Battle of Appomattox Court House

When Grant broke his lines around Petersburg on April 2nd and Lee put his army into retreat, his plan was to keep ahead of the Federals and join Joseph Johnston's army in North Carolina. He was very low on supplies, so he would have to resupply his army along the way. He pushed his men hard to make it to the supplies that were supposed to be waiting for him at Amelia Court House. When he arrived there on April 4th, his exhausted men having marched day and night, he found that ammunition had been sent from Richmond instead of food. The little that had been traveled by wagons had been captured by Phil Sheridan's cavalry which had been hard on the Confederate heels. The rebels couldn't eat gunpowder, so Lee had to halt his army for a day to forage for what supplies they could find in the countryside, allowing Grant to catch up. Lee continued to push his army forward, but his prospects grew darker and darker. The Federal cavalry was pressing at the army's heels, but Lee did not have the time or strength to halt to beat them back.

Ewell, who was captured at Sailor's Creek

On April 6th disaster struck in what is called the Battle of Sailor's Creek. Some Confederates were delayed in their march by having to fend of the pursuing Federals, and so a gap developed in the Confederate column. Eventually the corps of Anderson and Ewell were separated and brought to bay. Surrounded by Grant's army, their men were either captured or scattered. When he saw the broken remnants of Anderson's corps fleeing the field, Lee exclaimed, “My God, has the army dissolved?” “No General,” Major General William Mahone replied, “here are troops ready to do their duty.” Lee had to keep moving.

The rebels were headed for Appomattox Station, where they could get the supplies they desperately needed. But on April 8th Union cavalry arrived there first, and captured the food, foiling Lee's plans. The day before Grant had sent him a message suggesting he surrender. Lee refused, still hoping that he could reach Lynchburg, where more supplies waited.

Gordon

On the morning of April 9th, 150 years ago today, the Confederate army was near the small crossroads of Appomattox Court House. The Union army was converging on them, but at the moment only Sheridan's cavalry stood in their way. John Gordon's Second Corps attacked the Federals and drove several lines back. But as they reached the top of the hill on which Sheridan's man had been placed, they saw before them two Federal corps in line of battle. Gordon, his men halted, told a staff officer:

Tell General Lee I have fought my corps to a frazzle, and I fear I can do nothing unless I am heavily supported by Longstreet's corps.

When Lee received this message, he said:

Then there is nothing left for me to do but to go and see General Grant and I would rather die a thousand deaths.

Out of food, exhausted from the long, hard marches, much of the army missing, and surrounded by Union forces, Lee decided with the agreement of most of his officers that it was time to surrender. Grant agreed to meet with him to discuss the terms.

Appomattox

Breakthrough at Petersburg

Entrenchments at Petersburg

When Ulysses S. Grant received news of Phil Sheridan's victory at Five Forks the previous day, he immediately gave orders for a general attack to be made on Lee's lines at Petersburg. This opportunity coincided with a major attack Grant had been planning for some time. For months the Confederates had been stretched thinner and thinner, and now they must surely be planning to evacuate the position, since Sheridan could cut off their lines of communication. Grant wanted to strike and destroy Lee before he escaped.

Horatio Wright

The assault was preceded by an artillery barrage which began at 10 pm on April 1st, and continued for some four hours. Not longer after, in the early morning of April 2, the Union infantry attacked. The attack was begun by Horatio Wright's VI Corps, which was facing some of A. P. Hill's about in the center of the battle lines. Wright had carefully chosen the point to attack, on the far left of his position, where the lines were close together and these were few obstacles in between. He had a vast superiority of numbers, and was able to bring 14,000 troops to bear on a mile long line held by only 2,000 Confederates. However, the southerner's works were high and strong, and they had well sited cannon posted along the line.

At 4:40 two Union cannon fired, signalling the beginning of the attack. The Federal troops moved forward, preceded by pioneers to clear away the wooden obstructions in front of the Confederate lines.  The Confederate pickets were driven back, but they alerted the main line of the attack, and soon the Yankees began to receive a heavy and well-directed fire. The first Federal over the wall was Captain Charles Gould of the 5th Vermont. He ran down the path made by the Confederate pickets, followed by three men with the rest not far behind, and crossed the ditch on a plank bridge the Confederate had placed there. Gould quickly climbed over the wall and gained the parapet, but the rebels on the other side were ready for him. He was immediately cut three times by bayonets and swords, and one southerner pointed a rifle directly at him and pulled the trigger, but the gun misfired. He was pulled back over the parapet by Corporal Henry Rector, and before long more Union troops arrived and secured the position.

