Fort Fisher State Historic Site

When work was done to improve navigation into Charleston Harbor, it changed the ocean currents and caused the tremendous erosion of Morris Island. You can tell how much that it has eroded as Morris Island Lighthouse (which is about 1/2 mile offshore) used to be on Morris Island.

Wow....
 
Fort Fisher's capture was only the first part of a campaign that took Wilmington out of the War. Recommend The Wilmington Campaign: Last Rays of Departing Hope by Chris E. Fonvielle, Jr. for a detailed account.
 
A great photo tour Bill. It was very interesting to me and it brought to life the novel The Sands of Pride and it's sequel, The Fires of Pride. I have never been to this area of the country, Virginia and surrounding states yes, but for some reason not North Carolina. I regret not seeing it now. It is beautiful.
 
Fort Fisher was the centerpiece of a series of fortifications protecting the port. One of my wife's ancestors spent much of the war stationed near Fort Caswell at the Old Inlet. LOC has this nice map:

Very little remains of the Civil War era Fort Caswell which was an unusual polygonal fort with two wet ditches and caponiers for fire controlling the inner ditch. Much of the fort was covered over by concrete Endicott fortifications, as happened at many Third System forts including Sumter, Gaines, Morgan and Pickens. The ditches were filled in and the glacis and caponiers removed. The barracks was a fortified citadel, like at Forts Morgan and Pike, and is long gone too.

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The Second Battle of Fort Fisher commenced on this day in 1865 and ended with a Federal victory on January 15th, 1865. This battle was a successful assault by the Federal Army, Navy and Marine Corps against Confederate Fort Fisher which is located just south of Wilmington, North Carolina. Sometimes referred to as the "Gibraltar of the South", Fort Fisher had tremendous strategic value during the American Civil War. This earthen/sand fort provided protection for blockade runners supplying the Army of Northern Virginia.

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Very little remains of the Civil War era Fort Caswell which was an unusual polygonal fort with two wet ditches and caponiers for fire controlling the inner ditch. Much of the fort was covered over by concrete Endicott fortifications, as happened at many Third System forts including Sumter, Gaines, Morgan and Pickens. The ditches were filled in and the glacis and caponiers removed. The barracks was a fortified citadel, like at Forts Morgan and Pike, and is long gone too.

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Nice. What are the red lines supposed to represent?
 
Oh. Have you visited? How much of the Civil War-era fort remains?
Only about 1/2 of the original wall and none of the interior structures, the rest was torn down in the early 1900's so the army could build coastal fortifications called Endicott fortifications which were concrete emplacements for large coastal guns. Fort Caswell is now owned by the Baptist Church since 1949 and used as a coastal retreat/conference center.
 
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Only about 1/2 of the original wall and none of the interior structures, the rest was torn down in the early 1900's so the army could build coastal fortifications called Endicott fortifications which were concrete emplacements for large coastal guns. Fort Caswell is now owned by the Baptist Church since 1949 and used as a coastal retreat/conference center.

hmm...seems similar to Fort Delaware, which I visited about 15 years ago. The Army had demolished a section of the fort and replaced it with large concrete gun emplacements which were wedded to the old stone/brick structures. There is a small group up there that is interested in a restoration, but very costly and historically difficult...
 
Great pictures @Buckeye Bill . It's fitting that I found this thread today as this week I found two brothers who were my 3x 1st cousins. They were in the 203 PVI and on the 15th Franklin Strong was wounded in the hand and James was KIA leaving behind a wife and 6 children ages 2 to 15. Thanks for the informative post.
 
Susan and I have been vacationing there for years now. Kure Beach is where I hope to retire when the time comes. If you head that way again, talk to me first, as I can suggest some great places to eat in the area.

Do you have any contact info with local CW historians around there?
 
hmm...seems similar to Fort Delaware, which I visited about 15 years ago. The Army had demolished a section of the fort and replaced it with large concrete gun emplacements which were wedded to the old stone/brick structures. There is a small group up there that is interested in a restoration, but very costly and historically difficult...

Many 19th Century Third System coastal forts have late 19th-early 20th Century Endicott and Taft fortifications built into and upon them. Fort Sumter is perhaps the one that perplexes the most people.
 
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