155 Years Ago, January 25, 1862: Need Oil for the Merrimack

JANUARY 25TH, 1862:  Flag Officer French Forrest, CSN, commanding the Navy Yard at Norfolk, wrote to Major General Huger:  "I have just learned that one of the enemy's vessels has been driven ashore with several hundred gallons of oil on board ...  We are without oil for the Merrimack and the importance of supplying this deficiency is to obvious for me to urge anything more in its support."

As was true throughout the economy of the blockaded Confederacy, lack of critical supplies delayed the construction of the ironclad ram.

--Old B-Runner

Abandoned Well at Fort Fisher

From the July 29, 2015, Wilmington Star-News "Area abandoned wells pose no threat, officials say" by Tim Buckland.

Three long fingers of cement are buried around New Hanover County where oil was not found.  Three exploratory wells were drilled in the 1960s and when no oil was found, were filled with cement and capped.

One was near a housing development currently under construction behind Bison Court just east of US-17 in northeast New Hanover County.  A second is near Snow's Cut Park and a third is near a walkway at Fort Fisher Museum.

The Fort Fisher well is he deepest, at 1,558 feet and was drilled by the North Carolina Oil and Gas Company.  The others were drilled by another company.

Jim Steeley, director of the Fort Fisher Historic Site,  says he was completely unaware of its existence.

--Old B-R'er