All along the line Federals climbed up the works, capturing them with quick hand-to-hand fighting. Breaches formed in the Confederate position and soon it fell entirely into Federal hands. The 2nd Rhode Island captured six Confederate cannon, and then quickly turned them on their former owners to drive back a counter attack.

A. P. Hill

After this initial success, Wright's troops continued to push forward in ragged order, capturing the Southside Railroad a mile in the rear. This would not be a temporary success, like Gordon had won at Fort Steadman. Instead it was a major breakthrough. A. P. Hill, the Confederate corps commander, worked to organize a resistance to meet this major reverse. He was riding through the woods towards Harry Heth's headquarters, accompanied by only one staff officer. The Confederate officers encountered two Union stragglers of the 138th Pennsylvania, Corp. John Mauk and Private David Wolford. Hill demanded their surrender, but instead Mauk fired, killing Hill. He was one of the highest ranking Confederate killed during the war.

The attacks

Wright reorganized his corps, and began widening the gap formed in the Confederate line, with support from Gibbon's XXIV Corps. At 6:00 Humphreys' II Corps on the left attack, and also made progress. Many Confederates resisted just to buy time, hoping that reinforcements would arrive. Fort Gregg was stoutly defended, and the attackers got stuck in the ditch, which was filled with mud and water. However, after several attacks, Union soldiers were able to work their way around to the fort's rear, drive off the few defenders placed there, and gain entrance into the fort.

Dead Confederate at Petersburg

Robert E. Lee realized that he could not maintain his lines, and that Richmond and Petersburg must fall. He telegraphed the Secretary of War:

I see no prospect of doing more than holding our position here until night. I am not certain I can do that. If I can I shall withdraw to-night north of the Appomattox, and, if possible, it will be better to withdraw the whole line to-night from James River. I advise that all preparations be made for leaving Richmond tonight.

During the day of heavy fighting along the entire line, Grant's army lost about 4,000 men, the Confederates about 5,000 men, mostly captured.Lee's men began evacuating the lines which they still retained at 8:00 pm. The government abandoned Richmond that night, taking with them what papers they could. The retreating soldiers set fire to the warehouses, and other structures of military use. The fire spread out of control, and much of the city burnt to the ground.

Richmond burning

That night Grant wrote to his wife:

I am now writing from far inside of what was the rebel fortifications this morning but what are ours now. They are exceedingly strong and I wonder at the sucsess [sic] of our troops carrying them by storm. But they did it and without any great loss. Altogether this has been one of the greatest victories of the war.

Early the next morning, Union troops found that Lee had abandoned his lines. He had set off towards Appomattox. The last stage of the American Civil War had begun.

The ruins of Richmond after the fire

Battle of Five Forks

Map of the campaign

In the spring of 1865, Phil Sheridan's army from the Shenandoah Valley rode to join Grant around Petersburg. With the addition of this cavalry, Grant had a large force available for maneuver. Sheridan attempted to flank Lee by moving with a force of infantry and cavalry around Lee's right, heading for the South Side Railroad. Lee responded by sending 12,000 men of George Pickett's division and cavalry under Fitzhugh Lee. On March 31st they met at Dinwiddie Court House. The Union advance was temporarily stopped, and Pickett and Lee fell back to Five Forks, an important intersection, which they were ordered to hold at all hazards.

Pickett

Sheridan planned to attack the next morning, but reinforcements were slow in coming, and his troops were prepared to advance until 4:00 pm on April 1st. This delay worked greatly to the advantage of the Union. Pickett and Fitz Lee, thinking that Sheridan would make no attack that day, left the front lines to go to a shad bake. When the Confederates were struck by three Yankee divisions, they were without a commanding officer. Even as the battle began to rage, it took the Confederate generals a long time to join the army. They received reports of the fighting, but an acoustic shadow silenced the roar of battle. Since they couldn't hear the fighting, they believed for a time that the reports they received were not urgent.

Nevertheless, Federal attack soon faltered. The plan had been to strike the rebel flank, but the Northerners had been incorrectly positioned and instead were taking fire in their own flank. The plan was turning out to be a failure. Seeing this, Sheridan rode to the front of his lines and shouted,

Where's my battle flag? Come on, men! Go at 'em with a will. Move on at a clean jump or you'll not catch one of them! They're all getting ready to run now, and if you don't get on to them in five minutes they'll every one get away from you.

