USA > North Carolina > New Hanover County > New Hanover County : a brief history > Part 6
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Dr. Armand John DeRosset (1807-1897) was a physician, a philan- thropist, and a member of one of Wilmington's oldest families. (DeRosset.) His father was Dr. Armand John DeRosset I (1767-1859).
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was more important than their purchase, in 1881, of the Wilming- ton square bounded by Walnut, Fourth, Red Cross, and Fifth streets. There in the center of "Poorhouse Square" was built the local poorhouse, which for years was reputed to be the best one in the state. Unfortunately, however, apathy replaced interest, and by 1850 the poorhouse had been allowed to become miserably dilapidated.
Philanthropy was not left entirely to the government. Indi- viduals in the county and in town were concerned with the less fortunate and expressed their concern in tangible ways. In many instances they organized groups to accomplish their benevolent purposes. One such group was the Seamen's Friend Society organized in Wilmington in 1835, whose purpose was to improve the social, moral, and religious condition of seamen. Accordingly, a boarding house was founded to provide visiting seamen with economical accommodations amid respectable surroundings. The home also served as an asylum for the destitute seaman and a hospital for the sick. The generosity of the society members was shown in the fact that by 1854 it had real estate valued at $15,000, a considerable sum for the time. In the same year the home cared for 494 transient sailors, 86 of whom were ill. On the basis of obvious need, the society appealed to the state of North Carolina for financial aid in building a hospital unit. Re- grettably, the appeal was made in vain.
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IV. The Tragedy of Civil War
North Carolina's antebellum period came to a crashing end in 1861 with the beginning of the long and bloody Civil War. During the next four years the southern states, joined together in the Confederate States of America, or Confederacy, fought to establish their independence as a separate nation. The states which remained in the Union fought to force the return of their seceded sisters. Because it was predominantly agricultural, the Confederacy had to import much of its needs from abroad. The Union attempted to prevent the passage of such shipments by placing naval vessels at the entrance of the various southern ports. The Confederacy answered with blockade-runners, fast, sleek vessels which could and did slip in and out through the blockade with valuable cargo. This blockade-running was an activity vital to the life of the Confederacy. While the South had a number of important ports including Norfolk, Charleston, Sa- vannah, Mobile, and New Orleans, none was more important to blockade-runners than Wilmington on the Cape Fear.
There were several reasons for Wilmington's importance as a blockade-running center. Over the various rail lines that came into the city, cotton and other goods flowed in great quantities to be shipped on to customers overseas. Over the same lines, goods brought in through the blockade were sent on to their final destinations. The most important shipments were those that went over the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad and con- necting lines to the Army of Northern Virginia, fighting to hold back the Union tide that sought to overrun the South. Nature also favored Wilmington by providing the Cape Fear River with two connections with the sea, New Inlet and the Bar, also known as Old Inlet. To cover the two inlets and at the same time to remain a safe distance off Frying Pan Shoals, a blockade fleet had to stretch out over an arc of almost fifty miles. This was a difficult and frustrating task.
North Carolina did not enter the war until May 20, 1861, but long before that date it had become involved in related incidents. This involvement was centered on two United States military
installations. One, Fort Johnston, was located near the mouth of the river, on the waterfront at Smithville (now Southport). It had been built before the American Revolution to defend against invasion, but by 1861 it was little more than an army barracks in care of an ordnance sergeant. The other installation, Fort Cas- well, was located a mile and a half across the harbor on the western edge of Old Inlet. A bastioned fortification of masonry construction, it had been built in 1826 to strengthen the defenses of the river and was still in good condition except that it lacked mounted guns. Like Fort Johnston, it was also in the care of a sergeant. Properly armed and garrisoned, Fort Caswell could have been the means of Union control of the Cape Fear River. Apprehension that it would be strengthened for this purpose caused the Cape Fear people to act precipitously. In doing so, they were spurred to action by events that took place to the southward, in Charleston.
