Destruction of Cape Lookout (NC) Lighthouse April 2, 1864-- Part 1

I mentioned this in the last post.

This lighthouse was designed and construction overseen by Captain W.H.C. Whiting, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at the cost of $45,000 and lit November 1, 1859.  It was the second lighthouse at the site and it still stands.

It had a first-order Fresnel Lens which allowed the light to shine brighter.  On May 20, 1861, North Carolina seceded from the United States.  All lenses were removed from coastal lighthouses as well as navigational beacons to prevent Union forces from using them to navigate southern coasts.

Union forces captured Beaufort and Morehead City, N.C. in  1862 and by the end of the the next year they had a 3rd-order Fresnel Lens installed in the Cape Lookout Lighthouse.

On April 2, 1864, a small group of Confederates under the command of L.C. Harland were able to get out to the lighthouse with intent to destroy it.  They failed.

--Old B-R'er