His encouragement worked. The Federals resumed their advance, and with their general at their head charged, drove the Confederates back. The rebels formed a new line, and Pickett finally joined his army. However, the Union momentum continued, and they captured the Five Forks intersection, continuing to drive the southerners back. Sheridan scored a complete victory, capturing thousands of prisoners and several stands of colors.

Sheridan

More importantly, the Southside railroad was threatened. Lee knew he needed to retreat. Between Five Forks and Fort Stedman he had lost one quarter of his army. He planned to hold out for a few more days so as to give the authorities in Richmond time to move the capitol, but the situation was far worse than he realized.

Battle of Fort Stedman

Gordon

With things deteriorating across the Confederacy, the situation was looking bleak for Robert E. Lee at Petersburg. He had only 50,000 men to hold the many miles of entrenchments defending Richmond, and he was facing Grant, who had 125,000. On March 6, he told John B. Gordon, one of his corps commanders, “there seemed to be but one thing that we could do—fight. To stand still was death. It could only be death if we fought and failed.” Gordon finalized plans on March 23 for a surprise attack against a portion of the Union line, specifically Fort Stedman. He hoped that even if the attack did not break the siege, it would at least foil whatever plans Grant might be making. With Lee's approval, the attack was scheduled for March 25.

Fort Stedman, at which the attack was directed, was chosen because it was one of the points where Union and Confederate lines were the closest. There were also less wooden obstacles in front of it, and there was a Federal supply depot one mile behind it. Gordon's plan was to capture Fort Stedman and then have troops move north and south to roll up the Union line, preparing the way for a heavy column to exploit the breach and head for Grant's main headquarters at City Point. Half of Lee's infantry were on hand to either make the attack or follow up on it. Although the men involved may not have known it at the time, this would be Lee's last great attack.

Fort Stedman today. Source. 

The Confederates advanced at 4:15 am on March 25th, 150 years ago today. The first troops charged with unloaded muskets. Their duty was to get into the fort as quickly as possible, without stopping to fire. Captain J. P. Carson led one of the forlorn hopes – the troops at the very front of the attack. After the war he wrote his account of the attack:

The command was to advance at the sound of the bugle. It came at last. In an instant we were over the works and heading for the fort with all the speed we could command. We had hoped to reach there undiscovered, but twenty-five yards had not been passed before the fort opened upon us. I do not even now understand it. We were not visible and made no noise, but they knew we were coming and our direction. By the flash of those guns two hundred yards ahead of us darkness disappeared. It was at quick succeeding intervals as light as day. We soon got beneath their line of fire at the foot of the hill. I don't think we had up to this time lost a man. We were still going on the run as hard as we could when we crossed the branch and started up the hill. How we got past the first line of obstructions I could never remember. I was very fleet of foot, but when I reached the line Bob was there ahead of me. I saw him for an instant in the flash of the cannon tearing down and dragging aside the wire and logs. He was very strong, and had broken the wire when I got up. We went through the gap together. How the others crossed I do not know. The next minute we struck the middle line of brush, climbing and rolling over it into the open ground beyond. There the wind from the cannon and flying shot was so strong that we could not keep our hats on, while the frightful roar of the guns drowned every other sound. We went the rest of the way with hats and guns in hand until we struck the last line of obstructions. The men seized the rails with the strength of desperation, dragging them out of the ground and rushing through the gap. The next instant we came into the fire of the smaller guns. Here we hurried forward at full speed. It was every man for himself. Not only were we exposed to the musketry fire, but we had risen to the line of fire from the artillery.

Fort Stedman during the war

I do not know exactly how we got through it all, but in a minute more we were in the moat and in two feet of water. The fort had been struck just about the middle. Immediately the infantry ran out upon the works and began to fire straight down upon us. Lieutenant [John T.] Gay, [Fourth Georgia] of La Grange, [GA] fell at this moment mortally wounded, and would have drowned had we not lifted him back upon the bank, where he died. We were in the dark, while the men above were faintly outlined against the gray sky. I called to the men to shoot every Yankee who showed himself. They began firing at once, and in an instant almost the works were cleared. It was but thirteen feet up, and my men were sharpshooters. When the enemy found that it was death to show themselves, they thrust their guns over and discharged them downward. It was a critical moment; we could neither advance nor retreat. I heard simultaneous inquiries from along the line as to what must be done and one or two more suggestions to fall back. Just at this moment with the utmost coolness word was quietly passed along from right to left that a low place had been found. I heard the intelligence coming before the man next to me repeated it. Returning the command, "By the right flank, march," we filed along until the place was reached and then scrambled into the fort. Forming my line, I struck the forces within at right angles, and in a minute more they surrendered. The fort was commanded by General McLaughlin, and over five hundred men surrendered with him.