Fort Sumter was a United States military installation which occupied a small island in Charleston harbor. At the time South Carolina seceded in December, 1860, Sumter was occupied by a small United States army garrison which refused to leave. The continued presence of the troops caused irritation which was increased by the growing fear the Union would strengthen its hold on the fort and thereby gain control of Charleston harbor. This fear almost materialized on January 9, 1861, when an at- tempt was made to bring supplies into the fort; but the vessel, Star of the West, was driven off by shore guns manned by South Carolinians.
When news of the Star of the West incident reached the Cape Fear, there was concern that a similar attempt would be made to supply Fort Caswell and Fort Johnston. Consequently, on the next day, January 10, a number of Wilmingtonians organized as the "Cape Fear Minute Men." Well-armed and stirred with enthusiasm, they proceeded downriver and took over the two forts from the sergeants who were powerless to resist. On learning of the seizures, the governor of North Carolina, John W. Ellis, ordered the forts returned. Governor Ellis's decision was based not on the feeling that the seizures had been wrong, but rather on his judgment that the proper time had not yet arrived. The proper time, however, was not long in coming.
At Fort Sumter, the Union garrison continued to refuse to leave despite demands that the fort be surrendered to the Con- federates. Consequently, on April 12, the fort became the target
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of guns ashore, and two days later it was evacuated. The day following the evacuation, April 15, Abraham Lincoln, then presi- dent of the United States, reacted to the seizure of Sumter by calling for troops to put down the southern "insurrection." The terrible Civil War had begun.
On April 15, the same day that Lincoln called for troops to be used against the southern states, Governor Ellis sent orders to Col. John L. Cantwell, a Wilmingtonian and commander of the Thirtieth North Carolina Militia, to take Fort Johnston and Fort Caswell without delay. The order was carried out the following day when Colonel Cantwell led the Wilmington Light Infantry, the German Volunteers, and the Cape Fear Light Ar- tillery downriver. Once more the forts were seized and this time they were held.
It was also on April 15 that Maj. W. H. C. Whiting hurried up from Charleston to take command of the defenses of the Cape Fear River. Whiting was worthy of the task he assumed. A native of Mississippi and son of a United States Army officer, he was graduated from West Point in 1845 at the top of his class and with grades said to be the highest ever made there to that time. After graduation he had achieved distinction as an army engineer. His wife was from Wilmington, and he had become a Wilmingtonian by adoption. When war came, he rushed "home" where he felt his services would be needed. A few days later on April 21 he was appointed by Governor Ellis as inspector- general in charge of all North Carolina defenses.
Under Whiting's directions steps were begun to secure the Cape Fear River from attack and to give protection to blockade- runners entering and leaving. Fort Caswell was provided with mounted guns and otherwise put in condition to defend Old Inlet. Less imposing auxiliary fortifications were constructed nearby. One, Fort Campbell, an earthenwork structure with five magazines, was located about a mile down the beach to the west of Caswell. Across the inlet, on Smith's Island, was Fort Holmes. Fort Johnston was also strengthened; and several miles up- stream, on the site of Old Brunswick Town, Fort Anderson was built as the war progressed. An earthenwork fortification of immense proportions, Fort Anderson extended westward from the river for approximately a mile and was part of the defenses of Wilmington rather than of the river entrance. There were also several minor batteries placed at strategic locations.
Each of the various fortifications was important in its own
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Confederate Defenses
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The importance of Fort Fisher for the protection of Wilmington and the New In- let entrance to the Cape Fear s evident from this map reproduced from James Sprunt's Tales and Traditions of the Lower Cape Fear, 1661- 1896 (Wilmington, 1896).
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way, but the key to the defense of the Cape Fear River was Fort Fisher. Located to the north of New Inlet, Fort Fisher's purpose was to protect ships using that opening and to keep enemy vessels as far offshore as possible. It was begun in April, 1861, when a two-gun earthenwork battery was constructed on the northern side of New Inlet at Federal Point (called Con- federate Point during the war). On July 4, 1862, Maj. (later, Col.) William Lamb assumed command of the fort and held it until he fell wounded during its final engagement. A native of Virginia and an officer of outstanding ability, Lamb directed Fort Fisher's expansion into the formidable installation it be- came.
