The Definitive Historical Atlas of the Battle of Fort Fisher

Posted in Articles

The two battles at Fort Fisher saw one of the largest armadas every assembled in human history. The combined fleet bombarded the fort with more 40,000 shells, a masterpiece of technological death-dealing. This is the definitive historical atlas of those American Civil War battles.

An overview of the battle area. Notice the distance from Fort Fisher to Wilmington, North Carolina (Kummer, 2012).
Fort Fisher was built in an upside down L-shape. The top of the diagram is the “landward-facing walls.” The main gate is on the top right hand near “Shepherd’s Battery.” (Kummer, 2012).
The Union blockade strangled the Southern Confederacy (Kummer, 2012).
Contemporary map of Fort Fisher and “Confederate Point” (Library of Congress).
The Second bombardment of Fort Fisher (Kummer, 2012).
Second Battle of Fort Fisher – opposing lines (Kummer, 2012).
(Kummer, 2012).
(Kummer, 2012).
(Kummer, 2012).
(Kummer, 2012).
Admiral David Dixon Porter (Library of Congress)
Benjamin Horton Porter was just one of the many Union officers who lost their lives at the Battle of Fort Fisher (Library of Congress).
(Kummer, 2012).
Major General Benjamin Butler (Kummer, 2012).
General Braxton Bragg (Library of Congress)
Union General Alfred Terry (Library of Congress).
View from the Union front line. Notice the sand, the palisade fence, and the high walls with domes. This is the “land-facing walls” (Library of Congress).
The sea-facing walls of the Fort Fisher (Library of Congress).
Another picture of the land-facing wall (Library of Congress).
The view from inside the fort, the land-facing walls (Library of Congress).
Another interior view (Library of Congress).
The scene of the federal breakthrough, notice the small main gate on the left. This is a view from the fort’s interior. Hundreds of men were killed or wounded here. (Library of Congress).

(Library of Congress).

A dismounted Confederate cannon emplacement. Notice the woodwork and sandbags. Also, the torn palisade fence (Library of Congress).
Another dismounted cannon, destroyed by Federal gunships. Notice the cannonballs stacked on the right (Library of Congress).
(Kummer, 2012).
(Kummer, 2012).
Another view from the interior of Fort Fisher (Library of Congress).
(Kummer, 2012).
View of the “Pulpit” (Library of Congress).
(Kummer, 2012).
(Kummer, 2012).
A view of the “traverse” between the breast-shaped domes along Fort Fisher’s walls (Library of Congress).
Another view of a traverse with still another dismounted cannon, knocked out by the incredible Union bombardment, one of the largest in human history (Library of Congress).
Battery Lamb (Library of Congress).
(Kummer, 2012).
(Kummer, 2012).
(Kummer, 2012).
Rare photo of the Union fleet en route to Fort Fisher (Library of Congress).
Notice the cave-like entrances to the bomb-proofs where the Confederate garrison huddled during the Federal artillery barrages (Kummer, 2012).
Attack at Fort Fisher print (Library of Congress).
Another print of the bombardment (Library of Congress).
Another painting of the bombardment (Library of Congress).

An artist’s rendering of the Union infantry assault on Fort Fisher.

(Kummer, 2012).
(Kummer, 2012).

References:

The Wilmington Campaign: Last rays of departing hope by Chris Fonvielle Jr. 

Confederate Goliath: The Battle of Fort Fisher by Rod Gragg

The last stronghold: the campaign for Fort Fisher by Richard McClaskin

Spring 1865 : the closing campaigns of the Civil War by Perry Jamieson

The Civil War in North Carolina by Barrett, John Gilchrist

The Tar Heel State: A New History of North Carolina by Milton Ready

Faces of Fort Fisher, 1861-1864 by Chris Fonvielle

Clayton, B. (2013). Applying GIS to locate the USS Louisiana: A study of the Fort Fisher Civil War Naval Battlefield. [Master’s Thesis, East Carolina University].

Ludwick, M.P. (1995). Your most obedient son: The Civil War letters of William Tell Cobb. [Master’s Thesis, The College of WIlliam and Mary].

Longacre, E.G. (1988). The army of the James, 1863-1865: A military, political, and social

history. (Volumes I – IV) [Doctoral Dissertation, Temple University].

Washington, V.F. (1995). Eagles on their buttons: The Fifth Regiment of Infantry, United States Colored Troops in the American Civil War. [Doctoral Dissertation, Ohio State University].

McAllister, R.M. (1968). The amphibious Battles of Fort Fisher, North Carolina, December, 1864 – January, 1865; Showing the role of conflicting personalities and the chaos inevitable in the waging of war. [Master’s Thesis, University of Southern California].

