Fort Fisher State Historic Site

Fort Fisher State Historic Site Civil War Battlefield and Museum By 1864, the supply line through Wilmington was the last remaining supply route open to Robert E.

Until the last few months of the Civil War, Fort Fisher kept North Carolina's port of Wilmington open to blockade runners supplying necessary goods to Confederate armies. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. When Fort Fisher was finally subdued after a massive Federal amphibious assault on January 15, 1865, its defeat helped seal the fate of the Confederacy.

-SPECIAL EVENT: 7 Things to Know for May 30-Join us at Fort Fisher State Historic Site tomorrow for our annual summertim...
05/29/2026

-SPECIAL EVENT: 7 Things to Know for May 30-

Join us at Fort Fisher State Historic Site tomorrow for our annual summertime event! This year titled "The 'Art' in Artillery," our special event will include cannon demonstrations, guided fort tours, fun activities, and displays from our community about both history and art of many varieties. Here are seven pieces of information that will help you plan and get excited for your visit:

1. Be sure to dress for the weather and bring water bottles. Other drinks must remain outside the Visitor Center. Water fountains and refilling stations are inside.

2. The Visitor Center and Main Parking Lot will be open from 9am - 5pm.

3. Cannon Demonstrations will be held at 11am, 1pm, and 3pm in the Fort Grove.

4. Water Balloon Launcher and Painting Toy Soldiers activities will be held on the grounds between 11am - 3pm. Free-flow format, so come when you’d like! All programming subject to change without notice.

5. Above the Scenes Guided Tours (1hr 15min duration, $10/person) are available at 10am, 12pm, and 2pm. Tickets may be purchased at the first floor info desk.

6. Check out our community groups and Friends of Fort Fisher tent on the green. Find a special display of historic photography in the visitor center!

7. Be curious and explore! The history of Fort Fisher and North Carolina is yours to discover!

We hope to see you tomorrow!

-A Stop in Melbourne, #8-Welcome to the LAST post of Haedyn Brewer’s project, “The Pacific World and the Civil War.” Th...
05/23/2026

-A Stop in Melbourne, #8-

Welcome to the LAST post of Haedyn Brewer’s project, “The Pacific World and the Civil War.” The week's subject is the Confederate commerce raider CSS Shenandoah, featured in our visitor center's new temporary exhibit.

CSS Shenandoah set sail for the Pacific from Liverpool, England in October, 1864, raiding its way south across the Atlantic and east over the Indian Ocean. Shenandoah stopped for repairs in Melbourne, Australia from January to mid-February 1865. The Confederate crew enjoyed great popularity for their exploits in the Atlantic, visited almost every day by fascinated Australian, British, and American civilians. Meanwhile, Captain James Waddell and his officers partied with local elites.

While docked at Melbourne, CSS Shenandoah continued recruiting sailors, done in secret because such recruitment violated British neutrality laws. The crew was reportedly joined by two Malayans, Duke Simmons and William Bruce, and an unknown number of Western sailors. When local officials heard rumors of this recruitment, Melbourne’s police force attempted to search Shenandoah for newly enlisted men on February 14th, 1865.

Captain Waddell forbade the police entry, claiming Shenandoah’s status as a foreign vessel of war and assuring them that he recruited no men in Melbourne. Waddell also threatened to abandon Shenandoah in port, leaving the Australians to pay for its detention and ongoing repairs. Officials in Melbourne were uncertain of the search’s legality, and postponed. The next day, the local government rescinded the search, allowing Shenandoah to set sail unmolested. Evidence uncovered later indicated that Waddell had indeed recruited men to Shenandoah’s crew.

This episode underlines the social and political complexities created abroad by the Civil War. We hope this story, and the others we have shared, have given you a new perspective on how broad the American Civil War truly was, and how interconnected our nation has always been with the world at large. Thank you to our visitors for your continued support, and another thank you to Haedyn Brewer for his work this season!

-Battle Acre Improvements-A big thanks to our maintenance team, David and Jesse, who were assisted today by Assistant Si...
05/20/2026

-Battle Acre Improvements-

A big thanks to our maintenance team, David and Jesse, who were assisted today by Assistant Site Manager Chad Jefferds in improving the coastal walking trail at Battle Acre! This fresh coat of paint on the posts and 400 yards of galvanized chain make for a nice clean look that really brighten the way.

The original posts and chains date to 1996 when the stone revetment wall was installed to halt beachline erosion along Fort Fisher. They served our site well for many years, but salty, humid air can take its toll!

More site improvements are on the way, to help make this summer at Fort Fisher a blast for our visitors.