When completed, Fort Fisher was shaped like an L, with the angle pointing northeastwardly to sea. The land face, located about a mile and a half to the northward of New Inlet, was a massive rampart of sand and sod which stretched across the peninsula from the riverside almost to the sea where it ended in a bastion at the point of the angle. From there the sea face extended southward for approximately a mile. The first hundred yards was similar to the land face, but the remainder was a series of mound batteries connected by infantry fences. At a distance of a half mile or so from the terminus of the sea face, Battery Buchanan stood detached and isolated at the edge of New Inlet. It was a massive earthen mound with guns that covered the inlet. It was also a potential stronghold to which a hard-pressed garrison might retreat and be transported away from a nearby wharf. At the time, Fort Fisher was one of the strongest fortifications in the world. By some it was called the "Malakoff of the South" and by others, the "Gibraltar of America."
In the words of one who was there, Wilmington was turned "topsy-turvy" by war. In peacetime it had been a major center for the export of naval stores and lumber. In war it became, at least for a while, the leading cotton port of the Confederacy. Although Lincoln proclaimed the blockade in April, 1861, it was slow to be put into effect, and ships continued to run in and out of the Cape Fear without hindrance. On July 20, however, the first blockade ship, the Daylight, took its station off the mouth of the river. After that, the force was increased; and by the summer of 1862, there were three cordons of Union vessels off Cape Fear, covering both inlets.
With the coming of the blockade, the picturesque sailing ships
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that had once lined the wharves of Wilmington almost dis- appeared. In their place appeared the low sleek steamers that were built for the speed necessary to run in and out the river. With their hulls painted gray and with their telescopic funnels and hinged masts lowered, they presented little profile for the enemy to detect. Across the river from Wilmington, near the Market Street ferry terminal, there were steam presses which were operated night and day preparing the outgoing cotton for shipment. There the blockade-runners received the cotton they were to take away. Once loaded, a vessel would drop downriver and slip out of whichever inlet offered the greatest chance for success at the moment. Once at sea, the captain set his course most likely for Nassau, in the Bahamas, or for Bermuda. Nassau was slightly less than 600 miles away while Bermuda was 100 miles or so farther. In either place, the captain could sell his cotton cargo and buy a wide variety of goods brought from England or elsewhere, goods so desperately needed by the South. The homeward-bound cargo might vary to some extent but generally included light and heavy guns, ammunition, cloth and clothing, shoes, leather, medicine, foods of various kinds, but especially bacon and coffee, lubricating oil, and other goods to be used by both soldiers and civilians.
Incoming runners might occasionally race through the block- ade, knowing the enemy gunners had to fire with great caution for fear of hitting one of their own vessels. Usually, however, they would strike the coast some thirty or forty miles above or below Cape Fear, depending on which inlet the captain chose to enter. He would then run along the coast as close as he dared so that the profile of his vessel might be obscured against the heavily wooded shoreline. In this operation, danger lay in navi- gation as well as from enemy fire. Lighthouses were not in operation, and there were few marks ashore to serve as de- pendable guides. The hazard of the blackade is told in the high mortality rate of the runners. It is estimated that 100 such vessels operated out of Wilmington. Of these, half were lost, the casualties being about equally divided between those captured at sea and those wrecked along the coast in the vicinity of Cape Fear. Of the latter, some were the result of navigational acci- dents, but other vessels were deliberately run aground to prevent capture by enemy pursuers.
Many stories are told of the blockade, but none is more poignant than that of Mrs. Rose O'Neil Greenhow. At the be-
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ginning of the war, she was a popular society leader in Wash- ington who had passed the prime of youth but still retained the wit and charm to gather valuable information for the Confeder- acy. Imprisoned for her activities, she was later released and allowed to proceed to Richmond where she continued to serve the Southern cause. In August, 1863, Confederate officials sent her to Europe and England to arouse greater sympathy and help for the South. For almost a year she worked tirelessly in the fulfillment of her mission.
Rose O'Neil Greenhow, photo- graphed with her daughter in the Capitol Prison, was the sub- ject of many romantic tales about Confederate spying.
