George Campbell Read, USN War of 1812 to the Civil War

I have written about this man's life in my Not So Forgotten:  War of 1812 blog.  He was in the service for a real long time from actions in the War of 1812 and was still in the Navy when the Civil War began, during which he was raised in tank to rear admiral.

I will give a short account of his life here, but for more, go to the Not So Forgotten blog, which you can reach by going to the My Blogs list to the right of this and scrolling down to the Not So Forgotten blog.  The entries about Read are from March 12 to 15, 2021.

During the War of 1812, George Read was on the USS Constitution when she defeated the HMS Guerriere and received that ship's surrender.  He was also aboard the USS United States when it captured the HMS Macedonian later in 1812.  (The United States was captured when Norfolk was captured by Confederates in 1861 and later became the CSS United States.)

He married the daughter of American Revolution hero Richard Dale who was second in command of the Bon Homme Richard in John Paul Jones' epic fight.

Afterwards, he saw service in the Mediterranean Sea, off the coast of Africa and the Philadelphia Navy Yard.  He did not see any active duty service during the Civil because of his age.

--Old B-Runner

About Wilmington's Eagles Island-- Part 3: Into the 1900s

Eagles Island appears to have sunk into commercial decline  about the time of World War I.

The Wilmington  Iron Works operated a shipyard and marine railway on Eagles Island as late as 1924  The rusted iron gears they used to pull ships out of the water are reportedly still in view.  In 1910, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built docks and a yard on the island that are still in use.

The battleship USS North Carolina was docked at the island in 1961 and formally dedicated  April 29, 1962,  as a memorial to World War II veterans from North Carolina.  The memorial now occupies a 61-acre tract on the island and is set aside as a nature preserve.

Today, parts of the island  are on the National Register of Historic Places for the number of wrecks in the area along the west bank of the Cape Fear River.

The paddle wheel of a U.S. Engineer snag boat, the H.G. Wright, was removed from the island in the 1980s, restored and now is on display at the Cape Fear  Museum.

--Old B-Runner

About Wilmington's Eagles Island-- Part 2: Civil War Story, the CSS North Carolina

In 1848, Samuel Beery and his two sons bought  property on Eagles Island from Henry Savage for $12,000.  Here they constructed  the Commercial  Mill and Ship Yard, which was turning out 250 ton vessels by 1850.  By the time Thomas Beery bought out his father in 1852, the site held a saw mill, a shipyard, a marine railway (a kind of drydock) along with a blacksmith shop and rigging loft.

In 1861, the Benjamin and William Beery began building warships and other support ships for the Confederacy.  The most famous one they completed was the ironclad CSS North Carolina, 150 feet long and mounting six 8-inch guns.

She proved to be a very ineffectual ship and was so underpowered that all that could be done with her was to anchor the ship  off Smithville (today's Southport) near the Cape Fear River's old entrance and use as a floating battery.  She remained there until developing a leak and sinking.  So much for her Confederate career.

--Old B-Runner

About Wilmington, N.C.'s Eagles Island-- Part 1: Rice Plantations

I came across an article in the March 28, 2021, Wilmington Port City Daily (NC) "Conservationists aim to turn Eagles Island  into 'Central Park' for the region" by Mark Darrough."

I got to wondering exactly where it was and what role it might have played in the Civil War?  Turns out that I have been there on several occasions thanks to this little old World War II battleship located there.

From the Wilmington (NC) Star-News  "My Reporter:  What is Eagles Island?" by Ben Steelman.

It is right across from downtown Wilmington and is  a group of closely spaced  swampy islands roughly  2 miles wide and 7 miles long between the Cape Fear River and the Brunswick River.  It has had several names, but its present one comes from brothers Joseph and Richard Eagles who settled in the area in 1725 with land grants.  (I would have guessed it came from the eagle birds who might have been there.)

Parts of Eagles Island were used for rice  planting and there were even two rice plantations there as late as 1900.

