Union Army Losses At the Second Battle of Fort Fisher

CURTIS' BRIGADE:

Killed:  2 officer, 35 enlisted
Wounded:  18 officer, 166 enlisted
Missing;  9

PENNYPACKER'S BRIGADE:

Killed:7 officers, 24 enlisted
Wounded:  15 officers, 183 wounded
Missing: 72

BELL'S BRIGADE:

Killed:  2 officers, 15 enlisted
Wounded:  4 officers, 105 enlisted
Missing:  none

ABBOTT'S BRIGADE:

Killed:  0 officers, 3  enlisted
Wounded:  2 officers, 18 enlisted
Missing:  11

TOTAL:

Killed:  11 officers, 77 enlisted
Wounded:  39, 472 enlisted
Missing:  92

--Old B-Runner

The First Battle of Fort Fisher 150 Years Ago Today

Day 2 of the battle.

December 25, 1864

MORNING  Union ships shell woods north of Fort Fisher to make it safer to land infantry.  Bombardment begins again.  Another 10,000 shells fired.

2 PM, Union infantry begins landing.  Brevet Brig. General Newton Martin Curtis is first Union soldier on beach.  Later Curtis strikes toward the fort with142nd and 112th New York regiments.

3 PM.  Curtis and Weitzel advance to within a mile and a half of Fort Fisher.  Later Curtis within 75 yards of Shepherd's Battery.

3:20 TO DUSK  Lt. William Walling of the 142nd NY picks up a garrison flag that had been knocked down by the bombardment.

Curtis believes the fort can be taken, but Butler calls a halt to the operation.

NIGHTFALL  Curtis advances a skirmish line toward the fort.

DARK  Confederates in fort open fire on Union soldiers.  Most of the Union troops have already gone back to the transports offshore.  By the time Curtis gets to the landing zone, the weather has gotten too bad to leave shore so Curtis and 600 men are left on shore.

Not Much To Do About Anything.  --Old B-Runner

Confederate Major James Reilly-- Part 4

Confederate General Whiting was wounded at Fort Fisher and taken to New York where he died.  The clergyman who officiated at his funeral was the general's brother.  He was buried in New York City and remained buried until late in the 1890s when his body was disinterred and brought back to Wilmington. where he was buried next to his wife.  There  are those who wonder why his wife would wait that long to do that.

Meanwhile, Colonel Lamb was dropped off in Virginia and was treated at Chesapeake Hospital where one of his foes from the battle, Newton Curtis was also being treated for a bad wound that cost him an eye.  .    During the course of their recovery, the two become good friends, a friendship that lasted until both died.  They even worked together to make Fort Fisher a national park.

Old B-Runner

Rescued Curtis at Fort Fisher

I came across this obituary for Francis Parody who rescued Newton Curtis after he was wounded at Fort Fisher, January 15, 1865.

Potsdam, New York, April 19.

The funeral of Francis Parody, who died at home here late Monday afternoon was held here this afternoon, Rev. F.R. Griffiths officiating and internment was made at Bayside.  Mr. Parody was a well known veteran of the Civil War and bore the distinction of rescuing the late General newton M. Curtis of Ogdensburg when he was wounded at Fort Fisher.

He enlisted in the spring of 1861 in the 92nd regiment, raised in this vicinity by the late Colonel Jonah Sanford of Hopkinton, and was a member of Company E of that Regiment until it was disbanded in 1865.

During the attack on Fort Fisher, General Curtis was wounded, the injury eventually costing him the use of an eye.  Mr. Parody was able to get him to a place of safety and was always proud of the part he played in saving the general's life.  He was a member of the Marsh Post, G.A.R..

He is survived by two sons, William Parody and F.W. Parody of this village and two daughters, Mrs. Francis Tracy of Potsdam and Mrs. Frank Kitteridge of Erie, Pennsylvania.

A Hero in His Own Time.  --Old B-Runner