Brunswick County- A View from the Bridge
by Brenda Marshburn One hundred and thirty years ago, America's Civil War came to an end. North Carolina played an important role in this conflict that pitted brother against brother. The Lower Cape Fear was vital to the defense of North Carolina and to the Confederacy. The "Lifeline of the Confederacy" had to remain open. To ensure the safety of the port of Wilmington and the Wilmington to Weldon Railroad, the Lower Cape Fear River was heavily fortified. Six major forts and several lesser fortifications guarded the entrances to the river. The last of these forts to fall to Union troops was Fort Anderson. Under orders from Major W.H.C. Whiting, commander of Confederate troops in the area, construction of the fort began under the supervision of Major Thomas Rowland. The fort was built over the colonial town of Brunswick and named Fort St. Phillips since the walls of the church were inside the fort. The name later changed to Fort Anderson. The mammoth earthen fort had two heavily armed batteries that overlooked the river. Both batteries were armed with large guns that were protected by high mounds on both sides of each gun. Lesser earthen works zigzagged almost a mile west from the massive river front to Orton Pond. The fort was armed with nine 32 pounder guns, three 24 pounder guns and at least one Whitworth gun. Wooden barracks were built inside the fort using bricks and stones for the chimneys from the ruins of the colonial port town of Brunswick. The only other structure inside the fort was the remains of the church. When Fort Fisher fell in January 1865, General Braxton Bragg ordered all troops from the four forts along the mouth of the Cape Fear River to be evacuated and the forts destroyed. Soldiers from these forts went to Fort Anderson. General Johnson Hagood was in command of Anderson. General Jacob Cox and Admiral David Porter planned a joint attack on Fort Anderson. Porter was to resume the bombardment he had begun earlier with twenty ships while the land forces advanced. Five thousand Union troops landed in Smithville. Two brigades marched an extra fifteen miles around Orton Pond up the rear flank of Fort Anderson. These troops were briefly delayed by the Confederate Cavalry. When Hagood learned of this second advance, he led his troops out of the fort in the early morning hours of February 19, 1865. Federal troops arrived to find a fairly deserted fort still being shelled by the Union navy. The only way to stop the bombardent was for Union forces to raise a white flag of surrender, thus the Union army surrendered Fort Anderson to the Union navy. With the fall of Fort Anderson, the Federal troops easily marched into Wilmington. The closing of the port of Wilmington and the Wilmington to Weldon Railroad proved to be a fatal blow to the Confederacy. Two months after the fall of Fort Anderson and Wilmington, the Civil War came to an end. Originally published in The Pelican Post Winter 1996 issue.