By the 1800s, Eagles Island  seems to have functioned  as an industrial district for Wilmington with saw mills, turpentine distilleries and similar operations.  Various ferries operated between Wilmington and the island from the 1760s until the completion of the completion of the Twin Bridges in 1929. 

--Old B-Runner

Jenny Lind Figurehead-- Part 3: You Determine If It's the Real Thing

In his research, Svardskog found that the Nightingale had actually been in the vicinity atone time.  In 1874,  workers had a refit on the ship in Norway nearby.   The bow of the ship had been damaged  on a reef off the coast of Kargero.

Svardskog theorizes that the figurehead was removed when the work was done and never put back so it didn't go down with the ship.  As a matter of fact, the original boathouse of the Nightingale was also removed at the time and you can still see it at the repair yard in Norway.

At this point, you have to wonder if this is the real thing or not.

Well, now it is essentially up to the reader to determine if Mr. Svardskog's Jenny Lind figurehead is the real thing or not.  I like to think it is, but I always like finding buried or lost treasures.

--Old B-Runner

The Jenny Lind Figurehead-- Part 2: Looking for Origins

The next we hear about the Jenny Lind figurehead from the Nightingale clipper ship was 1994.  Swedish maritime antique dealer Karl-Eric  Svardskog heard about a large  wooden carving shaped like a woman that a Swedish family had which had once been used as a scarecrow and went to se it.  he found it  in a hayloft with one arm sticking out  where it had apparently been for a century.

Svardskog determined to find out about its origins and spent six years looking for clues.  He was able to trace the carving to Boston artist John Mason and then matched the figurehead to publicity pictures of Jenny Lind back in her 1850s tour of the United States. 

Of the four ships named after Jenny Lind, only the clipper ship  built in the Portsmouth, New Hampshire (Eliot, Maine is in it) matched the timeline he was using.

But, a problem was that the Nightingale had sunk in the North Atlantic off the coast of Norway in 1894.  Then, why would its figurehead still be around and not at the bottom of the ocean?

--Old B-Runner

So, What About That Jenny Lind Figurehead?-- Part 1

 During this Jennymania/rage  people named towns, babies and furniture after her.  There is a Jenny Lind, North Carolina, according to stories, she sang a song under a nearby tree.  At least four ships were named after her, including the Nightingale that I have been writing about.  Many consider this Nightingale to be one of the fastest clipper ships ever built.

In 1851, the same year Jenny arrived in Boston, the Nightingale (originally to be named  Sarah Cowles) was built in Eliot, Maine.  The owners planned to use the ship to take wealthy passengers to London for the World's Fair in 1851 ($125 round trip).  The idea fell through, but a figurehead of a woman bearing the likeness of Jenny Lind was made and attached to the front of the ship.

Having difficulties paying the cost of the ship, this was when it turned to bringing slaves to the Americas.  Of interest, the Nightingale was captured by the USS Saratoga, which had been built in 1842 at the nearby Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery, Maine.

After its capture, the Nightingale became a U.S. warship during the Civil War and afterwards went through owner after owner before being abandoned off Norway in 1894.

By this time, both Jenny Lind and P.T. Barnum were dead.  Jenny died in 1887 after a long self-imposed retirement.  

What Next?  --Old B-Runner

So, Who Was This Jenny Lind the Nightingale Was Named After?

From the  SeaCoast NH.com "Saga of the Jenny Linn figurehead" by J. Dennis  Robinson.

Her triumphant arrival and tour of the United States in the early 1850s was quite the bit like the coming of the British Invasion Beatles a 110 years later for those of you who know nothing of the saga of Jenny Linn.

Jenny Lind was born in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1820 and lived a poor life as a child, but by her early 20s had become the toast of Europe as the soprano "Nightingale."   Rather plain-looking and painfully shy, she turned down a marriage offer from author Hans Christian Anderson.  Legend has it that he  penned "The Ugly Duckling" in her honor.  Jenny toured Europe with composer Felix Mendelssohn, whom she fell in love with, but he was married.