The Confederates had achieved a near-complete surprise, and were able to quickly seize the fort. Three more batteries were seized, leaving 1,000 feet of the Union line in the hands of Gordon's men. However, the attack began to stall. The Federals put up a good defense on northern and southern flanks of the breakthrough, and the Confederates, confused by the web of trenches and under heavy Union artillery fire, could not make any further advances. The Federal generals quickly brought up troops to seal the gap in the line, and then systematically advanced to eliminate the pocket.

By the time the Confederate attack was completely repulsed, they had suffered about 4,000 casualties - 600 killed, 2,400 wounded and 1,000 captured. They had inflicted 1,044 casualties on the Federals - 72 killed 450 wounded and 522 captured. Although this was a great effort on the on the southerners' part, it was not an important event for the Federals. Lincoln was in town visiting the army, and a grand review had been scheduled. Although the review was delayed during the attack, it went off that afternoon, as if nothing had happened.

Battle of Bentonville – Union Victory

Sherman

In heavy fighting at Bentonville on March 19th, Johnston's army had won good success, driving back several of Henry Slocum's divisions. But many Federals held firm, and ultimately the Confederates were unable to break the line. The next day was mostly a stalemate. Johnston would not attack again, and remained in a V-shaped line with both flanks anchored on a creek. He reported that he remained on the field so that he could remove his wounded, but he may have also hoped that the Federals would attack him, giving him a better chance for victory. Slocum was heavily reinforced by Sherman, but he too did not attack. There was little more than sporadic fighting throughout the day.

Mower

On the 21st Johnston still remained in position, but that day the Federals did attack. Joseph Mower received permission to take his division on a reconnaissance around the Confederate left flank. He took this as an authorization for an attack, and struck nearly in the Confederate rear. That area of the Confederate line was very lightly defended – only a few pickets stood between Mower's men and Johnston's only line of retreat. Confederate General Wade Hampton found one brigade, a battery and a handful of Texas cavalry, and threw them in front of the advancing Federals. They charged and were able to stop the Yankees a few hundred yards from the road. When Sherman heard of Mower's attack, he ordered him back to the main Union line. He later realized this was a mistake, and wrote in his memoirs:

I think I made a mistake there, and should rapidly have followed Mower's lead with the whole of the right wing, which would have brought on a general battle, and it could not have resulted otherwise than successfully to us, by reason of our vastly superior numbers; but at the moment ... I preferred to make junction with Generals Terry and Schofield, before engaging Johnston's army, the strength of which was utterly unknown.

Johnston, having narrowly escaped complete disaster, retreated from the field that night and burned the bridge behind him. He had lost about 2,600 men, 240 killed, 1700 wounded and 675 captured. The Federals lost 194 killed, 1,112 wounded and 221 captured for a total of 1,527. This was one of the last major battles of the Civil War, and the very last that could be claimed as a Confederate victory. Soon after Johnston wrote to Lee, "I can do no more than annoy [Sherman]. I respectfully suggest that it is no longer a question whether you leave present position; you have only to decide where to meet Sherman.” The end was near, and many of the Confederates saw it coming.

Johnston

Battle of Bentonville – Confederate Attack

Map of the battle

As Joseph E. Johnston made plans to fight the Union army of William Techumseh Sherman advancing north through North Carolina, he decided to make a stand at Bentonville some 50 miles south of Raleigh. Johnston had less than 22,000 men to face Sherman's 60,000. Confederate maps showed that the two roads on which the Union wings were marching were twelve miles apart at that point, giving a good opportunity to defeat one without having to fight the other.

