✦ History

Part of American Civil War

Second Battle of Fort Fisher

January 13–15, 1865 · Fort Fisher, North Carolina

Result Union victory

Successful January 1865 assault by the Union Army, Navy, and Marine Corps on Fort Fisher, south of Wilmington, North Carolina. The fort, sometimes called the Gibraltar of the South, was the Confederacy's last major coastal stronghold and a port for blockade runners supplying the Army of Northern Virginia; its capture closed a critical supply route.

On the map Contemporaries

Union

Confederacy

United States
Confederate States of America
David Dixon Porter Rear Admiral, Commander of the Union naval forces Alfred Howe Terry Major General, Commander of the Union expeditionary force
Braxton Bragg military commander William Lamb Colonel, Confederate garrison commander at Fort Fisher William H. C. Whiting Major General, Commander of the District of Wilmington; wounded at the battle Robert Hoke military commander

Strength and losses

Strength
2,261
Killed
184
Wounded
749
Missing
22

Units

Terry's Provisional Corps Strength c. 9,632 · Terry's expeditionary force: First and Second Divisions, XXIV Corps, and Third Division, XXV Corps Alfred Howe Terry Major general · 1865–present First Division, XXIV Corps Only its 2nd Brigade (Col. Joseph C. Abbott) was on the expedition; the division commander is not named in the cited order of battle Second Division, XXIV Corps Ames's division; 3,300 men Adelbert Ames Brigadier general · 1864–present Third Division, XXV Corps Paine's division; 3,300 men Charles J. Paine Brigadier general · 1864–present North Atlantic Blockading Squadron Porter's fleet; 58 ships bombarded the fort David Dixon Porter Rear admiral · 1864–1865
Department of North Carolina Bragg's department District of Cape Fear Whiting's district William H. C. Whiting Major general · ?–1865 Fort Fisher Garrison Strength c. 1,900 · Lamb's garrison; the fort fell January 15, 1865 William Lamb Colonel · ?–1865 Hoke's Division Strength c. 6,400 · Hoke's division, north of the fort, was unable to relieve it Robert Hoke Major general

Related events 1 degree away • 2 degrees away

1865
 
Battle of Nashville
 
Second Battle of Fort Fisher
 
Battle of Bentonville