The 158th Anniversary of the Fall of Fort Anderson to Be Observed-- Part 2

A pre-Revolutionary War town on the Cape Fear River, Brunswick was once attacked by the Spanish and later partially burned during the war.  It never fully recovered, especially with the rise of Wilmington further up the river.  It was eventually abandoned.

During the Civil War, Fort Anderson was constructed on top of some of the ruins of the town and served as part of the defenses below Wilmington before the fall of the Confederacy.

Colonial foundations dot the present-day tour trail, which crosses the earthworks of the Confederate fort.  Today, visitors can see the archaeological ruins of foundations of old Colonial kitchens, home sites and various outbuildings that once stood at the old port town, along with the shell of St. Philips Anglican Church.

Both the old town and the fort are run by the North Carolina Divivion of State Historic Sites.

--Old B-Runner

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

"Beat the Heat" At Fort Fisher: Colonial Resistance to the Stamp Act and Silent Sentinels

The next two Saturdays, the annual "Beat the Heat" lecture will continue June 30 and July 7 at 2 p.m. at the Fort Fisher State Historic Site in Kure Beach, North Carolina.

JUNE 30:

THE ROOTS OF COLONIAL RESISTANCE TO THE STAMP ACT AND THE ROAD TO REVOLUTION

Parliament's Stamp Act of 1765 focused colonial resistance to Great Britain's attempts to impose new taxes on the colonies without the consent of colonial legislatures.

The rise of colonial resistance was also based on fiscal policy leading to an attempt to arrest British officials in Brunswick Town (across the Cape Fear River a little north of Fort Fisher) and placed Royal Governor Tryon under a short house arrest.

The lecture will be given by Fort Fisher interpreter, Rick Morrison, a retired U.S. Navy captain.


JULY 7:

"THE SILENT SENTINELS"

We pass them all the time.  They dot North Carolina's roads, parks and cemeteries.  John Winecoff, of the North Carolina Military History Society, has spent years documenting all the military memorials in the state's 100 counties.

They are silent witnesses to the sacrifices of our men and women in over 243 years of our country's history.

And, the Lectures Take Place in Air-Conditioned Comfort, Just the Thing for These Hot Summer Days.  --Old B-Runner

Lockwood Folly Inlet and River-- Part 2: Two Stories As To How It Was Named

There are two folklore stories as to how this name came to be:

1.  A man by the name of Lockwood was building the "boat of his dreams" on the river.  He worked tirelessly, but when finished it, he discovered that his boat's draft was too deep for it to cross the bar at the mouth of the river.

All he could do was to leave his ship to rot.  Locals began calling it "Lockwood's Folly" and eventually that name was applied to both the river and inlet.

2.  The second story revolves around a man named Lockwood who tried to build a colony along the river but did not bring enough supplies and got into a dispute with a local Indian tribe and the colony had to be disbanded.

The name appears on a 1671 map making the name one of the oldest named rivers in North Carolina.

--Old B-Runner

150 Years Ago: Maury Updates Confederate Colonization of Mexico

NOVEMBER 27TH, 1865:  By this date Matthew F. Maury could report that "about 40 of our people" had already arrived at New Virginia, the name he proposed for his colony.  He described it as "a garden spot" between Mexico City and Vera Cruz.

Maury didn't leave for England this month as he had originally planned.  It took longer than he anticipated for him to establish the administrative organization for the emigration program and to get it running smoothly.

He did go to England later and events conspired that he would never return to mexico.

--Old B-Runner

A Really Short History of the Dominican Republic-- Part 1

Back on Monday, August 3, I mentioned that the USS Mercedita was sent to the Dominican Republic to protect American lives and property during some turmoil taking place there.  This was a sure sign that the Civil War was over and the U.S. Navy was back to its pre-war mission.

From Wikipedia.

The Dominican Republic was a former Spanish colony from 1492 (Christopher Columbus) to 1795.  the french encroached on it from 1795 to 1809 and it became independent from 1844 to 1861 when it became a Spanish colony again. from 1861-1865.  This would go against the Monroe Doctrine, but the United States was very much involved in other things at the time.

A revolution took place and the Spanish withdrew.

This was the reason the USS Mercedita was sent to its waters.

--Old B-Runner