Slocum

The battle began on March 19, 150 years ago today, when the Federal left wing under Henry Slocum encountered the rebels entrenched at Bentonville. At first, he believed he was facing only light resistance, as the Confederate position had a river at its back. But when one division failed to dislodge the Confederates, he deployed his men into a defensive position and prepared for a more serious fight. At 3 pm, with more Confederates having arrived on the field, Johnston attacked. The charge was a glorious sight. Colonel Charles Broadfoot of North Carolina wrote:

Several officers led the charge on horseback across an open field in full view, with colors flying and line of battle in ... perfect order ... and followed by a battery which dashed at full gallop, wheeled, unlimbered and opened fire. It looked like a picture and at our distance was truly beautiful. It was gallantly done, but it was a painful sight to see how close their battle flags were together, regiments being scarcely larger than companies and a division not much larger than a regiment should be.

Striking Slocum's left flank, the Confederates drove them back in confusion. More Confederates under D. H. Hill continued the attack, and began to roll up the Union line. However James Morgan's division, which comprised the Union right, held firm, and beat off repeated attacks. As night fell, the attacks continued, but were equally unsuccessful. Around midnight the Confederates fell back to their lines and began digging entrenchments. They had won a victory, but had failed to completely break Slocum's line.

The Harper House, around which much of the fighting took place

Battle of Averasboro

After capturing Columbia on February 17, South Carolina, William Tecumseh Sherman continued his march into North Carolina, heading towards Richmond to join the army of Ulysses S. Grant. Two armies were also ordered to join Sherman at Goldsboro, NC, with John Schofield coming from Wilmington and Jacob Cox from New Berne. On February 23, Joseph E. Johnston was appointed to lead the Confederate resistance. He was able to create the Army of the South from remnants of the Army of Tennessee, along with reinforcements from neighboring states.

Hardee

Sherman's army was moving north towards Goldsboro in two columns, the right under Oliver Otis Howard, the left under Henry Slocum. Johnston send his corps under William Hardee to delay Slocum, while the two Federal columns were separated, and hopefully unable to support one another. On the afternoon of March 15^th the Federals found Hardee deployed near Averasborough. The next day they attacked, and drove back several Confederate lines, but were not able to gain a complete victory. That night Hardee fell back, having held up the Federal advance for two days. The Federals lost around 700 men, the Confederates about 850.

The Battle of Wyse Fork

After the fall of Fort Fisher in January and Wilmington, North Carolina a few weeks later, the Federal troops there under Maj. Gen. John Schofield, were ordered to move inland to meet up with William Sherman's army on it's march north. Also ordered to join with Sherman was Maj. Gen. Jacob Cox's army in New Berne, north of Wilmington. The Confederates under Braxton Bragg and D. H. Hill, both natives of North Carolina, blocked Cox's path at Kinston.

Bragg

When the Federals approached on March 7, Bragg went on the offensive. One brigade under Robert Hoke hit the Union left flank. D. H. Hill tried to lead the North Carolina Junior Reserves into the fight, but they were too panicked to attack, so he advanced with other veteran units. As the Union troops were being pushed back, Bragg called off the attack to deal with false reports of a threat to his line. In the mean time, but Federals sealed the gap in their line. Skirmishing continued over the next few days, to little result. The Confederates tried another flank attack on the 10th, but the Federals had strongly reinforced the position and were able to drive off the rebels. With more Union divisions arriving, Bragg decided to fall back, clearing the way for Cox's advance. The Federals had lost about 1,100 men, the Confederate, 1,500.

Schofield

Battle of Natural Bridge

Monument on the battlefield

One southern state that saw very little fighting in the Civil War was Florida. Sparsely populated and mostly a peninsula, it contained few military targets or roads leading to targets. There were a few battles in the state, one of which, the Battle of Natural Bridge, took place 150 years ago today. This conflict took place because of an expedition by John Newton, the Union's Department commander. He landed near St. Marks on March 4th, and planned to destroy the Confederate force in the area and then march on Tallahassee, the state capitol.

Newton

The southern troops under William Miller were defending the crossings of the St. Marks River. They destroyed one bridge and held on Newport Bridge on March 5th, so Newton sent his men up stream to Natural Bridge, which was as yet undefended. The rebels realized what was happening, and a race was one. They arrived at the bridge first, and held it throughout the day on March 6th. Newton's troops tried to drive the Confederates away, but they held firm behind their breastworks and drove the Yankees back with heavy fire. In the evening the Federals retired. This was one of the last Confederate victories during the war, and it was key in making Tallahassee the only state capitol to remain in Confederate hands at the war's close.

Reenactment of the battle. Source.

