Battle of Wilmington

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Wilmington
partof=the American Civil War


caption=Region down Cape Fear River
date=February 11 – February 22 1865
place=Wilmington, North Carolina
result=Union victory
combatant1= flagicon|USA|1863 United States (Union)
combatant2= flagicon|CSA|1863 CSA (Confederacy)
commander1=John M. Schofield
commander2=Braxton Bragg
strength1=12,000
strength2=6,000
casualties1=305
casualties2=845|

The Battle of Wilmington was fought February 11 – February 22 1865, during the American Civil War. It was a direct result of the Union victory at the Second Battle of Fort Fisher.

Background

After the fall of Fort Fisher, Wilmington, North Carolina, was effectively lost. The city was 28 miles up the Cape Fear River from Fort Fisher and along the way was a series of Confederate defenses. In February, 1865, the Union XXIII Corps arrived to reinforce the Fort Fisher Expeditionary Corps. Maj. Gen. John M. Schofield took command of the combined force and moved against the city.

Battle

ugar Loaf Line

The Battle of Wilmington consisted of three smaller engagements along the Cape Fear River. Confederate forces under General Robert Hoke occupied the Sugar Loaf Line north of Fort Fisher. On February 11 Schofield attacked the Sugar Loaf Line with Alfred Terry's corps and drove back the defenders. Next General Jacob D. Cox's 3rd Division, XXIII Corps was ferried to the west bank of the Cape Fear River to deal with Fort Anderson the main fortress guarding Wilmington.

Fort Anderson

Rear Admiral David D. Porter's gunboats sailed up the river and shelled Fort Anderson silencing all 12 guns. Under the direction of Lt. Commander William B. Cushing the Federal Navy constructed a Quaker (or fake) monitor to trick the Rebels into detonating their water mines to make way for Porter's gunboats. Both Cushing and Porter where highly pleased with the success of the ploy, however later Confederate reports claimed the garrison was expecting a dummy boat and were prepared. Meanwhile Cox, supported by General Adelbert Ames' division, advanced up the west bank towards the fort. Cox sent the brigades of Colonel Thomas J. Henderson and Colonel Orlando Moore against the garrison itself while Col. John S. Casement and Col. Oscar Sterhl marched through the swamps around the Confederate flank. Casement and Sterhl encountered Confederate cavalry and pushed it back after a short fight. The fort's commander, General Johnson Hagood sensed the trap received confirmation from Gen. Hoke to pull back to a defensive line along Town Creek to the north. Just as Hagood's troops began their retreat, Henderson's brigade attacked thus taking the fort rather easily along with a few prisoners.

Town Creek

caught up to the Town Creek Line while Terry's remaining troops advanced up the east bank of the river towards the Confederate's Sugar Loaf Line manned by Gen. Hoke's troops. By this time Hoke actually outnumbered Terry as Ames' division was now on the west bank with Cox. Therefore Ames was ferried back across again, but since Fort Anderson had fallen and Porter's fleet was now behind the Sugar Loaf Line, Hoke quickly withdrew to avoid encirclement.

Hagood had burned the only bridge across Town Creek to slow down Cox and entrenched on the north side of the river. Cox was eager to attempt his encircling plan that, due to Hagood's retreat at Fort Anderson, the Federals had been unable to complete. So on February 20 Cox's troops found a single flat-bottom boat in the river and used it to ferry three brigades across the creek while the fourth fronted Hagood. The Federals then waded through the swamp and attacked the Confederate flank, routing them, and taking 375 prisoners along with 2 pieces of artillery. The next day Cox rebuilt the destroyed bridge and Schofield's artillery crossed and along with Porter's gunboats both were within range of the city itself. General Bragg saw the hopelessness of the situation and ordered the city abandoned. On February 22 Cox's division marched into the city.

Aftermath

The Battle of Wilmington closed the last major port of the Confederate States on the Atlantic coast. Wilmington had served as a major port for blockade-runners, running tobacco, cotton, and other goods to places such as Britain, the Bahamas, and Bermuda. Now with the port closed, the Union blockade was complete. Bragg ordered bales of cotton and tobacco burned so that they would not fall into Union hands. Schofield's forces were reorganized into the Army of the Ohio and from Wilmington he marched inland to join with the rest of General William T. Sherman's forces.

References

* Kennedy, Frances H., Ed., "The Civil War Battlefield Guide", 2nd ed., Houghton Mifflin Co., 1998, ISBN 0-395-74012-6.
* [http://ehistory.osu.edu/uscw/library/or/098/0909.cfm?CFID=3336000&CFTOKEN=92029452 OFFICIAL RECORDS: Series 1, vol 47, Part 1, Page 909]
* [http://www.ah.dcr.state.nc.us/sections/hs/fisher/fisher.htm Operations against Fort Fisher and Wilmington]