Jan. 15, 1865-- Part 5: Over a 1,000 Union Casulaties

Fort Fisher had not been taken without considerable loss.  The Union forces -- Army and Navy -- sustained some 1,000 casualties, more than twice as many as the defenders suffered.  Porter wrote:  "Men, it seems, must die that this Union may live, and the Constitution under which we have gained our prosperity must be maintained."

More than 35 sailors and Marines were awarded the Medal of Honor for their heroism in this action that closed the Confederacy's last supply line from Europe.

The second Federal assault on Fort Fisher revealed again the inherent  ability of a fleet-supported  amphibious force to capitalize on the superior mobility conferred by command of the sea, forcing defenders to spread their forces thinly in a vain effort to be strong at all threatened points simultaneously.

This operation also provided dramatic demonstration of a fleet's ability to  mass superior firepower at any point of a shore defense position.  Fear of concentrated  naval gunfire forced  inaction of General Hoke's Confederate division stationed between the fort and Wilmington, forestalling any interference with the landing of  the Federal expeditionary force and enabling General Terry to split the Confederate defense force.

--Old B-Runner