Fort Fisher 150th

[divedigger]

I couldn't go to Ft Fisher but I could hear the cannons firing. Pretty cool. Maybe the Anderson firing from the river.

[pipedreamer65]

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...   

[Wilmington Mike]

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.

[attachment deleted by admin]

[justbored]

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.

[Dave the plumber]

 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 !!

[Wilmington Mike]

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

[pipedreamer65]

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.

[justbored]

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.

[divedigger]

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.

[Dave the plumber]

well said divedigger dave !!   

[Dave the plumber]

   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  !!

[Garret]

Could be not having all those ships and artillery shells bombarding the fort made it a little less realistic?