon the Ell i
feet of the bomba rdment. 1t Ia fact tDat
these answers were not gl7eu under oath I.
still they were made by man IN the sol
emnity of bis Eppros ching death and
therefore will carry the force OF moral
truth and certainty. although not III me
form Of judicial evidence. =
Five (5l companies Of tn, 3G.h regi- !
mept Moth Carolina trooFe, aud dams
L. gbt Battery, amounting 20 six hundred
aud sixtv-seyen (667) aggf-gste was the !
lumber Of the garrison at Fort Fisher Oh |
the Is b. 18th aud 18Th OF December ssst. |
"On the 23d enc hundred end ten men. I
veteran artillery of he 10th resimeuS !
North Carolina troops, Fifty sal o1s of the |
7th battalion Junior Reserves, about two
hundred Gnd fifty strong. were thrown IN
to the fort.
"Ouestion Is Please state whether any
part, and if So, how much of tie damage
done to the fort by the fire of the navy was
repaired during TIE nigh,
ANSWER Casualties first day killed,
none wounded, one a. mortally, three
| t0l severely, khuu hIuCNOOA VIZ S''S ''''%'
! %. Five gun carriages disabled.
! "Second day killed, three 81; wound
ed, nine 10y MORALLY, six (6) severely, and
twenty ght (28) slightly; total, As, Dam
age but very slight; one ~ 10 inch, two (2l
! 81 FOUNDER, and one ~ 8 inch carriages
disabled, and one ~ 10inca gun disabled
Damage repaired at night. Eoemy's lire
formidable and sustained, bnt dlfuse M
concentrated. Apparent design CT the
fleet to silence the channel batteries, IN
order tc force an entrance with bis vessels,
and not to attack by land.
The garrison was in no lrstauco dr.
ven from it's guns, and fired IN return, &c
cordipe to orders, slowly and delibe rately,
six hundred and sixty-two shot and shells.
}. "Question IA. By reason OF the cessa-
ton of the bombardment ut night, were
Won not able to rest and recruit your gar
rison
"Answer. We were able to do both.
"Ouestion Is. at the time of the laGd-
. ing. where was tho supporting force, II
any, to the fort
"Auswer. Assembling atasugar Leaf as
> fast as Hoke's people arrived.
"Ouestion IT, At the time cur k'rmlth
! line was dep.oyed before the for;. what was
the condition of the guns a11 detences
\ upon the land side as to efficiency fox
!, defensive purpose ?"
l "Arsger. The guns and defencea on the
D land front were 10 perfect order at the
q time referred to, except two ~ disabled
guns on the left ; niuetetn guns 10 posi-
tioa palisade in perfect order and the
g mines the same, the wires not having neef
y cut
IS "Ouestion Is. In view Of the coIdilioi
-, of the fort and its garrison, would Il have
been possible with either tbrSe Isl CT ST.
l. (6l Thousand men TO have taken the wufs
by assault (NorE.-ln answering th''
Ie question, please give as many OF tie d.
4 tails for the reason you may give a. poSst
,e blee,) po.,,, pxoh,h,a -
= The work was very strong, the garrison II
te good spirits and ready and the fire o.
the approaches (the assaulting column hay
ing no covert would have been cxtrsordlu
y arily heavy. In addition to the heav
- guns, | had battery Of NapoleoLs, o
ne which placed great reliance. Ihe pal
T. SADIE alone would have been a most form
= dable obstacle" (3ee pages ~ aud V, IL
40 port Committee on the Conduct OF tn
ne War;
Alter General Curtiss brigade la
K marched down the beach and Peun, PACK
=. er's had been partially landed, GeLer
"a Butler, on board Of the Chamberlain, ra
es down to a point about five hundred var,
is from Fort Fisher and near tue pos IL
ri occupied by the monitors. Here he Dl
10
thoughs il impC> sible to make successf
90 assault upon the fcrt. General But!er g
he convinced, by reason OF the State Of Il
h. weather, that tae fort should bo immec
:, ateIy attacked or that the small portion
'oo the troops landed should be wltbdra"
ell He then ordered Colonel COmstCck, W
EN- was on board with him, to J11p 1uto
boat with General Weitzel, pull astol
and examine with General We!izel AID ]
l. port to him if an assault is pos lh'e. :"
me-" he said, cit does not look poSBlb
but am unwilling 10 give il up.
! At the same tima General Graham
. porte d to General BuEIer "General, y
ine have got either to prJvide for hose 400
9ih tonight on shore some Way, or get tht
ing off; because it is getting so rough that
! cannot land much longer General Bt
=, Ter saws: ''deneral Graham has been
'ne naval officer, but Is now in the service
eat the army and commanding the ma
ack brigade. Consider few moments. {
inc termined the cuutse of action that sho'
80 govern me. storm was coming on;
surf was rolling in; the barometer
tai fallen half an inch. If we got the men
lat shore, it might be, aud probably wo'
, of be, week before We could send an ooi
in Of provisions to them. La the mean I'll
10. a deserter from the CID North Carroll
Dad whom / captured once before at Halter
the in the early part of the war, having
,ur. ceived good treatment. came in: He 9
of that they had marched down from r
hem mond, and that Kirklands brigade Il
.un- another brigade were already down the
low and that Hoke was on his way with Ia
reinforcements and had arrived at v
hole mington the night before. 1 then mi
HAT up my mind what to do in view Of
90 fact taat a storm was coming On, and i
,me becau necessary to effect landing az
our we could do it any day in two hours wi
me. out the loss of man. I thought
the great deal better to risk that than to I
ntly the attempt to get the men on shore
{ OF intrench them"
q an General Butler then adds, that 81 8
cuss to him admiral Porter) and asked "
on could be done. He sent me word that
had not an hours ammunition, and t
and he must go to Beaufort to replenish
ards ships" (See pages %, "a, and 20.
as a port Of Committee on conduct OF
the War;
Their The Maior-General command
,ay- having maturely considered all the {