Along the
North Carolina coast, near
Wilmington, guarding the port longest open to blockade-runners, lay these far-flung earthworks.
Heavy timbers were heaped fifteen to twenty-five feet thick with sand, sodded with luxuriant marsh-grass.
Below appears some of the destruction wrought by the fire of the
Federal war-ships.
Here are the emplacements next to the angle of the work on the left of the sea face, and a bomb-proof under the traverse.
The first gun on the right is a 10-inch Columbiad dismounted by the assailants' fire.
Only the old-style two-wheeled wooden carriage, without chassis, can be seen, at the top of the bank — ready to tumble over.
The next gun is also a 10-inch Columbiad which has been knocked off its wooden barbette carriage; the third, a 63/8-inch rifle, on a two-wheeled wooden carriage.
The carriage has been knocked entirely off the bank, and is lying in the pool of water.
The only gun left mounted is the 10-inch Columbiad to the left.
The Fort finally succumbed to the terrific fire of the Federal fleet on January 15, 1865.
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Sea face of Fort Fisher--mightiest fortress of the Southern Confederacy |
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Behind the ramparts of Fort Fisher--havoc from Federal shells |
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