~Bella’s Life on the Island~

The Fall of Fort Fisher, North Carolina 1865
Civil War Re-enactment

Fort Fisher is a most unique part of Pleasure Island; with its forest of live oaks that have prevailed over the force of ocean winds for more than one hundred years. The trees appear huddled and bent over together maybe like the soldiers who fought here years ago. Fort Fisher is almost at the tip of the island, a place where you can see from the Cape Fear River to the Atlantic Ocean over a small strip of land through these historic trees.

The Confederate army held off the union soldiers for three fierce days of fighting before they were defeated right here. Each year on its anniversary a group of volunteers puts on a reenactment of this famous Civil War battle. Just a few of the mounds of sand and earth that made up the original fort are still standing, not eroded by the ocean, but those that are here you can still explore. Today there are walking trails for visitors around the old fort.

On the night of the reenactment the paths are lined with paper lanterns and the grounds filled with men and women in groups, around campfires, all wearing the uniform of the day. A tour guide will take you by each of the scenes where the characters will tell you a bit about their story. At the end there is a firing of the cannons. Every year that I have been to visit the fort for the battle re-enactment, the temperature drops and the wind whips across the island as if the spirits of the soldiers themselves conjured it up. It is estimated that 2000 men lost their lives here in 1865.

There is a visitors center, fiber-optic battle field and gift shop on the grounds. Across the street on the ocean side of the site is the monument to the soldiers, the live oak trees and oceanfront pathway along the coquina rock and scenic gazebos.

The Second Battle of Fort Fisher will be reenacted this year on January 12, 2008. For more information you can call 910-458-5538.

Below is a map of the Fort Fisher State Historic Site:
http://www.ah.dcr.state.nc.us/Sections/HS/fisher/fort-fisher-site-map.pdf