Jan., 1865. |
This text is part of:
Table of Contents:
[489]
of the fort to the river (see sketch on page 488), and captured a number of prisoners.
The brigade broke through the palisades and joined Curtis.
At the same time Bell's brigade had been sent forward to occupy the space between that end of the fort and the river; and Terry sent for Abbott's brigade to move down from the north line, while Reese led the sailors and marines up to occupy that position.
He also ordered General Paine to send down one of his best regiments, when the Twenty-seventh, negro troops, Brevet Brigadier-General A. M. Blackman, was forwarded.
These arrived when the heaviest of the work was done.
It had been performed by the troops already there, who fought hand to hand with the garrison, while the fleet kept up its fire further to the southward, to prevent re-enforcements reaching the fort from Mound Battery, or Battery Buchanan.
The Confederates used the huge traverses of the land front for breast-works, and over the tops of these the combatants fired in each other's faces.
The struggle was desperate.
The Confederates were steadily pushed back, until, at dusk, they had lost nine of these traverses.
At that time Blackman reported to Ames.
His troops were kept under fire for awhile, when they were withdrawn.
At six o'clock Abbott entered the fort with his little brigade, and at nine o'clock, when two more traverses had been carried by the Nationals, the contest ceased.
Abbott's brigade drove the garrison from its last stronghold, and the occupation of the work was complete.
The Confederates fled toward Battery Buchanan, hotly pursued by Abbott, accompanied by Blackman's regiment; and then the whole of the garrison not already in the hands of Terry, were captured, including Colonel Lamb, the commander of the fort, and General Whiting, who was mortally wounded.
The fall of Fort Fisher rendered all the other works at the mouth of the Cape Fear River untenable, and during the nights of the 16th and 17th,
the Confederates blew up Fort Caswell, on the right an, bank of the river.
They also abandoned Battery Holmes, on Smith's Island, and their extensive works at Smithville and Reeves's Point, and fled toward Wilmington.
The triumph of the army and navy was now complete.1
1 The National loss in the attack was 681 men, of whom 88 were killed, 501 wounded, and 92 missing. Among the wounded was acting Brigadier-General Bell, mortally, and Generals Curtis and Pennybacker, severely. On the morning after the victory, while the exultant soldiers and sailors were swarming into the fort, its principal magazine, deep in the earth, at the center of the parade, was (it is supposed) accidentally exploded. Two hundred men were killed, and one hundred more wounded. The fleet lost about 300 men during the action and by the explosion in the fort. It expended in the bombardment about 50,000 shells. During the seven hours bombardment on the 25th of December, about 18,000 shells were used. The loss of the Confederates was never reported. General Terry captured 2,083 prisoners, and in all the works he found 169 pieces of artillery, nearly all of which were heavy, over 2,000 stand of small-arms, and considerable quantities of ammunition and commissary stores. In all the forts at the mouth of the Cape Fear, were found Armstrong guns (see page 432), bearing the broad arrow of the British Government, and the name of Sir William Armstrong, the patentee, in full. As the British Government claimed the exclusive use of the Armstrong gun, and none could be sold without its consent, these seemed to form prima facie evidence of aid being furnished to the insurgents directly from that Government.
The capture of Fort Fisher, accomplished by the combined operations of the army and navy, gave the liveliest satisfaction to the loyal people, for it seemed like a sure prophecy of peace nigh at hand. Admiral Porter said an electrograph was picked up there from General Lee to Colonel Lamb, in which he said, “that if Forts Fisher and Caswell were not held he would have to evacuate Richmond.” All the participants in the conquest were regarded with gratitude, and honored everywhere. When the Ticonderoga, Captain C. Steed-man, and the Shenandoah, Captain D. B. Ridgley, of Porter's fleet, arrived at Philadelphia, a pleasing incident, illustrative of the public feeling, occurred. Some patriotic men and women of the city had established a Soldiers' Reading Room, for the benefit of the sick and wounded defenders of the Union who might be detained there. It was opened in October, 1862, with a dining-room attached, where a comfortable meal was furnished for the small sum of five cents to those who could pay, and gratuitously to those who could not. It was supported entirely by the contributions of the citizens of Philadelphia, and at the end of the first year it had a library of nearly 2,000 bound volumes. The establishment was under the general supervision of a Board of Managers, of which Dr. F. W. Lewis was President, and William P. Cresson was Secretary, but its immediate management was intrusted to the care of Miss McHenry, a lady made well and widely known by her acts of benevolence and patriotism. When the vessels above named arrived, the officers and crews of both were invited to dine at the Soldiers' Reading Room. They accepted the invitation. An elegantly arranged and sumptuous dinner was prepared, and a military band was in attendance. Charles J. Still welcomed the guests. After dinner, one of the seamen of the Shenandoah presented to the ladies two flags, one of which was shot from the mast-head of his ship during the bombardment of Fort Fisher. The eloquent Daniel Dougherty addressed the company. Altogether it was a memorable affair. This was the only public entertainment given to the men of the navy during the war.
Scanned printed text.
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.
An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.