In August, 1864, Mrs. Greenhow began the long voyage home, traveling aboard the blockade-runner Condor. On the morning of October 1, in the hour before dawn, the Condor was racing along the coast approaching New Inlet when suddenly it came to a grinding halt on a shoal. There it lay immobile and help- less. The shore was only a few hundred yards away, but the water between thrashed in the throes of a northeaster. Im- patient to be on her way to report to her superiors in Richmond, Mrs. Greenhow insisted on being sent ashore. The captain re- luctantly agreed. She entered a small boat along with several men, but it had not gone far when it was tossed over. The men managed to reach land, but Mrs. Greenhow disappeared beneath the angry waves.
Several hours later, in the light of day, her body was found sprawled in death on the nearby beach. Around her neck hung a leather bag containing gold coins she had received for a volume
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of her memoirs which were to be published. This gold was to have been a source of comfort in her declining years. Instead, it became a weight which dragged her to her death. With tender care her body was taken to Wilmington where it lay in state to be mourned throughout the Confederacy. The funeral that followed was a solemn ceremony held in St. Thomas Roman Catholic Church, after which the body was laid to rest in Oak- dale Cemetery. There a marker perpetuates the memory of this lady who gave her all for the cause she loved so well.
Great profits were made in running the blockade, and with easy money came greed and crime. Speculators came to Wilming- ton from all over the South, and their extravagant way of life was in sharp contrast to the spartan existence of most of the townspeople. As the war progressed, food supplies decreased, while at the same time prices increased. Outsiders could and did buy the scarce goods that few local inhabitants could afford. In addition, loose money attracted loose people, both men and women. The streets became so unsafe that ladies rarely went out and gentlemen did so only with caution. In short, Wilmington was transformed by war from a pleasant, tranquil community to one where life was grim and often intolerable. Many of its in- habitants went into the country or elsewhere, seeking the se- curity and sustenance they lacked at home. Of those who remained, many later fled before the scourge of yellow fever.
On August 6, 1862, the blockade-runner Kate arrived in Wilmington bringing deadly yellow fever germs that were to creep across the town leaving death in their wake. Not only did the townspeople who could do so flee before the terror, but the country people ceased to bring their produce into town, thereby worsening the food shortage. Nonessential businesses were closed and few people ventured from their homes. The silent streets gave the appearance of a deserted village, and out of the silence came the occasional sound of a "pedestrian bound on errands of mercy to the sick, or the rumbling of the rude funeral carts."
By the time the plague had run its course in November, 1862, 446 townspeople had been stricken. Among the dead were several who had unselfishly given their lives to care for others. They included the Reverend Robert B. Drane of St. James Church, the Reverend John L. Pritchard of the First Baptist Church, the Reverend Thomas Murphy of St. Thomas Roman Catholic Church, and Dr. James H. Dickson, one of the most distinguished physicians of the town. The Reverend A. Paul Repiton, an aged
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and highly respected Baptist minister, survived, but not because he had done less than others.
Wilmington also lost many of its men who left to answer the call to arms. During the course of the war, twenty companies of infantry, two of cavalry, six battalions of artillery, and many individuals who served in other units, were drawn away to serve on many and sometimes distant, fields of battle. In all about 2,000 men answered the call, and their absence, even temporary, was a serious deprivation for the community when it needed them most.
The importance of Wilmington as a port increased as the war progressed, but its effectiveness as a source of supply for the Army of Northern Virginia was lessened in August, 1864, when Federal forces captured the upper end of the Petersburg rail connections. Fortunately, however, the way was kept open over a more circuitous route. At the time, Lee's army was receiving half its supplies over this improvised route, and Wilmington had become the most important town in the Confederate states except for Richmond. The continued functioning of Wilmington as a port became a matter of grave concern to both North and South. In urging that it be kept open at any price, Lee warned that the fall of Fort Fisher and Fort Caswell would mean the fall of Richmond. Almost like an echo, the United States secretary of the navy, Gideon Welles, urged aggressive action against the
Heroes of the Battle of Fort Fisher were the two Confederate officers here depicted. Major General W. H. C. Whiting is shown at the left; Colonel William Lamb is pictured at the right.
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Cape Fear, contending that the capture of the two forts "would be almost as important as the capture of Richmond."
