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Living History Program
Fort Fisher Presents Living History
Program To Commemorate 148th Anniversary of The Battle of Fort
Fisher
December 21, 2012
- Kure Beach, N.C.: The year 2013 marks the 148th
anniversary of the end of the Civil War. To commemorate
the anniversary of the Second Battle of Fort Fisher—the
largest land-sea battle of the Civil War—Fort Fisher
State Historic Site will host a living history program
on January 19, 2013. Thanks to the recently released
Steven Spielberg film “Lincoln” and its multiple
references to Wilmington, North Carolina and the Battle
of Fort Fisher, millions of movie-goers are now more
familiar with the fort’s important historical role as
the last fort to fall to Union troops during the Civil
War. Fort Fisher embraces this new spotlight and
welcomes history buffs and fans of the movie year-round
to explore its Civil War battlefield, monuments, museum,
and special events.
As part of the state's observance of the Civil War
Sesquicentennial, the N.C. Department of Cultural
Resources’ Fort Fisher State Historic Site will host
“Sheppard’s Battery: Confederates Defending the Left
Flank,” a special living history program on January 19,
2013. This year’s anniversary commemoration will focus
on the Confederate defenders at Sheppard’s Battery and
around the “Bloody Gate” on the left flank of Fort
Fisher. Re-enactors will set up displays of Civil War
camp life and talk with visitors about the life of the
Confederate infantry and artillery troops during the
January 1865 campaign. Other highlights include Civil
War authors, artillery and infantry demonstrations,
cannon and small arms firings, including the site’s
rifled and banded 32-pound cannon atop Sheppard’s
Battery. Events begin at 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. The
program is free and open to the public.
Volunteers in period costume will bring history to life
throughout the day. Guest speakers include local
historian Ernie Kniffen, who will discuss new findings
on his extensive research of Confederate sailors and
Marines. Author Richard Triebe will sign books and
discuss N.C. troops who were captured at Fort Fisher and
sent to a prison camp in Elmira, N.Y. Also on site will
be author, educator, and member of the Wilmington
Railroad Museum board of trustees, James Burke, who will
sign and promote his book, “The Wilmington and Weldon
Railroad in the Civil War.” At 12:30 p.m., the N.C.
Underwater Archaeology Unit will dedicate a new highway
marker for the Civil War blockade runner Modern Greece,
which ran aground and sank near Fort Fisher.
Fort Fisher’s programs afford visitors a wonderful
opportunity to learn more about local history and Fort
Fisher's role in the Civil War. Fort Fisher, the largest
earthen fortification in the Confederacy, once protected
the port of Wilmington and the vital blockade running
trade on the Cape Fear River. After two massive
bombardments the fort fell to a Union infantry assault
on January 15, 1865. With the capture of Fort Fisher,
Wilmington’s port—the “Lifeline of the Confederacy”—was
closed to foreign trade.
Fort Fisher State Historic Site is located in Kure
Beach, just 20 miles south of Wilmington, at 1610 Fort
Fisher Blvd. S., along US Highway 421. Visitors,
residents, and motorists are advised of loud explosions
during cannon firings and artillery demonstrations.
Programming is made possible with the support of the
Friends of Fort Fisher and its sustaining members. Fort
Fisher is part of the Division of State Historic Sites
in the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources.
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