Just Too Cute: Three Baby Otter Pups at Fort Fisher

Unfortunately, I am unable to figure out how to add pictures to this or any of my other seven blogs.  I lost the ability and haven't been able to figure out how to do it.

But, if you really want to see something cute, just search otter pups at Fort Fisher and you will see what I mean.

They are at the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher, which is on the grounds of the former Confederate fort.

The folks there are looking to have people vote on names for them.  Though my three ideas for names aren't on their list, I'm backing Lamb, Whiting and Maffitt, three names connected to the fort during the Civil War.

After all, they must be Confederate otters.

Just Too Cute.  I Want One.  --Old B-Otter

Joseph Ryder Lewis Jr. Park-- Part 5: The Importance of Fort Fisher and Wilmington to the Confederacy

Local historian, author of many books about the local Civil War history and historical preservation society member Chris E. Fonvielle Jr. said the park  includes some of the most intact and substantial Sugar Loaf  earthworks still existing.

The Sugar Loaf Line of earthworks  came into play as the Union closed in on taking Fort Fisher and eventually Wilmington, one of the South's last remaining seaports for supplies in the waning years of the war.

"When the seriousness of the threat to Wilmington became real, General William Whiting (Commander of the Department of the Cape Fear) decided to build this auxiliary line north of Fort Fisher so there would be troops ready to contest any landing by Federal troops," Fonvielle said.

Fighting that occurred along the Sugar Loaf Line would lead directly to the fall of Wilmington in February 1865 and featured the involvement of the United States Colored Troops.

--Old B-Runner

Where Was This Photo Taken?-- Part 1

Did anyone guess where this place next to this entry was located?

But, here are some clues.  

**  It shows a dock leading up to a masonry brick fort with water and a city in the background on what appears to be an island perhaps.

**  The commander of the Confederates was P.G.T. Beauregard and my favorite Confederate general, W.H.C. Whiting, was also here at the battle.

**  It is in a former Confederate state (Sorry BLM).

**  Action here is regarded as the start of the Civil War.

**  There was a huge bombardment here in 1861, but no Union soldiers were killed until after the surrender, when a cannon blew up when they were firing a salute.

**  Major Robert Anderson was in charge of the Union force.

**  It was bombarded into ruins by Union ships later in the war.

You probably have the right answer by now.  

--Old B-Runner

Confederate Civil War Markers in Wilmington, N.C. Area Are Down

From the August 20, 2020, Wilmington (NC) Star-News  Photos:  Wilmington-area   historic markers in need of repair.

At least eight area state highway markers  have been damaged, stolen or knocked down and are waiting to be replaced.  Some by the recent hurricane.  None of these have been done in by BLM.  Thanks, BLM.

These are North Carolina's "History On a Stick" markers.

**  The now vacant post where W.H.C. Whiting  highway historical marker by Fort Fisher was before it was blown down by Hurricane Isaias in August 2020.

It read:  "D 104 /  W.H.C. WHITING /  1824-1865 /  Confederate major general and engineer.  He devised the Cape Fear defense system.  Wounded nearby in fall of fort.  Died in Union hospital."

**  The Fort Fisher state highway historical marker was blown down during Hurricane Isaias and is still missing.  It was located in Fort Fisher.

It read:  "D 12 /  FORT FISHER /  Built by Confederacy.  Its fall Jan. 15, 1865, closed Wilmington., last important  southern port for blockade running."

**  Fort Caswell state highway historical marker was knocked down after Hurricane Florence in 2018 and remains missing.

It read:  "D 8  /  FORT CASWELL  /  Named for Gov. Caswell.  Begun by U.S. in 18226; seized by N.C. troops, 1861; abandoned by Confederates , 1865.  Stands five miles southeast.

Let's Get Those Markers Back Up Again.  You Must Know Your History.  --Old B-Runner

Wilmington (NC) in the Secession Crisis, 1861 Tonight at the History Center in Carolina Beach, NC-- Part 1

From the Federal Point Historic Preservation Society.

The society will be holding its monthly meeting tonight at the Federal Point History Center at 1121-A North Lake Park Boulevard, adjacent to the Carolina Beach Town Hall.  (That is right off US Highway 421.)

