By Taylor Kirchner
After being defeated in December 1864, Admiral Porter was convinced that they would have succeeded the capturing of Fort Fisher if General Butler did not cancel the planned assault. He then complained to Ulysses S. Grant and “due to his larger strategic goals of sealing the isolation of the Confederacy and securing a coastal base to support Major General William T. Sherman’s march into North Carolina,” he replaced the commanding officer with Major General Alfred H. Terry and increased his army hoping to succeed with a more competent commander and a larger force.
The Union assault force arrived on January 13, 1865 and began with heavy artillery bombardment. With this being the second battle, the Union bombardment was more accurate and they were aware of where the Confederate gun emplacements were and destroyed them with concentrated fire. By January 15, 1865, several hundred soldiers were killed and sixteen of the twenty artillery weapons were disabled preparing for the land attack on Fort Fisher. Although the force consisting of marines and navy sailors did not succeed in securing the east end of the land face, the Army troops were able to secure the west end of the land face and doing so, injured both Colonel William Lamb and Major General William Whiting, the leaders of the Confederate forces at Fort Fisher.
“The Union bombardment and land assault had so devastated the fort and its garrison that the wounded Lamb was advised to surrender the fort in order to prevent further bloodshed.”
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Fort Fisher 