Bullet and Shell Civil War Projectiles Forum
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: Dave the plumber on January 14, 2015, 05:53:17 AM
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Is anybody coming to Wilmington for the anniversary of the Fort Fisher battle this weekend ?? The weather will be good in the 60's. Thaw out come on down !! I hear it will be quite the shindig, four days of continual presentations and talks, guided tours by Chris Fonvielle and NPS Ed Bearess, displays galore, cannon firing and of course - re-enactors
It will be the biggest gathering here since the battle itself !!
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Sounds like a lot of fun! Is Anderson doing anything too?
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That will be next month. I am not sure what all they have lined up. Maybe it is finally time for your visit to Wilmington....
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Have to see what I can do! Here is a nice overview of the festivities:
http://portcitydaily.com/2015/01/04/fort-fisher-fort-anderson-to-mark-150-years-with-anniversary-events/
Ed Bearss is a hoot to hear talk. Highly recommended.
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Wish I could be there, I've always been fascinated by that battle! Pipedreamer should be there, Fort Fisher is his primary collecting interest.
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I was talking with Chris Fonvielle last night. He gave me these facts;
58 Federal warships rained 19,642 shells for three days on the 2,200 men defending the fort. I am told that averages one every 8 seconds. The Confederates lost aprox 500 dead or wounded on both the bombardment and land face assault by the aprox. 5,500 ground forces that were a combo of army, marines and sailors, whom lost aprox. 1300 men themselves.
It was the largest American naval engagement until D -day
And of course we all know about the Braxton Bragg fiasco, camped with 5000 men just 3 miles north of the Federal landing site who sat on his ass despite please from the commander of the fort to assault the federals who would have been attacked from 2 sides and Bragg could have saved the fort. But he did nothing....
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And now for his service the North Carolinian Braxton Bragg has a fort named after him:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Bragg
Concerning his actions at Fort Fisher, Wikipedia reports:
The Confederates were able to successfully repulse the first Union attempt to capture Fort Fisher, which dominated the seaborne supply line to Wilmington. However, when the Union returned in January, Bragg's performance in the Second Battle of Fort Fisher was poor. He assumed that the first failed siege meant that the fort was invulnerable, when in fact bad weather played a large role. Thus, he did not come to the fort's assistance in a timely fashion after it was attacked the second time. The Confederates were forced to evacuate Wilmington, their last remaining seaport on the Atlantic coast.
If I knew that I did not remember it. Thanks for the info. That war, like so many I guess, had so many blunders that could have really turned the fortunes of one side or the other.
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Lol, Garrett is correct. I'm down here right now. Visited the Fort today at 3pm, which is the date and time of the land assault. Those people that work at the site are running themselves into the ground to prepare for the weekend. Got to see the famous Whitworth gun captured during the Hebe skirmish once again. New exhibits are great. Gonna be a big crowd Saturday and sunday.
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I would really like to see that. Have a great time guys.
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I'm coming down for it too. Leaving Raleigh here in a couple minutes. Looking forward to doing the tour with Chris in the morning.
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short update here;
Had a fine time. Weather was excellent, just a bit windy. Sun was shining bright. Got there before 9am, which I hear was a smart move. I was told by one friend he waited in traffic one solid hour to get there, and another person told me 2 hours around noon.
LOTS of people enjoying the day. Thousands and thousands and thousands. And, I always here that young people are not interested in this 'old stuff' anymore. Well, I am happy to report that there were tons of kids there AND young people. There were dozens of suttlers and displays and at times it was hard to even see what they were presenting because of all the people checking them out. This event is the kind of 'seed' that can make a young person interested in learning more about the war and it's causes and getting involved in reenacting, reading, collecting or scholarly. I am very much more positive from what I saw today. We don't see the young people at relic shows much, but they were out in full force today watching all the action, taking it all in. Plenty of rifle firing and booming cannons. Marching reenactors and swords and guns.......
Got to see our Govenor speak at battle acre, and then Ed Bearess stole the show from him. Saw a presentation by Chris Fonvielle and they were turning away people because the large tent was full up with a couple hundred people a half hour before he started. Ran into lots of local diggers, and saw quite a few share stories with each other whom they hadn't seen in years. Hung out with Jack Wells for part of the day, which is always a trip, as those of you whom know him will attest !!
Overall, a great way to spend a Saturday. Everybody near by should consider coming to the Fort Anderson anniversary in a few weeks. Although it will be much smaller, they are planning a 'big time'
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Sounds like it was a must see event and a great time. Glad you were able to make it. Thanks for the report.
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Thanks David, It was great hanging with you. Brought back 70 yr. old memories. This old fart had a ball
All the best
Jack
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Can someone tell me the date of the Anderson event? Thank you in advance foe your assistance.
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Gary,
In the Port City Daily news link I posted above:
Across the river in Brunswick County, Fort Anderson is planning an event to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the fall of the fort. The two-day event will be held Feb. 14-15. Events include an imagining of what could have happened if Fort Anderson had not been evacuated in the early morning hours of Feb. 19, 1865. As stated in a release, Fort Fisher had just fallen to Union forces, and Confederate troops “were forced to evacuate the last major defensive fortification on the lower Cape Fear.” “Over the course of the next 72 hours, the port of Wilmington would fall into Union hands,” the release states. The free program at Fort Anderson will present what the outcome could have been in a dramatic interpretation of the fall of the fort, “Last Stand on the West Bank: The 150th Anniversary of the Fall of Ft. Anderson.” Featuring nighttime artillery fire, the event will take place Feb. 14 from 6-8 p.m. Visitors will be guided on lantern tours departing every 20 minutes featuring interactive vignettes and true tales of the fort’s fall. More information is available by calling 371-6613. Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson State Historic Site is located at 8884 St. Philips Road SE in Winnabow.