The meeting starts at 7:30 pm and this month the guest speaker is Bernhard Thuersam and the topic will be "The Secession Crisis in Wilmington, 1860-1861."

It will focus on local people, viewpoints and events leading up to North Carolina's reluctant removal from the United States. A fundamental point to be examined is prominent North Carolina Whig and Unionist Jonathan Worth's assertion that his state was "forced out of the Union."

Early news of the Star of the West relief expedition in early January 1861 of Fort Sumter by President James Buchanan startled Wilmingtonians who feared Forts Caswell and Johnston would be seized by federal forces.  This would be a repeat of the British occupying Smithville (Southport today)  and thus sealing the Cape Fear River off from commerce.

Prominent Wilmington citizens of Wilmington acted immediately and seized the forts, only to have to relinquish then as the state had not yet seceded.  Of interest, Fort Johnston was surrendered to the Wilmington citizens by U.S. Ordnance Sgt. James Reilly who later in the war, as a Confederate major, surrendered Fort Fisher after the woundings of Col. Lamb and General Whiting.

I'd Sure Like to be There.  --Old B-Runner

Jan. 15, 1865-- Part 4: "Fort Fisher Is Ours"

Cries of victory rose from the embattled Confederate defenders, who with the defeat of the naval brigade, believed they had beaten back the main Union attack, but their exultation was short-lived.  While the naval land assault was going on, General Terry's troops had meanwhile taken the western end of the fort by the Cape Fear River.

The Confederates instantly launched a counter-attack and desperate hand-to-hand fighting ensued.

The naval shore bombardment then renewed again (it had fallen silent during the naval assault) and this intervention proved to be decisive.  The guns of Porter's armada, firing at right angles to the direction of the Union charge, opened with "deadly precision" into the Confederate ranks.

Other ships now directed their fire to neutralize the river bank behind the fort to stop any attempts to reinforce.  Lamb later recorded that "as the tide of the battle seemed to have turned in our favor, the remorseless fleet came to the rescue of the faltering Federals."

Both General Whiting and Colonel Lamb were put out of action with severe wounds leading the counter attacks.  Major James Reilly assumed command of the fort.  He and his men surrendered later that night.

"Fort Fisher," Porter wired Welles, "is ours."

--Old B-Runner

January 14, 1865-- Part 1: A Second Day of Bombardment, Only One Serviceable Gun on the Land Face

JANAUARY 14TH, 1865:  The monitors remained at station and had maintained a harassing fire during the night of January 12-14; then at daylight of the second day of the attack the fleet's big guns reopened the bombardment in full fury.

General W.H.C. Whiting who had come to the fort to "counsel" with Colonel Lamb and share his fate, remarked:  It was beyond description, no language can describe that terrific bombardment."

The Confederates were hardly able to bury their dead, much less repair the works, as the fleet poured in, according to one estimate, 100 shells a minute.

The defenders suffered some 300 casualties from the naval bombardment and had but one gun serviceable on the land face.

--Old B-Runner

Just In Time for Halloween: Cape Fear Unearthed, the Ghost of Gen. Whiting

From the Oct. 24, 2019, Wilmington(N.C.) Star-News  "Cape Fear Unearthed:  The Ghost of the general" by Hunter Ingram.

Major William H.C. Whiting is the latest subject , who was wounded at Fort Fisher and later died in a Union prison, of the latest episode of the Cape Fear Unearthed podcast.

His legacy is forever tied up with the rise and fall of North Carolina's Fort Fisher, famed protector of the port of Wilmington and a haven for blockade runners during the war.  Whiting was a headstrong soldier who seemed to have as many enemies as friends during the war.  One notable enemy was Jefferson Davis.

He graduated first in his West Point class and became an engineer of note, both in the Charleston defenses and later those of Wilmington, including Fort Fisher.

Wounded and captured at Fort Fisher when it fell, he recovered from the wound but died of another disease while a prisoner in New York.  This was hundreds of miles from Fort Fisher but even death did not stop him from returning to Fort Fisher to be its eternal watcher.

It has been reported that the ghost of Gen. Whiting still walks the grounds of Fort Fisher.  This week's Cape Fear Uncovered's podcast is about the apparition.

