You have a commanding view for miles. On the other side, we have the ocean and over here we have everythingstery of came intoil the earth play. We can see ships moving back and forth. Runnersven see blockade that are too close to fort fisher so we can actually protect. Rom here, men can stand on top and where these trees are now, they have been clearcut for half a mile. You can see the United States Army Soldiers massing to get ready for your attack that would actually come in here. From this vantage point, you have to understand how attractive psychologically this fort actually was. Largest earthwork fortification in the confederacy in the american civil war. It started in 1861. Never truly completed the union forces launched an captureus operation to fort fisher. We have what remains of the fortification, only about 10 from this fort, a mile and a half long, and had 44 differing cannons and was fairly impressive to the point that it was almost psychologically as tough to think about attacking it as it was attacking it. Amphibiouse largest operation undertaken by the United States. The United States had never undertaken any kind of operation of this nature. Important foris our military to understand how did this come off . How did we capture a fixed fortified position . This river could control trade and was a major port. So, this was incredibly important for the confederacy. During the war of 1812, there was a battery here. But nothing was truly built in april south seceded 1861. They came down here and started building fort fisher. They built supplies for confederate forces, whether they be civilian or military. This was the primary fort for most blockade runners for confederate goods. When they got into wilmington they could offer to trains and they could get into richmond. As the ships approached the , they werearea posted all across the river. Johnston, fort anderson, which is three miles upriver. You had a number of batteries that were all over the area. That was all meant to try to keep the union fleet from sailing up the Cape Fear River like they had done at new orleans where they ran into the mouth of everything. When fort fisher was first , therected or started was not a lot of organization to this. They had not thought about the basis of the fortification. It started as a series of five gun placements. They were not interconnected. They were not interlocking. They were all in strategic areas in this new inlet. July 4, 1862, a new commander came to the fort. What he decided to do was take the series of batteries and connects them through to make one strong bastion that would become fort fisher. They took what was already enoughg and major yet soldiers. If they were not working the guns are learning to be a soldier, their job was to toerally shoveled the sand build the fort that is behind me. That fortification would be about 25 feet tall. Another 10 feet on top of that. So, literally, this was supposed to be something that was impregnable. The structure of the fort was interesting. He would normally think you shapedave a pentagon fort. Capital shaped like a letter l. Stretched three quarters of a mile, had multiple cannons, and could be garrisoned easily. They had a fortification on it as well. That was so anything from the north could be stopped and they could retreat, which is what happened in the summer of 1864. Builders of the four were mainly confederate soldiers who were garrisoned here. This was not the best garrison life. For the soldiers, they all came from the area, from counties in the area. Virginia. From they lived in this area. This was onethis was one of thes they could ever go. That was a major problem. They actually called this the kingdom of mosquitoes because it was so bad for People Living here. These men who were here literally trained every single day. Was itthe major problems was chronically understaffed. There were not enough soldiers to man this fortification. Life here was pretty easy. There were times when some of the soldiers would go over the fence and go back home, especially during the fall, to bring in the harvest. Harm,ould come back, no no foul. That was until 1864 when rumors were starting to build up there would be an attack in this area. They literally started clamping down on people going awol. If fort fisher fell, this was the keystone of the defense on the Cape Fear River. You would actually pull a ship into the harbor most times. They did not have boats that were me that were meant for these beaches. You had to jump over the size of these boats. In 1864the soldiers were going to be pumped over water. E the waves would throw these boats over. It would throw their equipment out into the ocean. And then they promptly would have to try everything else. Imagine these muskets being used. There are single shots. Is of your ammunition completely flat. Your gun is going to be worthless. This was a major undertaking. When they got to the fort, they ablezed they would not be to be attacked and captured with the forces at hand. The order to with draw was given. The soldiers were sent back to virginia. It was a major blow for grants and for lincoln. They realized that to stop the war, wilmington had to be captured, and lincoln told grant he was going to have to capture fort fisher because they would not allow another failure at fort fisher. Inew commander was chosen january 1865. There was a three day bombardment, the Largest Naval bombardment. They launched a twopronged attack because the navy does not want to be left out of the honor of capturing fort fisher. They landed personnel actually on the beach. For the army, they had a down,gy to let the army but not only that, to actually start targeting specific locations. What they do is they put up the defense wall so when the army is ready to attack, the gentleman runs through the bridge and they go through the swap, through the holes. Forces and about 300 federal troops. These are all from local areas. Id never seen one fired in anger. At the river road sally fort. This was the main entrance to fort fisher. Alone can an was long here. Sweep any force that would have than in front of the fortification. You have a command of anything trying to move. For the gunners that were here, it worked out great until you had sharpshooters. Union forces were able to push the gun out of the way. This was the main focal point for a lot of these union forces trying to push into this fortification. With the difficulty coming to the gate, they came up on poor sides of the fort as well. Fort, this would have been the first battery. This wouldve been a 32 pound rifle cannon. Had an eight inch on this side. You had two cannons in this location. This gun is a reproduction. We do fire this gun for programs a lot. Ballve a 32 pound iron with a two mile maximum range. We do cut the powder charge in half. It is still loud enough that people many miles away can actually hear it going off. They literally started gathering at the fort as these men were in here trying to work these guns site, men would start appearing at the front coming over the top. Literally for the defenders in this area, they would be surrounded by union troops going to handtohand combat inside this traverse. Attack, theecember union navy we shooting at every single building they could find, or flag pole. The garrison lost every building that was here. After the navy and army retreated, they were left defined tense to live in. This is not one of the best places to live. The men started living inside the bomb proofs. Were 10 feet wide and 15 feet long and five feet tall. Inside, there would be all the black powder and all the material needed for guns that were up on top of the fort. Themen were living among ammunition and black powder. It was cramped in there. In january, during the bombardment that took place prior to the attack happening, they lived inside these bomb proofs. They only came out it night when the shelling had stopped to repair the fort. With the attack on fort issue from these union troops, the fort balls in 1865. There will be 72 medal of honor recipients, either in december or january. They are seeing the worst moneyng for can have the have been the crater. They actually felt this was worse than being at the crater. For these men, they wore their action as a badge of honor. It would be like meeting someone today who landed at omaha be in norm beach in normandy. This was a place of honor. This was something that people would hold in high esteem. In United States history, the morethree battles with medal of honor winners. His is a very Hallowed Ground onare back at a symposium abraham lincoln. Up next is a discussion on how lincoln is viewed by contemporary americans. This is live on cspan3
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