-George Cartoah and Rotuma Island, #7-Throughout the Civil War, men traveled to America from abroad to fight for many r...
05/15/2026

-George Cartoah and Rotuma Island, #7-

Throughout the Civil War, men traveled to America from abroad to fight for many reasons. For some, they sought a new beginning in the United States. One of those men was George Cartoah, born in 1841 on Rotuma Island near Fiji in the Western Pacific. We know little about his early life, but he eventually appears in U.S. census records in Middleboro, Massachusetts by 1864 and seems to have been a naturalized sailor. In August, 1864 at New Bedford, MA, Cartoah re-enlisted in the U.S. Navy during the service’s boom in enlistments that year, which you can learn more about in our previous post: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/18SBHXa1am/

On enlistment records, recruiters noted that Cartoah’s right leg was tattooed with “kanach” figures, stretching from hip to thigh. “Kanach” is a misspelling of the Hawaiian word “kanaka,” meaning “human,” and at the time it was used by Americans as a catch-all term for Pacific Islanders. While we do not know the exact shape of George's tattoos, they clearly reflect the significance of his heritage. Known in the Rotuman language today as “Fa’i,” these tattoo figures are an important element of Rotuman culture, with designs made unique to each individual. To display values of modesty, male Rotumans like Cartoah often tattooed these intricately latticed designs on their thighs, which Westerners sometimes mistook for clothing from afar.

Cartoah was assigned to the receiving vessel USS Ohio, but was sick-listed on September 6, 1864 and hospitalized in Chelsea, MA with pneumonia. He returned to duty aboard USS Wabash in time to fight as an Ordinary Seaman in both battles at Fort Fisher. Unfortunately, not much else is known of Cartoah’s story, but what is clear is that he was an individual who dedicated himself to fighting for his new life in an adopted American home off Fort Fisher’s shores.

Next week, we'll discuss a fascinating episode that occurred during the voyage of the Confederate commerce raider CSS Shenandoah's, which couldn't make it into Haedyn's temporary exhibit!

Some sights and natural beauty from this morning, including a large pod of dolphins only 100 yards offshore. It's a sure...
05/09/2026

Some sights and natural beauty from this morning, including a large pod of dolphins only 100 yards offshore. It's a sure sign of good luck for a great weekend that we want to share with our community!

-The Kingdom of Hawai'i, #6-Welcome back to the Pacific World and the Civil War! Our temporary exhibit for Asian Americ...
05/08/2026

-The Kingdom of Hawai'i, #6-

Welcome back to the Pacific World and the Civil War! Our temporary exhibit for Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month launched last week, so come by to check it out. Today, we’ll take a closer look at one of America’s closest partners in the Pacific: the Kingdom of Hawai’i.

Founded in 1795 by King Kamehameha the Great, the Kingdom of Hawai’i eventually became a major waystation for whaling vessels, missionaries, and foreign dignitaries. Hawaiians found their way to America and served in the U.S. military as early as the War of 1812. By the 1850s, Hawai’i experienced significant cultural and economic exchange, with Hawaiians gaining employment aboard Pacific-bound vessels and newspapers bringing world events to the islanders. An estimated 119 Hawaiians served on both sides of the American Civil War; many were the sons of American missionaries, students in American universities, and captured sailors whom the Confederacy pressed into service aboard their commerce raiders. For example, Peter Davis served in the U.S. Navy from 1861-1872, fighting at Fort Fisher and becoming one of the longest-serving Hawaiian-American sailors of his time.

The Civil War took an economic and political toll on Hawai’i. King Kamehameha IV declared neutrality in the conflict and maintained steady relations with the United States. He refused to recognize Confederate ships as anything but privateers, and the Hawaiian whaling industry suffered from the exploits of commerce raiders like CSS Shenandoah and Alabama. The danger, and overfishing of Pacific whale populations, led some whalers to sell their vessels to foreign interests. In turn, the Hawaiian sugar industry grew in importance, especially when the war interrupted sugar production in the American South, ultimately destabilizing the Hawaiian economy. This opened the door for wealthy American financiers to gradually seize control of the kingdom’s industries and political power from native Hawaiians, until the Kingdom of Hawai’i was stripped of its sovereignty and annexed by the United States in 1898.

Culturally and economically, the Civil War marked a turning point for many Hawaiians. Join us next week for more stories from the Pacific World!

-NEW Exhibit Launch: The Pacific World and the American Civil War-After three months of hard work, Haedyn Brewer’s tempo...
05/01/2026

-NEW Exhibit Launch: The Pacific World and the American Civil War-

After three months of hard work, Haedyn Brewer’s temporary exhibit on the Pacific World and the American Civil War has launched! Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month begins today, and with it a fresh perspective on the many connections that brought peoples from across the globe to Fort Fisher.

We have sought to celebrate the many meaningful connections Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have to our nation’s history. Explore this history further with Haedyn’s exhibit, found alongside “The Blockade” section of our main gallery in the visitor center. It honors the stories of sailors from the Pacific and Asia who fought in the Cape Fear Region, and features the Pacific exploits of the Confederate commerce raider CSS Shenandoah.

We also hope you have enjoyed our recent series of social media posts on “The Pacific World and the Civil War,” and more are on the way! As a companion to the launch of Haedyn’s exhibit, we’ll publish his writings on select topics that are bound to enrich your understanding of what the peoples of the Pacific experienced during one of America’s most important conflicts.

