The first study of this important and forgotten slice of Civil War history -- Includes detailed maps and photos -- Use it as a tour guide for this lovely state historic site This unique study examines the largely ignored action at Fort Anderson (on the site of the colonial town of Brunswick), just a few miles below Wilmington, N.C. This massive interior fortification was the lynchpin to holding Wilmington, the South's last and largest blockade running port. The massive sand walls of Fort Anderson stretched more than a mile in length, from the banks of the Cape Fear River (where immense batteries of artillery protected the approach to the city), west to Orton Pond. In mid-Februrary 1865, Federal troops under General John M. Schofield attacked the fort, which was defended by General Johnson Hagood's Confederates. Woefully outnumbered, Hagood knew that the loss of Fort Anderson, on the heels of the surrender of Fort Fisher, would seal the fate of Wilmington. Wilmington, North Carolina was home to many Southern blockade-runners and a Confederate lifeline for foreign supplies. Fort Anderson was one of several Civil War battles fought for control of the city; this large-format book is heavily illustrated.
