By the afternoon of January 15, 1865, the Union navy had bombarded Fort Fisher for more than 48 hours. The fort stood on a peninsula at the mouth of the Cape Fear River. It protected the port of Wilmington, North Carolina. Located about 30 miles inland, Wilmington was North Carolina’s largest city. It also was the only port on the Atlantic Ocean that remained under Confederate control. Blockade-runners used it as a base to carry out Southern crops of tobacco and cotton and bring in much-needed supplies for General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia.
It was the Union’s second attempt to take the fort. The first attack had failed in December 1864. But this time, Union Major General Alfred H. Terry understood the importance of cooperating with the Union Navy. Terry and his naval counterpart, Admiral David Dixon Porter—in command of 58 vessels—made careful plans for the joint attack.
Blockade-runners were small, fast vessels used to evade a blockaded port.
This story is from the January 2025: 1865: A Year in the Civil War edition of Cobblestone American History Magazine for Kids.
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This story is from the January 2025: 1865: A Year in the Civil War edition of Cobblestone American History Magazine for Kids.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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Putting the Pieces Together
Americans needed to begin to put the past behind them, come together, and plan for the future in the spring of 1865. But Abraham Lincoln, the man best equipped to lead them and who had hoped to restore the country as smoothly and peacefully as possible, had been assassinated.
LAST SHOTS
The last Confederate forces in the Civil War didn’t surrender in the spring of 1865 or on a battlefield.
AND IN OTHER 1865 NEWS
A group of African Americans stop at the White House’s annual public reception on January 1, where they shake hands with President Abraham Lincoln.
A Plot to Kill President the
For several months, actor John Wilkes Booth’s band of conspirators had plotted to capture President Abraham Lincoln and hold him hostage in exchange for Confederate prisoners.
Let the Thing Be Pressed
In June 1864, Union Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant began a nearly 10-month campaign in Virginia.
HEALING THE NATION
President Abraham Lincoln took the oath of office for the second time on March 4, 1865.
A Helping Hand
The spring season is hard in any agricultural society. Plants and animals are too small to eat.
WAR SHERMAN-STYLE
As far as Union Major General William T. Sherman was concerned, the Civil War had gone on long enough.
PEACE TALKS
The fall of Fort Fisher made clear that the Confederacy’s days were numbered. Southerners were tired and hungry.
FORT FISHER'S FALL
Outnumbered Confederate soldiers inside Fort Fisher were unable to withstand the approach of Union troops by land and the constant Union naval bombardment from the sea.