Like, Boo!!!  --OldB-ScaredOrGoHome

September 26, 1864: Don't Send the CSS Tallahassee and Chickamauga Out to Sea

SEPTEMBER 26TH, 1864:  Major General Whiting, C.S.A., Army commander in Wilmington, wrote Governor Vance of North Carolina requesting that the CSS Tallahassee and Chickamauga be retained at Wilmington for the defense of that port.

"The Confederate steamers Tallahassee and Chickamauga are now nearly ready for sea, and will leave this port for the purpose of operating against the enemy's commerce.  Should they leave on this service the few vessels they might destroy would be of little advantage to our cause, while it would excite the enemy to increase the number of the blockading squadron to such an extent as to render it almost impossible for vessels running the blockade to escape them."

Notwithstanding these objections and those of General Lee two days earlier, the raiders were sent to sea.

--Old B-R'er

Wilmington, N.C.-- Part 4: Can't Miss Sites

The Salvo: Travels section of the Civil War Monitor magazine is a must-use source if you're visiting any of the places they have covered.

CAN'T MISS

CHRISTINE DIVORKY--  OAKDALE CEMETERY (520 N. 15th Street)  established 1856  There are sections for those who died in a yellow fever epidemic during the war, a Confederate Mound where 350 are buried.  Also the graves of Rose O'Neal Greenhow, W,H,C. Whiting and J.N. Maffitt.

BILL JAYNE--  FORT ANDERSON--  Just south of Wilmington.  Wilmington remained in Confederate hands for over a month after the fall of Fort Fisher.  Fort Anderson protected the southern approach to the city and is the home of some of the best-preserved Civil War earthworks in U.S..  Also ruins of colonial Brunswick Town, burned by the British in 1776.

ME--  BATTLESHIP NORTH CAROLINA--  After all I gave nickels and dimes as a schoolkid to save the ship for the state.

--Old B-Runner

W.H.C. Whiting Announces Completion of C. Lookout Lighthouse-- Part 3

The color of the tower is red, and the focal plane is 156 feet above the level of the sea.

The keeper's dwelling, which is part of the old tower, is painted red with  white horizontal stripes.

The illuminating apparatus  is a catadioptric Frensel lens of the first order, showing a fixed light of the natural color, which should be visible in ordinary weather a distance of 22 nautical miles.

The position of the light-house, as given by the Coast Survey, is:

Latitude 34 degrees 30 minutes 29 seconds north
Longitude  76 degrees 30 minutes 41 seconds west of Greenwich

The new light-house will be lighted for he first time at sunset  on Tuesday, the first day of November next, and it will be kept burning  during that and every night thereafter until further orders.

By  order of the Light-house Board:

W.R. FRANKLIN, Secretary

Treasury Department
Office Light-house Board, Sept. 19, 1859
Sep 24-3t

Of course, it was turned off less than two years later.  So, the original color was red, instead of the diamonds associated with it today.

--Old B-Runner

W.H.C. Whiting Announces Completion of Cape Lookout Lighthouse-- Part 2: We'll Leave the Light On for You

An announcement about the completion of the North Carolina lighthouse was run in several newspapers.  The one below is from the September 28, 1859, issue of the  the Constitution, a newspaper from the District of Columbia.  It is a notice from W.H.C. Whiting, Corps of Engineers of the United States Army that the lighthouse was fully complete.

OFFICIAL

NOTICE TO MARINERS
________

CAPE LOOKOUT LIGHT-HOUSE, COAST OF NORTH CAROLINA

Fixed Light

Official information has been received at this office from Captain W.H.C. Whiting, corps of engineers United States army, that the new light-house at Cape Lookout has been completed.

The tower is a frustum of a cone.  It is built of brick, and is surmounted by  an iron lantern painted black.

--Old B-Runner

W.H.C. Whiting Announces the Completion of the Cape Lookout Light-House-- Part 1

From NCGENWEB PROJECT  October 10, 2009, "Cape Lookout Lighthouse Anniversary."  By Taneya Koonce.  Family researcher Mark Green posted about this .  His ancestor Joseph Fulford donated the land for the lighthouse back in 1805.

October 10, 2009, marks the 150th anniversary of the second (and still current) lighthouse which was built under the auspices of Captain W.H.C. Whiting, Corps of Engineers of the United States Army.

That would be our W.H.C. Whiting of Wilmington and Fort Fisher fame.

