Fort Fisher, N.C., Interior view of first three traverses on land face, 1865. Timothy H. O’Sullivan, photographer. Courtesy Library of Congress.
Union Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles had long recognized Wilmington, North Carolina, as the key blockade runners’ haven in the war. He had tried to create an expedition to capture Wilmington’s prime defender, Fort Fisher. Welles, in conjunction with Rear Admiral Samuel P. Lee, conceived an attack where monitors would pass through Cape Fear’s Old Inlet and bombard Fort Fisher from the rear. A great idea: however, this mode of assault was impractical as the newPassaic-class monitors had too drafts too deep to enter the river. The Federals; nevertheless, did not forget about Cape Fear.
概念构思
联邦政府知道威尔明顿需要关闭。然而，他们还认识到斗篷恐惧防御的规模和程度。费舍尔堡是罗伯特·E·李将军对彼得斯堡和里士满的辩护的关键。李的军队依靠的食物，武器，弹药，衣服和药品来自北卡罗来纳州的威尔明顿。如果要俘虏这个港口城市，李将不得不放弃彼得斯堡以外的战es。
As 1864 neared its close, Fort Fisher became a major target. General U.S. Grant could spare the troops as the campaigning season in Virginia was over due to winter’s arrival. And since Mobile Bay had been captured, Wilmington was now the Confederacy’s outlet to the world. This doorway had to be closed so that the great Federal snake Anaconda could finish its work.
当本·巴特勒将军的詹姆斯军队在百慕大的百分百中“装瓶”时，格兰特决定派遣戈弗雷·韦泽尔少将的师与后卫戴维·迪克森·波特海军上将的北大西洋封锁中队一起，努力占领费舍尔堡。当巴特勒得知这一决定时，他坚持认为他应该亲自指挥探险队，因为他是弗吉尼亚州和北卡罗来纳州联盟部的指挥官。尽管他有疑虑，但格兰特同意让巴特勒负责。
THE BEAST
Benjamin Franklin Butler was an unscrupulous lawyer and slick politician from Lowell, Massachusetts. Originally a Democrat, he changed his party affiliation to Republican when the Civil War erupted. In 1861, Butler was a militia general who tricked his way into command of the 6th and 8th Massachusetts regiments to open the way through Maryland to Washington, D.C. The 6th Massachusetts’ march toward Washington resulted in the April 19, 1861 Baltimore Riot.
Butler was able to occupy Maryland’s capital, Annapolis, and eventually Baltimore. His efforts stopped the secessionist movement in Maryland. Promoted to major general of volunteers, he was assigned as commander of the Union Department of Virginia, headquartered at Fort Monroe. There he proclaimed three escaped slaves as ‘Contraband of War,’ which helped to move the war towards ending slavery. Despite his astute political decisions, he was a terrible army commander. His defeats at Big Bethel and Bermuda Hundred are prime examples of his military ineptitude. Besides his poor leadership qualities, he also had many suspicious financial dealings while in command of New Orleans and the Union Department of Virginia and North Carolina.
粉船计划
When Butler received his assignment, he knew that Fort Fisher was the largest earthen fortification in the world. Rather than be encumbered by a lengthy siege, he formulated the Powder Boat Scheme. While Butler was serving at Bermuda Hundred, an ammunition barge was exploded by a Confederate secret agent on August 9, 1864, at City Point, Virginia. City Point was the primary supply base for the Army of Potomac during the siege of Petersburg. The blast killed and wounded 184 people, destroyed docks, buildings, and other barges, causing $4 million in damage.
Butler believed that a similar type of explosion could knock down the walls of Fort Fisher. Against naval ordnance experts’ advice, but, with President Lincoln’s approval, Butler proceeded with his scheme. Admiral Porter thought it was an “experiment worth trying.”
So, USS路易斯安那州was selected to carry the explosives. This gunboat was built at Harlan & Hollingsworth yard in Wilmington, Delaware, in 1860. The screw iron-hulled steamer, armed with five cannons, was purchased by the US Navy on July 10, 1861.