So this looks to be the weekend after the Dalton Show.
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I couldn't go to Ft Fisher but I could hear the cannons firing. Pretty cool. Maybe the Anderson firing from the river.
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Wow, it was a great event. I attended the 9:30 tour led by my buddy Chris Fonvielle, he got so carried away with the tour he forgot about meeting with the Governor... lol... I followed that up with his talk in the speakers tent. We watched some of the reenactment, mostly for the benefit of my little boy, it's not my cup of tea. We left about 3:30 and discovered that traffic was backed up all the way to the stop light in Kure Beach and it was not moving at all. I think the parking was full and they were only letting cars in as others were leaving. Anyway, we returned at 5pm, the crowd mostly gone and attended the lantern tour which was a nice respite from the other stuff. The fort property itself looks as good as I have ever seen it. Mounds with vegetation burned away and mowed, new palisade fencing and tour stop kiosks.
Sorry I couldn't catch up with you Dave, I had my wife and boy with me and they needed to be entertained with something not Civil War related... :D ;)
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Dave the Plumber and Jack Wells: I am sorry I did not see you in the thousands of people at the 150th Fort Fisher Anniversary. Saw Herbie and Jay and some local old timers. I attended a Descendants Reunion for two days prior to the shindig at the Fort. My great grandfathers were in the 36th NC and were captured in the 2nd Battle. I met some interesting people who had ancestors who fought there including: the great, great grandaughters of Col. William Lamb, the gallant commander of the Fort, the great, great grandson of Gen. W.H.C. Whiting, the highest ranking CS officer at the Fort, some descendants of Dr. John Anderson, the Fort doctor ( his brother was Maj. Robert Anderson of Ft. Sumter fame, a descendant of Midshipman Cary who was on the CSS Chicamauga and later manned a gun at Battery Bolles or Battery Purdie (8" Armstrong), and many more including people who also had ancestors in the 36th NC. Like Jack, I had a ball getting in the middle of all the hoopla. There were 900 re-enactors who did a great job of representing what happened during the actual Battle. I'll try to post a pic of me and Col. Lamb's descendants who traveled from New Jersey and Ohio to attend.
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There were 900 re-enactors who did a great job of representing what happened during the actual Battle.
I thought the re enactment almost could not have been any more inaccurate than it was.
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justbored; I didn't watch the reenactment, but the scenario was pretty simple.
Yankees approach fort, rebs shoot at them, Yankees run up mounds, rebs shoot at them, Yankees take mound, rebs move to next mound and shoot at them, Yankees take more mounds and raise flag, rebs stop shooting at them. I don't know if there was any clubbing or stabbing involved, but I heard a lot of shooting going on
It wasn't like Gettysburg with ebb and flow and troop movements, kinda cut and dry here storming of the fort. Sorry I missed it so I could give an assessment. I was too busy Keeping Mr Wells from beating up some young whippersnapper who tried to knock him over with a table....
I'll have to mark my calendar and be there at the 200th anniversary and pay more attention !!
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http://www.wral.com/pivotal-civil-war-battle-relived-at-fort-fisher/14372751/
This is a link to a 2 minute news video of the re-enactment. It is well done and illustrates what happened at the Fort in 1865 and 2015 with out the blood and gore and about 9,000 less men involved. Just bored: pick up a copy of Lamb's version, Gragg's or Fonvielle's book to get a correct account of the Battles of Fort Fisher.
Mike Norris
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Colonel Lamb's great great grandson looked to be a duplicate of his famous ancestor. He was in my tour group and I was thrilled to see him. The resemblance was amazing. Put a beard upon him, and he would be Lamb. I heard about WHC Whiting's great great grandson. I thought that was odd since Whiting had no known children. I've heard stories, but no proof.
I'm not a fan of reenactments, so I'm not the best person to offer a non biased comment. With that said, I left the site right after the scenario started. I did return later for the living history vignettes by lantern light, which I found interesting, tasteful and well done.
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Just bored: pick up a copy of Lamb's version, Gragg's or Fonvielle's book to get a correct account of the Battles of Fort Fisher.
I own all of these and more. I wasn't the only well informed person there that thought the "re enactment" left a whole lot of accuracy to be desired.
Not trying to be mean, but I think accuracy is a good thing, especially for those watching that didn't previously have a frame of reference to go on.
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thanks for the link Mike. I always find re-enactments to be thrilling and fun as it puts you in the spirit of the celebration. It is easier to visualize the actual event when you can see and hear the firing, troop movement and concussion of the guns. Documentaries will be more accurate but re-enactments get everybody involved to sample a small taste of what it looked and sounded like. These folks that like to dress up and give us a visual reference are to be commended for their contribution to keeping the memory alive.
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well said divedigger dave !!
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I started this thread, and let's all drop it now. we've talked it out.
Differences of opinion are getting in the way and get us about as far as if all of us were talkin' politics or who makes the best barbeque !!
we will all just have to meet at Bentonville for their 150th coming up, watch the reenactment together and have a beer afterwards !!
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Could be not having all those ships and artillery shells bombarding the fort made it a little less realistic? ;D