--Old B-Runner

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

Whiting Appeals to Planters for Help on Defenses of Wilmington

From the July 23, 1863 Wilmington (NC) Journal.

"General WHITING, now commanding the department of North Carolina, appeals to the planters of the State to furnish him with labor.  Will this appeal be responded to or will it be slighted?

"Remember that this critical position of things on Morris Island is due mainly, if not wholly, to the neglect of planters of South Carolina to respond to the call and appeal of General BEAUREGARD."

The labor the planters were to send, of course, were slaves.  The Journal was blaming the Union forces being on Morris Island by Charleston, S.C., on the lack of cooperation from the planters.

--Old B-Runner

Whiting Takes Command At Wilmington in 1863

From the July 23, 1863, Wilmington Journal.

It will be seen by General Order No. 1 in to-day's Journal that Major General WHITING assumes command of the Department of North Carolina, with his Head Quarters at Wilmington.

That would be W.H.C. Whiting.

--Old B-Runner

Wilmington's Oakdale Cemetery-- Part 2: Defenders of Fort Fisher Buried Here

A cast iron fence originally encircled the cemetery, but during World War II it was donated to the war effort.

In 1862, he blockade runner Kate brought in yellow fever along with supplies.  The disease killed 600 people in Wilmington and 400 are buried at a site in the cemetery known as Yellow Fever Hill.

After the Civil War there was a massive influx of deceased Confederate and Union soldiers carried into Wilmington.  Unidentified bodies of 550 soldiers who died at the Battles of Fort Fisher were buried at the Confederate Plot.

In addition, Confederate General W.H.C. Whiting and James Reilly from Fort Fisher, John Newland Maffitt and Rose O'Neil Greenhow are buried at Oakdale.

Oakdale Cemetery has a Friends of Oakdale Cemetery organization to help.

--Old B-R'er

Fort Fisher

Major Charles Patterson Bolles supervised the first construction of fortifications of what eventually became Fort Fisher.  It became a part of the fort and was referred to as Battery Bolles.

The Wilmington area was under command of Confederate Generals Theophilus Holmes (for whom Fort Holmes on Smith island was named) and W.H.C. Whiting.  Whiting was Bolles' brother-in-law.

Fort Fisher was built by Confederate soldiers and slaves, of whom some 500 were from neighboring plantations.

Some Native Americans, mostly Lumbee Indians, were also impressed to build the fort.

--Old B-Runner

A Visit to Fort Fisher-- Part 2

The speaker had lists of why Braxton Bragg got a bum rap and why he was not to blame for the fall of Fort Fisher.  He was very convincing and showed that Confederate General Whiting, although well-liked by his men and others was not such a good general.  I will write about the presentation later this week.

After the presentation, I took a walk around the museum and saw the Whitworth cannon that is there on loan.  This was one of the best guns at the fort and a four-piece flying battery that would go out at a gallop from the fort to safeguard stranded blockade-runners until two were sent off to other points and two were captured at the blockade-runner Hebe fight.

They also had several items belonging to Col. lamb, the fort's commander that had been presented to the fort by the Lamb family this past sesquicentennial commemoration at the fort to mark the fall of it on January 15, 1865.  This was quite an observation with over 20,000 visitors.

I sure would have liked to have been there for it.

--Old B-R'er

Something Else to Do in Wilmington Next Month

From the July 23, 2015, Wilmington (NC) Star-News "Friends of Oakdale Cemetery."

The Friends of Oakdale Cemetery will hold a flashlight tour of Oakdale Cemetery 7:30-9:30 p.m. August 15 at 520 N. 15th Street.

The tour will be led by Chris E. Fonvielle Jr., Ed Gibson and superintendent Eric Kozen.  They will speak about the history of Oakdale, Civil War veterans, funerary art and prominent people buried there.

Gen. W.H.C. Whiting, Captain John Newland Maffitt, Rose O'Neal Greenhow and Major James O'Reilly are among the Confederates buried there.

The cost is $15 a person and you must bring a flashlight.

The summer walking tour series continues 10 a.m.-noon September 19 at the cemetery.  The cost for this one is $10 for non-members and free for members.

The tours are canceled in the event of inclement weather.

I'll Be Missing These, However.  --Old B-R'er