People mobbed her concerts.  She was very popular.

So popular that all this attracted the attention of one P.T. Barnum, who brought her to the United States in 1850.  Essentially, he had the role of Ed Sullivan and the Beatles.   She performed in over 100 concerts in the United States.  She was bigger than all of Barnum's acts that came before her and they were quite popular.  That would include the midget Tom Thumb, Jumbo the Elephant and even  Chang and Eng, the famed Siamese Twins.

That is surely saying a lot.

--Old B-Lind

A Piece of the Nightingale Remains-- Part 10: Also a Long and Varied Story of the Jenny Lind Figurehead

The Nightingale was built as an exhibit at the World's Fair in London (The Great Exhibition), to which she was to carry passengers.  As such, she was fitted out with very extravagant items, one of which was her figurehead (a carving set at the prow of a sailing ship).

Her original name was to be Sarah  Cowles was exchanged for that of Nightingale, in honor of Jenny Lind, "The Swedish Nightingale" who was touring the United States at the time.  The Nightingale had a Jenny Lind figurehead.

The Nightingale's Jenny Lind figurehead ended up in the hands of a Swedish antiques dealer  in 1994.  He has spent  13 years researching its history.

He discovered that the Nightingale had undergone repairs in Norway in 1885 during which time the figurehead was removed.  He found out that the farm's owner where he found it had a relative who had bought the "scarecrow" while on a trip to Norway.

The figurehead of the Nightingale and   the Great Republic are the only two known surviving figureheads from extreme clipper ships.

So, One More Thing of Interest About This Ship.  --Old B-Runner

Okay, the Nightingale Sank, But a Part of It Remains, Is There a Mystery?

Here are some clues:

Eliot, Maine

A  clipper ship

A Swedish Singer

P.T. Barnum

A slave ship

A U.S. warship

A merchant ship

Norway

Start thinking hard.

There is a clue to the right of this.

What Part Remains.  --Old B-Runner

USS Nightingale-- Part 8: Arctic Exploration and Loss of In 1893

But, the Nightingale's career wasn't over.  Not yet anyway.  She entered another phase.

This tome it was Arctic exploration.  From 1865 to 1867, she served as the flagship of the Western Union  Telegraph Expedition exploring  British Columbia, Alaska and Siberia with the plan of  laying telegraph cable across the Bering Strait.

Captain C.M. Scammon, U.S.R.M. Chief f Marine, commanded the Nightingale

The Nightingale, described as a fine, large clipper ship, carried two small flat-bottomed steamers on her deck from San Francisco.  One was intended for exploration of the Yukon River in Russian America, and the other for the Anadyr Bay.

After the Arctic Expedition, the Nightingale remained in the merchant service until she foundered in the  North Atlantic Ocean on 17 April 1893.

But, wait, there's one more thing about this ship.

Next Post.  --Old B-Runner

USS Nightingale-- Part 7: Service in the East Coast Blockading Squadron and Pensacola

The Nightingale was with the  USS Preble, USS Richmond, USS Vincennes and USS Water Witch in the Mississippi River near the Head of Passes when the Confederate ironclad ram CSS Manassas, accompanied by the Confederate steamers CSS Ivy and CSS James L. Day attacked on 12 October.

During the action, she was run aground, but the Southern ships did not press their advantage.  The Nightingale was refloated a few days later and sailed to New York with prisoners  o war and booty.

The Nightingale returned to the Gulf in the same year with a cargo of coal and supplies for the Union blockaders.

During most of 1862, she served the East Gulf Blockading Squadron, operating out of Key West. Early in 1863, she became an ordnance ship at Pensacola, Florida,  and continued this duty until returning to Boston, Massachusetts, on 9 June 1864

The Nightingale was decommissioned on 20 June 1864 at Boston Navy Yard and sold at public auction to D.E. Mayo on 11 February 1865.

