The Port of Wilmington North Carolina was established in 1730 and due to the abundance of longleaf pine in the area quickly became a busy port especially for its exports of tar, pitch and turpentine made from the trees resin. In 1861, Fort Fisher was built to ward off Union forces during the Civil War and that it did until the end of the war. Fort Fisher helped make Wilmington one of the only ports the South had open and popular for blockade runners.
The commanding officer of the fort was General William Whiting. Fort Fisher started out humbly with a little over 20 gun placements. In the summer of 1862 Colonel William Lamb expanded the fort and by 1864 it was a formidable opponent to any Union force with over a mile of sea defenses as well as guns protecting the city itself. As strong as it seemed however nothing lasts forever and in December 1864, the Union was closing in on Fort Fisher.
The first attack started with a Trojan horse of sorts as the Union disguised one of the own ships, the Louisiana, as a blockade runner loaded with over 200 pounds of gunpowder. It got close an exploded but did little damage. The next day the Union bombarded Fort Fisher from the sea and again little damage was taken and finally on Christmas Day 1864, an infantry attack was launched but again it failed and the Union attackers were repelled.
On January 12th 1865 another attack was launched and this time it was by land and by sea. General Whiting was replaced by General Bragg who was making plans to leave Wilmington. The refusal of Bragg to send reinforcements to a fort he already counted as lost angered Whiting and he joined Colonel Lamb in the fort for the attack. After a bitter pounding from the sea the land attack came the next day with around 6000 Union men (4,000 attacking the NW point and 2,000 against the NE) up against just 1900 Confederate soldiers. Despite the odds the small Union force was repelled but the bigger came over the walls.
General Whiting as well as Colonel Lamb were injured during the battle and both died of their injuries later in Union prison camps. All told there were 2200 causalities during the assault. The haunting at Fort Fisher is claimed to have started just 3 years later during a Reunion held at the fort. Three Confederate veterans were said to be walking around the earthworks and saw a figure of a man wearing an officer’s uniform raise his sword, calling them to follow. As the men got closer the recognized him as General Whiting and as they started to realize what was happening the apparition disappeared.
Other paranormal activity has also been reported including an apparition in the woods who some think is a confederate sentinel still standing guard, footsteps heard on wooden walkways, locked doors being opened, sounds of gunshots and cannons.
Today you can visit the Fort Fisher State Recreation Park and explore the grounds that made an indelible mark on American history. Who knows, maybe you will run into an old guard of the General himself in one of the most haunted places in America.
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