Battle of Wilmington

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.

[edit] Battle

[edit] Sugar 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.

[edit] Fort Anderson

Rear Admiral David D. Porter's gunboats sailed up the river and shelled Fort Anderson silencing all 12 guns. Meanwhile Cox, supported by General Adelbert Ames' division, advanced up the west bank towards the fort. Schofield depolyed two brigades to occupy the garrison while Cox and Ames marched through the swamps around the Confederate flank. The fort's commander, General Johnson Hagood sensed the trap and evacuated the fort pulling back to a stronger defensive line along Town Creek just south of Wilmington.

[edit] Town Creek

Cox pursued Hagood from Fort Anderson, and on February 19 caught up to the Town Creek Line while Terry's remaining troops advanced up the east bank of the river. The Confederates confronting Terry on the east bank actually outnumbered the Federals and Ames' division crossed back to the east bank. Hagood had burned the only bridge across Town Creek and entrenched on the north side of the river. On February 20 Cox's troops found a single flat-bottom boat in the river and used it to cross the creek. Cox's troops then waded through the swamp and attacked the Confederate flank routing them and taking 375 prisoners and 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.

[edit] 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.