Her Warship Days Were At An End.  --Old B-Runner

USS Nightingale-- Part 6: Purchase By U.S. Navy, Commissioned and Duty on the Gulf Coast

Being a slave ship, the Nightingale was condemned by the New York prize court and then promptly bought by the U.S. Navy, then in serious need of anything that would float and carry guns for the blockade of the South's coasts.

It was commissioned 18 August 1861 under command of Brevet Master  David B. Horne. 

The Nightingale now carried four 32-pounder cannons.

Fitted out as a collier and store ship, the Nightingale got underway south laden with coal the same day she was commissioned.  Stopped at Hampton Roads on the 21st and then left for Key West the following morning.  But for occasional trips north for coal and supplies, she served on the Gulf Coast through the first years of the Civil War.

--Old B-Runner

Long and Varied Career of USS Nightingale-- Part 5: Slaves Freed and the Disastrous Cruise Home

SAGA AS A PRIZE

The Saratoga's skipper, Commander Alfred Taylor,  placed a prize crew on board the Nightingale, under the command of Lt. John J. Guthrie.  The captured slaver/clipper got underway on the 23rd April for Liberia, a nation founded in 1822 by the American Colonization  Society as a refuge for  freed American slaves.

En route,  a fever raged through the ship, killing 160  of the now freed slaves  and one member of the crew.  After arriving in Monrovia, Liberia's capital,  on 7 May, the Nightingale landed her  passengers, fumigated the living quarters and sailed for the United States on May 13.

During the first part of the cruise, fever  seriously weakened the crew, at one point leaving  only 7 of her  34-man crew fit for duty.    Two more sailors died before the scourge began to subside.

The Nightingale reached New York City on June 15, 1861.

--Old B-Runner

The Long and Varied Saga of the USS Nightingale-- Part 4:

AS A SLAVER

In the fall of 1860, the Nightingale arrived in England from New York.  Word soon got around the docks that she was  going to become a slaver.  A cover was devised where she supposedly was loading with  cargo of guns, powder and cotton cloth with the intention of going to St. Thomas.

She sailed several times from Cabinda, Angola.  During that time, some 2,000 Africans were transported in irons on their way to become slaves.

SEIZURE

About midnight on 20-21 April 1861, two boats from the  sloop of war USS Saratoga pulled silently  toward a darkened ship anchored near the mouth of the Congo River at Cabinda, Angola.  After clambering aboard the Nightingale, a suspected slaver from Boston, Massachusetts, the American sailors and Marines found 961 men, women and children chained between the decks.

Of those, some 160 died while the ship was en route to Liberia where they were to be released.   When the ship was taken, it was in the process of loading even more slaves to go to America.

--Old Secesh

From Tea Clipper to Slaver to U.S. Warship, the Saga of the USS Nightingale-- Part 3: Off to the Tea Races

OFF TO THE TEA RACES

Her first voyage was  on the famous "Tea to Silk Course" between Shanghai and London, which at the time had the  fastest ships afloat.  A race was arranged between her and  a British clipper, Challenger.  The course was from Shanghai to London with stakes of 2,000 pounds being placed by their respective owners.  The Nightingale lost, and her commander, chagrined at the result,  resigned, leaving the Nightingale in London Docks and took a Cunarder home.

The Nightingale's owners made light of the loss but immediately set out on arranging another race for similar stakes between the two ships along the same course.  On the return from Shanghai, the Challenger beat the Nightingale  by more than a week.

That ended the Nightingale's efforts to be No. 1.

*************************************

PASSENGER TRADE TO AUSTRALIA

In the spring of 1853, the Nightingale was chartered to carry mail, passengers and freight to Melbourne, Australia, from London.  From there she was to proceed to China where she would load tea and silk for London.  At the time, the Gold Fever was rampant in Australia and it didn't take long to sell the accommodations.