Megelsh, M. (2015). A Mainer from Rockland: Adelbert Ames in the Civil War. [Master’s Thesis, Liberty University]. 

Henry C. Lockewood “The Capture of Fort Fisher,” The Maine Bugle, (January 1894).

Capture of Fort Fisher by Adelbert Ames

Jean Vial Pays des lions fidèles.

Anonymous. Assault on Fort Fisher. On Point Magazine, Spring 2010, Vol. 15, No. 4 , p. 48.

Black Troops in the Army of the James, 1863-65 by Edward G. Longacre.  Military Affairs, Vol. 45, No. 1 (Feb., 1981), pp. 1-8.

Butler’s Folly: The First Battle of Fort Fisher, December 1864 by Taylor Hess. On Point, Vol. 16, No. 4 (Spring 2011), pp. 6-13.

Lamb, W. (1893). The defender of Fisher; Col. Lamb’s address in Wilmington, N.C.. 

Fleet against Fort by: John Hayes. Ordnance, Vol. 45, No. 243 (NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 1960), pp. 357-360.

Fort Fisher: Amphibious Victory in the American Civil War by: Gary J. Ohls. Naval War College Review, Vol. 59, No. 4 (Autumn 2006), pp. 81-99.

Fort Fisher (1865) by A.G. Lawrence. 

Hurricane of Fire: The Union Assault on Fort Fisher by Charles Robinson

Rebel Gibraltar: Fort Fisher and Wilmington, C.S.A. by James Walker

Running the blockade. A personal narrative of adventures, risks and escapes during the American civil war by Thomas E. Taylor (1896).

Shock and Assault in the First Battle of Fort Fisher by Charles L. Price and Claude C. Sturgill. The North Carolina Historical Review, Vol. 47, No. 1 (January, 1970), pp. 24-39.

Wightman, S.K. In search of my son. American Heritage Magazine. Vol. 14, No. 2 (February 1963). 

Turner, H.M. “Rocked in the cradle of consternation. American Heritage Magazine. Vol. 31, No. 6. (October/November 1980). 

“Welcome Brothers!” The 1865 Union Prisoners of War Exchange in North Carolina by Chris Fonvielle Jr. The North Carolina Historical Review, Vol. 92, No. 3 (JULY 2015), pp. 278-311.

Incidents and Anecdotes of the Civil War by Admiral David Dixon Porter. 

A Sailor’s Log: Recollections Of Forty Years Of Naval Life by Robley Evans

History of the 117th New York by J.A. Mowris. 

The autobiography of Admiral Dewey by George Dewey. 

Fonvielle, C.E. Jr. (1994). “The last rays of departing hope”: The battles of Fort Fisher,

the fall of Wilmington, North Carolina, and the end of the Confederacy. [Doctoral Dissertation, University of South Carolina].

Fort Fisher, December 1864-January 1865 by David W. Kummer, (2012).

The Fall of Fort Fisher: Contested Memories of the Civil War by Warren Ellem.The North Carolina Historical Review, Vol. 79, No. 2 (APRIL 2002), pp. 198-233. 

Merrill, J.M. The Fort Fisher and Wilmington Campaign: Letters from Rear Admiral David D Porter. The North Carolina Historical Review, Vol. 35, No. 4 (OCTOBER 1958), pp. 461-475.

Ryan, J.T. (1997). On Land and Sea:The United States Marine Corps in The Civil War. [Doctoral Dissertation, Temple University]. 

Thompson, B. and Owsley, F.L. Jr. The War Journal of Midshipman Cary. Civil War History, Vol. 9, No. 2, June 1963, pp. 187-202.

Helsley, A.J.  Vox Populi and the Fall of Fort Fisher. The South Carolina Historical Magazine,  Vol. 96, No. 1 (Jan., 1995), pp. 71-73. 

Wood, R.E. (1976). Port town at war: Wilmington, North Carolina 1860-1865. [Doctoral Dissertation, Florida State University].

Hoole, S.W. (1956). Vizitelley covers the Confederacy. 

Freeman, D.S. (1936). R. E. Lee: A Biography 

Unknown's avatar

Published by battlecastnet

3 thoughts on “The Definitive Historical Atlas of the Battle of Fort Fisher”

  1. Pingback: Civil War D-Day: The Battle of Fort Fisher /// 81
  2. Pingback: A Military History of the Battle of Fort Fisher /// 82
  3. Pingback: To the Last Man: The Second Battle of Fort Fisher /// 83

Leave a comment