Fall of Fort Fisher Sealed Wilmington-- Part 3

**  Fort Fisher mounted 24 heavy artillery pieces along its sea face and 22 on the land face.

**  Knowing that the land face was the fort's Achilles Heel, a palisade fence stretched from the ocean to the rive.  In addition, there were "sub-terra torpedoes" in front of the palisade which could be detonated from the fort.

**  A line of trenches in the fort allowed for safe-redeployment during an attack.

**  Fort Fisher was vital to the protection of blockade-runners and the port of Wilmington.

**  "I did everything to foster blockade running," said the fort's commander, Col. William Lamb.

**  Prized fort ordnance were the 150-pdr. Armstrong gun and four Whitworth breech-loading long-range rifled field pieces.  These were all British-made.  The Whitworths were employed in a flying battery which could quickly be deployed north of the fort to cover blockade-runners which had run aground.

**  The Whitworths forced blockaders to sit five miles off the coast instead of the usual 250 yards.

More to Come.  --Old B-Runner