--Old B-Runner

From Tea Clipper to Slaver to U.S. Warship, The USS Nightingale-- Part 2: An Extreme Clipper

The Nightingale was designed and built and the Hanscomb Shipyard in Eliot, Maine, in 1851 by Samuel Hanscomb, Jr.,  receiving its final fit out in nearby Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

She was what was referred to as an Extreme Clipper type of ship whereby cargo room was sacrificed for speed.  The bow was lengthened above the water, drawing out the sharpening of the forward body with the greatest beam further aft.  Extreme clippers were built for speed and most constructed between 1845 and 1855.

**************************************

STATISTICS:

TONNAGE:  1066 tons

DRAFT:  36 feet

LENGTH:  177 feet

BEAM:  36 feet

PROPULSION:  Sails

--Old B-Clipper

From Tea Clipper to Slaver to U.S. Navy Ship: The Tale of the Nightingale-- Part 1

I have been writing about this ship in my last four posts and in connection with Lt. John Julius Guthrie, USN, of North Carolina, who commanded the Nightingale's prize crew on its way back to the United States.  Guthrie later was a Confederate naval officer after the war started.

From Wikipedia.

The USS Nightingale (1851) was originally a   tea clipper before becoming a slave ship until captured by the USS Saratoga in Africa in 1861; the U.S. Navy then purchased her and it became a warship.

During the war, it served as a  supply ship and collier (carried coal) for Union blockading ships.  After the war she was sold and went on to a long career in Arctic exploration  before foundering in the North Atlantic in 1893.

Built by Samuel Hanscomb, Jr. of Eliot, Maine.  Cost $43,500, in 1851.

As tea clipper, her route was China to London to New York.  Carrying passengers, she went  from Boston and New York to Australia.

--Old B-Runner

Capture of Slaver Nightingale-- Part 4

The health of the squadron was generally good, that of the Saratoga being unusually so.  Most of the squadron are anxiously looking for orders home.  The third night  after sailing from Kabenda was boarded by H.B.M. steamer  Wrangler, the steamer Clive being under our lee, who were quite chagrined at finding the bird was caged.

Lieuts. J.J. GUTHRIE and CHAS. W. HAYS were sent home on the Nightingale.  Lieut. TYLER, whose health had been bad during the entire cruise of the Saratoga, also returned in the same vessel.

The three mates of the Nightingale, Messrs. HINDS, WINSLOW and WESTERVILT, were sent home on the ship, to be delivered up to the authorities.

--Old B-Runner

Capture of the Slaver Nightingale-- Part 3

The Captain (FRANCIS BOWEN), the Spanish  supercargo and the cabin servants made their escape from the vessel the night previous to her sailing from Kabenda.  A portion of the crew having previously escaped in the boats, those that did not escape were transferred to the Saratoga, and shipped for the service.

When the N. [Nightingale] sailed the following American vessels were known to be in the Congo:  The Arcleus,  Alepina, Falmouth, Fairy and Martha Post -- the latter vessel  being under bonds not to engage in the Slave-trade.  (Very likely these ships might have been involved in the slave trade.)

The  brig John Hell, and the ship Brutus, (whaler), had succeeded in getting away.  All these are Northern vessels.

The Saratoga, having  but 8 days'  provisions got under weigh., with the N. bound to Loando, all the squadron being at that place, waiting the arrival of a store-ship, which had mot arrived  up to the last accounts.

Their store-house was almost exhausted, and the store-keeper confined in jail for caning a Portuguese, who had insulted him.

--Old B-R'er

Capture of the Slaver Nightingale-- Part 2: Cargo of Slaves

The Nightingale is a clippership, of 1,100 tons burden, built at Portsmouth, N.H., and intended for the Baltic and Australian trade, but as the builders did not fulfill the contract, she passed into other hands.  She sailed hence Sept. 13,  with a load of grain for Liverpool, and arrived  there Oct. 6, where she discharged cargo and was up for the East Indies.

Sailed from Liverpool Dec. 2, and was on the 14th January anchored at the island of St. Thomas, W.C.A. (probably West Coast of Africa)  "So states her log."

