Combat· American Civil War
First Fort Fisher Attack
The bungled first attempt on the great earthwork guarding Wilmington, the Confederacy's last open port.
In late December 1864 General Benjamin Butler devised a spectacular scheme to take Fort Fisher by blowing up a powder-laden ship against its walls; the explosion did no damage, and the attack came to nothing. Marines served the guns of the bombarding fleet, but the planned landing was barely begun before Butler, judging the fort too strong, called the whole operation off and withdrew, an irresolution that cost him his command. No Marine casualties resulted, since no real assault was made. The failure was an embarrassment, but it set the stage for the second expedition three weeks later, when a far more resolute effort under Terry and Porter carried the fort. The first Fort Fisher attack is remembered chiefly as the prelude to that bloody success.
Podcast episodes on American Civil War
Record no. 430