Recognizing the vulnerability of the river, the Confederates constantly strengthened its defenses as much as resources of men and materials permitted. Whiting remained in command of the area until the summer of 1861 when he was transferred to the Army of Northern Virginia and promoted to brigadier general. He returned in 1863 as a major general and, except for a brief period of duty in Virginia in May, 1864, remained in command of local defenses until the last days of the war. In October, 1864, when Confederate officials had become convinced an attack would be made against Fort Fisher, Gen. Braxton Bragg was placed in command over Whiting. Bragg had little to commend him other than his friendship with Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederate States. Whiting, on the other hand, had an- tagonized Davis early in the war. The reaction of many people to Bragg's appointment was expressed by a Richmond paper which announced, "Bragg has been sent to Wilmington. Good- bye Wilmington !" As a matter of local interest, Bragg's brother, Thomas, had served as attorney general of the Confederate States, a position then held by George Davis, a distinguished son of Wilmington. General Bragg assumed his new post on
General Braxton Bragg, shown at the left, and Thomas Bragg, shown at the right, were brothers.
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October 22 and immediately ordered General Whiting, as second in command, "to exercise all his former functions of adminis- tration and detail." That was, no doubt, the wisest decision he ever made in that position.
Urged on by Gideon Welles, the Union finally decided to launch a combined army and navy attack against Fort Fisher. Accord- ing to the plans, naval units under Rear Adm. David D. Porter, a highly regarded officer, were to soften the fort by bombard- ment. Army forces led by Benjamin F. Butler, a less esteemed leader, would then overrun the crippled installation.
On the evening of December 15, 1864, Federal army trans- ports appeared off Fort Fisher with General Butler and 6,500 men. On December 18 the naval units arrived, a fleet of 50 vessels carrying almost 600 guns. There was also an obsolete ship of 250 tons, the Louisiana, which was to serve as a gigantic bomb. Loaded with explosives, it was to be towed in as close to the fort as possible and detonated. The force of the explosion, it was believed, would damage the fort to the extent it could be taken with ease.
This attack was delayed by bad weather, but by the night of December 23 the seas were calm and the Louisiana was towed into position and her explosive load set off. A column of fire shot high into the air and four loud explosions followed in rapid succession. Darkness and silence returned. The walls of Fort Fisher stood intact. The explosion had been, in the words of a Union officer, a "fizzle."
When the light of day revealed the walls of Fort Fisher still standing, Admiral Porter decided to bring them down by gun- fire. Just before noon on December 24, he began a barrage that continued until the next afternoon. In the meantime, General Butler and his troops had landed about three miles up the coast and, covered by naval fire, moved within 50 yards of the fort. From his flagship Admiral Porter watched the action through a spyglass, expecting at any moment to see Butler's men storm the fort and overrun it. Instead, he was horrified to see the troops turn and march away. The massive walls of Fisher had overawed Butler. The men were returned to their transports, and the Union forces sailed away. The first attack on Fort Fisher had failed.
The departure of the enemy was a source of relief to the people of New Hanover. General Bragg believed he would not be quick to return, but General Whiting and Colonel Lamb were
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convinced that peace would be of short duration-a pessimism vindicated on the night of January 12, 1865, when the Federal fleet once more appeared off Fort Fisher. Again there were 50 ships or more with a total of approximately 600 guns. This time, however, the troops had been increased to 8,000 under the command of Maj. Gen. Alfred H. Terry, an officer who possessed the capability and determination that Butler lacked. There also were 2,000 sailors and marines available for combat duty.
As the sun rose on the morning of the thirteenth, the Union warships began firing on Fort Fisher, and soon thereafter General Terry began landing his men about two miles up the coast. By midafternoon, the entire 8,000 soldiers were ashore and digging trenches across the peninsula to protect their rear once the assault on the fort had begun. During the night of January 14, under cover of darkness, the 2,000 sailors and marines were landed and entrenched near the walls of Fort Fisher. In the meantime, the warships had kept up a constant bombardment. The intensity of the fire was increased during the morning of the fifteenth while the enemy awaited the signal to spring to the attack.
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