On the 22nd January, she was boarded off the Congo by the English steamer Archer, and the United States steamer Mystic, when she proceeded up the Congo River  and remained there until the first day of April, where she was fallen in with the Saratoga and boarded.  

Her papers being found  all right, she was allowed  to proceed, but on the 22nd April was captured as  above.

--Old B-Runner

Capture of the Slaver Nightingale-- Part 1

Back in my March 3rd post, I wrote about North Carolinian John Guthrie being in the U.S. Navy before the war and his part in the capture of what is believed to be the last slave ship (slaver), the Nightingale, captured before the war started.  Here is the story as it appeared in the New York Times back then.

From the June 16, 1861, New York Times  "Capture of a Slaver.; The Ship Nightingale seized  by the United States  Sloop-of-War Saratoga, with Nine Hundred and Fifty Negroes  on Board."

The ship Nightingale, J.J. GUTHRIE, United States Navy, Commanding,  arrived at this port, yesterday morning, from Monrovia, West Coast of Africa, which port she left May 13, and anchored at Quarantine.

The Nightingale was captured, April 23, off Kabenda, West Coast of Africa, by the United States Sloop-of-War Saratoga, having on board 950 Negroes.  She was taken into Monrovia, where the cargo was put  on shore, and 272 men, 97 women, 340 boys and 93 girls, making a total of 801,  -- 160 having died on the passage from Kabenda.

A prize crew of 26 men was put  on board the Nightingale from the Saratoga, and brought her to this port.  There has been considerable sickness among the crew on board the Nightingale since leaving Monrovia.

The following men belonging to the Saratoga have died:

HENRY NAGLE, ordinary seaman

JOHN EDWARDS, landsman

MICHAEL REDMOND, marine

--Old B-Runner

Enslaved Workers Left Their Marks on Fort Pulaski-- Part 3: The Construction

The dried bricks would then harden in a kiln for nearly a week before being shipped to Cockspur Island to be used in building Fort Pulaski.

Over a century later, Fort Pulaski still stands strong with walls that tower 22 feet  inside and are an average of 5 to 11 feet of solid brick.  Officials say the visible slave fingerprints serve as a "tangible reminder" of the enslaved Americans who made the fortress what it is today.

CONSTRUCTION OF FORT PULASKI

After the War of 1812, President Madison ordered a new system of coastal fortifications.  Construction of the fort, named for Casimir Pulaski, a hero of the American Revolution, began in 1829 under the direction of Major General Babcock and later, 2nd Lieutenant Robert E. Lee, a recent graduate of West Point.

Wooden pilings were sunk  up to 70 feet into the mud of Cockspur Island to support the estimated 25 million bricks it would take for construction.

The fort was completed  in 1847 after  18 years of construction and a cost of $1 million.

--Old B-Runner

Enslaved Workers Left Marks on Fort Pulaski-- Part 2: The Process of Brickmaking

Continued from February 12, 2021.

Fort Pulaski is on Cockspur Island, about 15 miles from downtown Savannah and was considered "a technical and architectural marvel of its time."  Of course, that was before the advent of rifled cannons which quickly proved that bricks were now obsolescent  with new military technology.

Built in the 19th century, it was occupied by both Confederate and Union troops during the war.  It later served a s a spot on the Underground Railroad for slaves escaping to their freedom. Fort Pulaski was also the site of a "fifty day siege and two-day artillery battle" that marked the first use of rifled artillery in U.S. military history" according to the site's website.

Most of the bricks used in Fort Pulaski were made locally by slaves, both men, women and their children, who "spent each day laboring to make bricks for a fort built to protect the port made rich from their labor."

Brickmaking was a tedious process that involved  mixing soil and water that was then stomped into clay before the mixture was packed into wooden molds.  Sticks and other debris had to be removed by hand, and the still wet brick removed and then set out to dry for days.

--Old B-Runner

Lieutenant John Julius Guthrie and the Navy's African Slave Trade Patrol on the USS Saratoga

From the March 1, 2021,  Washington (NC) Daily News  "A local war hero you might not recognize" by Leesa Jones.

