Fisher, an inventor and supporter of the Whig Party in North Carolina, once stood proud and tall, defended North Carolina's Cape Fear River from invasion of the Union. The purpose of Fort Fisher was to prevent the Union blockade-runner ships from trying to enter North Carolina through the Cape Fear River.
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For almost half a mile north of the landmass, the peninsula had been clear of trees. They did this to get a clear field of fire. Running correspondent to the landface from the river to the ocean was a newly erected wall fence made of nine-foot-high sharpened pine logs. Halfway down the landface, a tunnel "sally port" cut through the mound wall so that field artillery could be transported from bombproof land to an elevated sally-port gun battery during an enemy attack. On the riverside of the landface, where a narrow wooden bridge spanned a patch of swampland, the sandy road from Wilmington entered through a gate in the wall. The gate had no doors; instead, it was safely ensconced with sandbags and guarded carefully by a section of field artillery.
The soldier's life at Fort Fisher was nothing to brag about, full of challenges and missions. Food was often in short supply, with the drinking water undrinkable. With a fever spreading throughout the fort, many soldiers worried if they would survive through the summer. .
Garrison duty at Fort Fisher was often boring. A soldier contemplated himself lucky if he drew a task tending the post garden north of the landface or enticing in occasional target practice. Most troops spent day after day building up the fort's defenses. The boredom was at times irregularly interrupted by skirmishes with the Federal navy. In June of 1863, Lamb's artillerymen traded fire with enemy warships after the vessels forced the blockade runner "Modern Greece" ashore near the fort. .
On January 15th, 1865, almost 150 years ago, a soldier spotted seven Union blockade-runners.
