Wilmington, North Carolina, was a major Atlantic Ocean port city for the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. A vital lifeline for the fledgling Confederacy to trading partners in Europe, Wilmington was one of the last ports to fall to the Union Army.
Wilmington, located 30 miles upstream from the mouth of the Cape Fear River (which flows into the Atlantic Ocean), was among the Confederacy’s more important cities. It ranked 13th in size in the CSA (although only 100th in the pre-war United States) with a population of 9,553 according to the 1860 census, making it virtually the same size as Atlanta, Georgia, at the time.
Wilmington was one of the most important points of entry for supplies for the entire Confederate States. Its port traded cotton and tobacco in exchange for foreign goods, such as munitions, clothing and foodstuffs. These cargoes were transferred to railroad cars and sent from the city throughout the Confederacy. This nourished both the southern states in general and specifically General Robert E. Lee's forces in Virginia. In its entirety, the trade was based on the coming and going of steamer ships of British smugglers. These vessels were called blockade runners because they had to avoid the Union's imposed maritime barricade.
Mostly, these blockade runners stemmed indirectly from British colonies–such as Bermuda, the Bahamas, or Nova Scotia. Often, they were forced to fly the Confederacy's insignia explicitly because Abraham Lincoln had imposed the death penalty on British "pirates" captured in the region. Along with vital supplies, the blockade runners brought foreign crews, which poured money into the local economy through bars, taverns, hotels, shops, and merchants. The town soon took on an international flavor not seen before the war.
Unfortunately, in the summer of 1862, one of these blockade runners also brought in sailors who were infected with yellow fever, which soon paralyzed the once-thriving waterfront, as well as much of the city itself. Nearly 1,000 people were ultimately infected with the disease, and over 300 of them died before the illness had run its course and activity resumed.
After the fall of Norfolk, Virginia, in May 1862, Wilmington’s importance was further increased. It became the main Confederate port on the Atlantic Ocean. Along the Atlantic seashore, Wilmington's defenses were so sturdy that they were only surpassed by Charleston's fortifications in South Carolina. Wilmington resisted Federal occupation for a long time, mainly due to the presence of imposing Fort Fisher.
Blockade running soon became an organized industry. The Crenshaw Company organized shipments of cotton from the interior of the Confederacy to Wilmington for smuggling through the blockade to England.
Wilmington was not captured by Union forces until February 22, 1865, approximately one month after the fall of Fort Fisher had finally closed the port. The Battle of Wilmington consisted of a series of three small engagements near the Cape Fear River that led to the abandonment of the city by the Confederate forces under General Braxton Bragg. Before leaving, Bragg ordered large quantities of bales of cotton and tobacco burned so that they would not fall into Union hands. Maj. Gen. Jacob D. Cox soon thereafter led the first Federal troops into Wilmington, which would remain in Union control for the rest of the war.
Since almost all the military action was some distance from the city itself, a number of antebellum homes and other buildings are still extant in downtown Wilmington.
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