John Guthrie was born in Washington, N.C. on April 15, 1815, and found himself stationed aboard the USS Saratoga off the West Coast of Africa on April 21, 1861, while the  rest of the country was getting into war.

At the time, the U.S. Navy was very active in the suppression of the slave trade.  The Saratoga's commander, Alfred Taylor, and his executive officer, Lt. Guthrie, received a report that a large ship loaded with slaves was located up the Congo River, where they were stationed at the time.  The ship's name was the Nightingale, one of the most notorious of the slavers.

As second in command, Lt. Guthrie was selected to lead a boarding party upriver and capture the slave ship.  The mission was a success and 961 slaves were captured and later released in Liberia.   The Saratoga then headed back to the United States with her prize (the Nightingale) in tow.

The Nightingale was the last slave ship captured by the U.S. Navy.  The African Slave Trade Patrol was part of the suppression of the Atlantic Slave Trade between 1819 and the start of the Civil War.  A squadron of Navy ships was kept busy at this and Guthrie's USS Saratoga was one of the most famous of these ships.

--Old B-Runner

Fort Fisher Prepares for Summer 2021-- Part 3

Across the Cape Fear River is Fort Fisher State Historic Park.  John Mosely said that they had launched a special exhibit on the role and experience of black soldiers from the USCT in the Civil War and at the fort during World War II.  That was just before the you-know-what hit and the fort was closed down.

"It is still up and in most cases, people haven't seen it," said Mosely.  "We hope people will come check it out."

"We have also been doing fund raising  for a new building (visitors center and museum to replace the current one built in the 1960s) and this exhibit is  talking about some of the stuff we are working on the grander  scheme of things."

I am also hoping they will start up their Beat the Heat Talks again.

The site, like most,  is still in a bit of a holding pattern as it awaits for directives from the state regarding gathering size restrictions as COVID-19 cases decline but the risk remains high as the nation waits to be vaccinated.

--Old B-Runner

Fort Anderson Prepares for Summer 2021-- Part 2: Was a Civil War Quarantine Fort

The Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson site  (Fort Anderson was built across the ruins of the Colonial town of Brunswick during the Civil War) will also will be debuting a few new exhibits to encourage locals and tourists to make the trek out to Brunswick County, including an inciteful 3-D model of what the ruins of St. Philips Church would have looked like before the American Revolution.

"We're going to have another new exhibit based on Fort Anderson highlighting it as a quarantine fort," Said Jim McKee.  "It is really the only thing that is completely born out of  COVID because  it allows us to tell how the fort's  primary purpose was as a quarantine station along the Cape Fear River.  So it is totally appropriate  for the time."

Blockade runners coming into Wilmington during the Civil War would have to stop at Fort Anderson to make sure they didn't also bring in diseases.

--Old B-R'er

Fort Anderson and Fort Fisher Plan to Welcome Visitors Back Again This Summer-- Part 1

From the February 28, 2021, Wilmington (NC) Star-News  "Nature trails?  Markets? How Wilmington area  historic sites  plan to welcome  locals, tourists" by Hunter Ingram.

It's been nearly a year now since most were shut down by you-know-what, places like Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson and Fort Fisher state historic sites and historic homes like  Bellamy Mansion and Burgwin-Wright are all prepping new programs, revamped layouts and ham-packed calendars to welcome the folks back after that dismal summer of 2020.

The staff at Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson (site of a colonial town and Civil War fort) on the west side of the Cape Fear River has been hacking away at some of the overgrown parts of the site.  They have 120 acres of land  nut only about 40 have been accessible and viewable by the public.

They want to  revive a few nature programs  to give visitors a new perspective on the site's Revolutionary and Civil War aspects of the site.

"We're trying to  rebuild old nature trails and put in new nature trails," said site manager Jim McKee.  "There are  some beautiful, drop-dead gorgeous viewscapes out  here in the woods and this is us trying to open them up a bit."

--Old B-Runner