Wednesday, April 5, 2017

A Walking Tour of Wilmington Features the Civil War Past-- Part 2

CASSIDEY SHIPYARD on Church Street by the Cape Fear River.  This is where the Confederate ironclad CSS Raleigh was constructed.  In April 1864 it scattered the Union blockading fleet off Fort fisher, but ran aground returning from the action and had to be destroyed.

The ironclad CSS Wilmington was under construction at the shipyard when the Union forces captured the city and was destroyed by Confederates while still on the stocks as they evacuated.

ROSE GREENHOW, famed Confederate spy, drowned off Fort Fisher when the blockade-runner she was on, the Condor, ran aground and her boat capsized while heading for the shore.  Her funeral was held at St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church on Dock Street between Second and Third streets.  She is buried at Oakdale Cemetery.

--Old B-R'er

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