Battle of Waynesboro

Custer

In February, 1865, Union Major General Philip Sheridan began moving up Shenadoah Valley towards Staunton, Virginia. Opposing him were the Confederate troops under Jubal Early, who had had badly defeated the year before at the Battle of Cedar Creek. 150 years ago today Sheridan's lead division of cavalry, 2,500 men under Brig. Gen. George Custer, approached Early just outside Waynesboro. The Confederates had a little more than 1,000 men behind earthworks which covered their entire front. Custer sent his first brigade around the Confederates left flank, while his second made a diversion in the front.

The Federals horse artillery came into action at around 3:30 pm, and several minutes later the rebels were shocked by the flank attack. They were thrown into a panic, and fled after a feeble resistance. Jedediah Hotchkiss, a Confederate staff officer, called it “one of the most terrible panics and stampedes I have ever seen. There was a perfect rout along the road up the mountain, and the enemy ... dashed rapidly forward into the swarm of flying men, wagons, &c....” Many Confederates were captured and the rest were widely scattered. The Army of the Valley no longer existed as an organized force, and Early himself escaped with only a handful of staff. He returned to Lee at Richmond having lost an entire corps of the army since he had left the year before. Although Lee valued Early's skills as a general, he had no choice but to remove him from command. It says much to the character of both men, that after the war Jubal Early was one of Lee's staunchest defenders, even though he had removed him from command.

Early later in life

Fall of Columbia

Sherman and his staff

Upon the completion of Sherman's march to the sea, Ulysses Grant planned to embark that Union army on ships and take them from Georgia up to Virginia, to deal with the army of Robert E. Lee, the last major Confederate force. But Sherman had a different idea. He got Grant's approval of a plan to march to Virginia overland through North and South Carolina and destroying along the way anything of use to the Confederacy, like he had done to Georgia. In January Sherman set out with over 60,000 men. There were few Confederates to resist him – the remnants of the Army of the Tennessee were down below 10,000 men.

The first major target on Sherman's path was Columbia, the capitol of South Carolina. This was a particularly important goal for the Federals, as South Carolina had been the first state to secede from the Union. In their path were around 1,200 Confederates under Lafayette McLaws. His men were guarding the crossing of the Salkehatchie River, but Sherman's men just built a bridge and outflanked the rebel force.

Columbia burning

On February 17, Columbia surrendered to Sherman's advancing men, and the Confederate cavalry abandoned the city. That night chaos broke out among the freed slaves and Union soldiers and freed prisoners, fueled with plentiful supplies of alcohol. A hard wind was blowing, and when fires broke out much of the city was destroyed. It is unlikely that these were lit under orders of the Federal high command, but Sherman certainly was not sorry it happened. The next day the Union troops destroyed anything left in the city of military value.

Ruins of Columbia

Battle of Fort Fisher

Fort Fisher

After many Union expeditions against the south, there was only one major port still in Confederate hands – Wilmington, North Carolina. In December, 1864 the Federals set out to close it, but first they had to capture Fort Fisher. A Union squadron under Rear Admiral David Porter was sent, along with an army under Benjamin Butler. The navy bombarded the fort on December 23, but it did little damage. Fort Fisher was built out of dirt, which absorbed the shock of the balls much better than masonry forts like Fort Sumter. Two days later Butler's army landed and began preparing to assault, but the entire expedition was called off when news arrived that a division of Confederate reinforcements was coming, and Butler called off the expedition, in direct disobedience to orders.

Butler

Grant and Lincoln were upset by Butler's failure. Butler was a Democrat politician. Since Lincoln had just won reelection to the presidency he no longer needed the worry about the repercussions of punishing Butler. Therefore Butler was removed from command. 9,000 Federal troops were sent back to Fort Fisher, this time under the command of Major General Alfred Terry, who had experience in this type of warfare from the siege of Charleston. By this time the garrison of Fort Fisher was 1,900 strong. The 6,400 man strong division under Robert Hoke was stationed just north of the fort. These were all under the command of Major General W. H. C. Whiting. On January 13 the Federal infantry landed between Fort Fisher and Hoke's forces, which did not attempt to stop the landing.