路易斯安那州1861年10月14日，第一个动作是收到弗吉尼亚州的钦科蒂格（Chincoteague）的投降，并捕获了许多同盟大臣。然后，轮船参加了北卡罗来纳州水域的美国北大大西洋封锁中队探险队，包括1862年的罗阿诺克岛战役和新伯尔尼。
Butler selected路易斯安那州to deliver 215 tons of gunpowder to Fort Fisher. The vessel was re-confirmed while in Hampton Roads, and was towed south by USS萨萨克斯beginning December 13 to Beaufort, North Carolina. There the final tons of powder were loaded, and the powder boat was towed 75 miles south to the Cape Fear.
NAVAL ACTIONS
The fleet was assembled in Hampton Roads, Virginia, on December 10, 1864; however, a harsh winter storm delayed the fleet’s departure until December 14. Butler’s transports had already left Virginia and arrived off the Cape Fear River’s New Inlet on December 15. The North Atlantic Blockading Squadron did not arrive until three days later. Porter had assembled a fleet of 57 ships, mounting over 600 cannons. Upon the squadron’s arrival, the weather deteriorated, and Porter sent the transports back to Beaufort. Porter advised Butler to return to Cape Fear on December 23. Butler replied that his troops would arrive on December 24.
波特没有等待巴特勒的到来，而是发起了攻击。那天，波特的船只向费舍尔堡开了近10,000壳：但是，效果不大。海军轰炸只损害了四副同盟大炮，并造成23人伤亡。同时，联邦舰队因爆炸帕罗特步枪遭受了45次伤害。费舍尔堡的炮兵在三艘联合船上直接击中。随着晚上的临近，波特决定发送路易斯安那州to position before the fort. The bomb ship was towed by USSWilderness和reached to within 250 yards of the beach. (Note: this distance is disputed. Some accounts state the powder boat was anywhere from 500 yards up to a mile off the shoreline.)
Union naval officer Alexander Rhind, former commander of the ironclad USSKeokuk和steam screw frigate USSWabash，一些志愿者划到路易斯安那州并点燃保险丝，并在船尾小屋中起火。然后他们迅速划回到Wilderness.Porter, fearing the explosion would be so powerful that it would knock down houses in Wilmington, took his fleet 12 miles out to sea. While the fuses failed to detonate the charges at the appointed time, the wood fire eventually ignited the powder and the bomb ship blew up at about 1:40 a.m. on December 24.
A mighty flame reached up the night sky which quickly turned into a huge, dark sulfurous cloud which drifted out to sea. The powder was defective and Fort Fisher’s defenders hardly thought anything had occurred. Porter, unfazed by this failure, continued his bombardment of the fort, firing another 11,000 rounds into the earthwork. But the range was too far to make any major impact on the fort.
ADVANCE AND RETREAT
巴特勒和一些交通工具在圣诞节前夕傍晚到达。他的其余命令是第二天早晨。阿德伯特·埃姆斯将军的登陆是毫无困难的。然后，艾姆斯准备攻击堡垒。但是，巴特勒开始失去神经。联盟将军认为路易斯安那州爆炸警告同盟国即将发生的袭击，海军轰炸并未摧毁费舍尔堡的土地面部防御。此外，巴特勒（Butler）收到了情报，表明罗伯特·霍克（Robert Hoke）少将的6,000名分区刚从弗吉尼亚州到达威尔明顿，很快就可以攻击联盟的后方。面对恶化的天气条件，巴特勒决定在12月27日进行沉重冲浪并返回汉普顿道路。
CONQUERING HERO … (NOT)
When Butler returned to Virginia, Grant confronted the failed general and fired him for not following orders. Butler’s military incompetence had finally overwhelmed his political connections. Nevertheless, Grant was determined to capture Fort Fisher. He named Major General Alfred H. Terry to take command of the expeditionary force and return to the Cape Fear. He made it clear that Terry was not to return until Fort Fisher was captured.
Excerpted fromA History of Ironclads: The Power of Iron Over Wood,John V. Quarstein. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2006. Available in the Museum’s Web Shop:https://shop.www.boxorats.com/a-history-of-ironclads.html和Confederate Goliath: The Battle of Fort Fisher, Rod Gragg. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 1991.
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