Please join us in thanking and congratulating Haedyn for his efforts, which have propelled both our site’s interpretation of Fort Fisher and Haedyn’s academic career at UNCW. We wish him all the best as he graduates and steps into the professional world of Public History in earnest!

04/29/2026

⚠️Maintenance Update⚠️

UPDATE @ 9:51am - Power has been restored, Fort Fisher is operating as normal.

Local power is currently experiencing an outage, so Fort Fisher's visitor center, including rest rooms, will remain closed to the public. We hope to open once electricity is restored to the area and shall place further updates on this post.

Thank you for your patience!

-CSS Alabama and Commerce Raiding, #5-Throughout the Civil War, the Confederate Navy harassed U.S. trade ships using fa...
04/17/2026

-CSS Alabama and Commerce Raiding, #5-

Throughout the Civil War, the Confederate Navy harassed U.S. trade ships using fast steamers known as commerce raiders. Few were as successful or well-known as the sloop-of-war CSS Alabama, whose crew captured or burned 65 vessels between 1862-1864. Alabama was also the only commerce raider to destroy a U.S. warship, famously sinking USS Hatteras off Galveston, Texas in January 1863. The ship was commanded by Captain Raphael Semmes of Maryland, a veteran of the Mexican-American War and famed for his raids around Cuba.

CSS Alabama began its service raiding around the Azores and Caribbean Islands before moving south to the Brazilian coast to target trade vessels returning from Asia and the Pacific. However, Alabama was forced eastward to escape the heavy steamer USS Vanderbilt, eluding its pursuer just east of the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. Alabama continued raiding in the Indian and Pacific Oceans where the U.S. Navy had little presence, capturing eight vessels between South Africa and the Straits of Java, while others lost time and money sheltering at port to avoid the Confederate sloop.

After two years of near-constant sailing, Alabama desperately needed repairs and docked in Cherbourg, France on June 11th, 1864. Here, Alabama was finally trapped by USS Kearsarge, commanded by Captain John Acrum Winslow, a Wilmington, NC native and a staunch abolitionist. Captain Semmes knew Alabama could not outrun the better-equipped Kearsarge and chose to fight. In one hour of combat, superior U.S. gunnery and armor won out and Alabama sank, though Captain Semmes and much of his crew were rescued by a British steamer and escaped capture.

CSS Alabama helped transform Confederate strategy. Tales of its success sustained Southern morale, and Alabama’s disruption of U.S. naval activity motivated the Confederacy to expand its commerce raiding to the Pacific and Arctic Oceans. CSS Shenandoah, commissioned in October 1864, continued Alabama’s work in its own highly successful Pacific cruise, capturing 38 U.S. ships until its surrender six months after the Civil War officially ended.

-Sailor Spotlight: John Adams, U.S.N., #4-For today’s entry in the Pacific World and the Civil War, we celebrate the en...
04/06/2026

-Sailor Spotlight: John Adams, U.S.N., #4-

For today’s entry in the Pacific World and the Civil War, we celebrate the enlistment of John Adams, a Native Hawaiian who joined the U.S. Navy on April 6th, 1864.

Adams enlisted 162 years ago today in Boston, Massachusetts, for a relatively large enlistment bounty of $42. Little was recorded of his description, but we know Adams was 25 years old, 5 feet 6 inches in height, and carried traditional tattoos along his forearms and back. Adams served as an ordinary seaman aboard USS Fort Donelson, a former Confederate blockade runner assigned to the U.S. Navy’s North Atlantic Blockading Squadron in July 1864. Adams’ crew patrolled Cape Fear and participated in the bombardments of Fort Fisher and Fort Anderson in January-February 1865. He served until August 1865, when USS Donelson was decommissioned and Adams was honorably discharged from the U.S. Navy.

John Adams shared his name with numerous others. Many non-European men and women of this period adopted, or were given, European and American names. During the Civil War, popular names like John Adams appeared frequently among men serving throughout the U.S., some of whom shared common origins. Another native Hawaiian named John Adams, born in Honolulu in 1841, enlisted as a private with the 6th U.S. Colored Troops, Co. K in Portsmouth, New Hampshire on January 3, 1865. The 6th USCTs helped repel Confederate attempts to spoil the U.S. assault on Fort Fisher on January 15, 1865, and were among the first troops to liberate Wilmington one month later.

These two John Adams never met, but their stories share fascinating parallels. They were of an age, shared a birthplace and cultural heritage, entered similar lines of work, and despite their diverging paths they converged on the same Civil War battlefield in the pursuit of a better life.

Images courtesy of Fold3 digital archive.

Address

1610 Fort Fisher Boulevard S
Kure Beach, NC
28449

Opening Hours

Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm
Saturday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

+19102517340

Website

https://events.dncr.nc.gov/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Fort Fisher State Historic Site posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category