Porter on one of his ships

On January 15, 150 years ago today, the attack on the fort began. Terry and David Porter had developed a plan with good coordination between army and navy. The fight began with Porter's ships bombarding the Confederate works. They successfully silenced most of the Confederate guns. The a force of 2,000 sailors and marines landed it assault the fort's seaward face, while Terry's infantry attack and the land side. The assault of the navy troops was a failure. The plans for the marines to lay down a covering fire were not executed, and all of the Federals tried charging toward the fort's Northeast Bastion. From there the Confederate drove them back with heavy casualties.

Navy sailors attacking the fort

This attack did draw the defender's attention away from the landward side. At 2:00 pm the Union division under Adelbert Ames charged forward. An advance part used axes to cut through the obstacles around the fort, while the rest of the troops followed close behind. Although many soldiers fell, shot by snipers on the wall, the Federals pushed forward and gained the interior of the fort. The fight, however, was still not over. Confederates still continued to resist, and the remaining guns on the seaward side were turned on the wall which had fell into Yankee hands. Whiting himself gathered some Confederate defenders and personally led a counterattack. It was driven back, and Whiting himself badly wounded. He would later die after the battle.

Federals attacking Fort Fisher

The Federal assailants continued to push forward, driving back Confederate resistance. They were ably supported by Porter's ships, which continued to lob shells int o the fort. However, after hours of fighting, they still had not secured the fort. Both sides were behind defensive positions and the fighting raged on after sunset. Colonel William Lamb, the Confederate who was directly responsible for the fort's defenses, gathered what survivors he could to try to make a united counterattack, but he himself fell wounded. During the battle, Whiting had been send messages to department commander Braxton Bragg begging for more troops. Bragg did not believe the fort was in serious trouble, and instead sent Alfred Colquitt to relieve Whiting.

Soon after Colquitt landed at the fort, the situation began to deteriorate rapidly. The Federlas were determined to win the fort that night, and the Federals sent a flanking party outside the wall to strike the last pocket of Confederate resistance. This pressure was too much to bear. Colquitt and his staff realized what was happening, and hurried to escape in their rowboats. The rebels in the last traverse raised a white flag to announce the fort's surrender. At 10:00 pm the fort was officially turned over to the Federals.

A cannon in Fort Fisher, whose mussel was shot away during the battle

This fort was one of the most fiercely contested during the entire Civil War. The casualties were high, but the number was increased even further when the fort's magazine exploded the next day, killing and injuring 200 Federal soldiers and Confederate prisoners sleeping on its roof. The losses from this battle were 1,341 Federals and 583 Confederate killed and wounded, with the rest of the garrison falling prisoner. With Fort Fisher in Union hands, Wilmington fell a month later. All of the major sea ports were now Federal hands.

USS Mahopac

Fall of Savannah

Ruins of Savannah

Upon the conclusion of his march to the sea, when he established contact with the Federal fleet, William Sherman immediately began a siege of Savannah, Georgia. The fleet brought supplies and the siege artillery necessary to capture the city. With his troops in place, he sent a message to the Confederate commander, William Hardee, on December 17th:

I have already received guns that can cast heavy and destructive shot as far as the heart of your city; also, I have for some days held and controlled every avenue by which the people and garrison of Savannah can be supplied, and I am therefore justified in demanding the surrender of the city of Savannah …. I am prepared to grant liberal terms to the inhabitants and garrison; but should I be forced to resort to assault, or the slower and surer process of starvation, I shall then feel justified in resorting to the harshest measures, and shall make little effort to restrain my army—burning to avenge the national wrong which they attach to Savannah and other large cities which have been so prominent in dragging our country into civil war.

Hardee

Hardee did not take Sherman's offer of terms. Instead he abandoned the city, using an improvised pontoon bridge to cross the Savannah River on December 20th. The next day the mayor surrendered the city to Sherman, who telegraphed the president, “I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the City of Savannah, with one hundred and fifty guns and plenty of ammunition, also about twenty-five thousand bales of cotton.” Sherman's gamble, of abandoning his supply lines and heading into Georgia while Hood invaded Tennessee, had paid off. Lincoln was thankful that he had found able generals who could fight and defeat the Confederate forces. He wrote to Sherman,

Many, many thanks for your Christmas gift – the capture of Savannah. When you were leaving Atlanta for the Atlantic coast, I was anxious, if not fearful; but feeling that you were the better judge, and remembering that 'nothing risked, nothing gained' I did not interfere. Now, the undertaking being a success, the honor is all yours; for I believe none of us went farther than to acquiesce. … But what next? I suppose it will be safer if I leave Gen. Grant and yourself to decide.

Sherman