Battle
The Union forces prepared to leave Hampton Roads on December 10, but a winter storm hit the fleet for three days, preventing the fleet's departure until the 14th. The transports carrying Butler's force arrived at Fort Fisher first, since the navy took longer to refuel at Beaufort than expected. When Porter's ships arrived on the 19th, another storm hit the fleet, causing some ships to scatter and forcing the army transports to return to Beaufort. After the storm subsided on the 23rd, Porter decided to start the attack without Butler, ordering the Louisiana to be blown up that night. Near midnight, the ship was towed close to the fort's seawall and set on fire. However, the Louisiana was farther out to sea than the navy thought, perhaps as far as a mile offshore; as a result, Fort Fisher was undamaged by the blast.
The following morning (December 23), the Union navy moved closer to shore and began a bombardment of the fort, hoping to damage the earthworks and forcing the garrison to surrender. Despite firing close to 10,000 shells that day, only minor damage was caused, with four seacoast gun carriages disabled, one light artillery caisson destroyed, and 23 casualties in the garrison. Meanwhile there were 45 Union casualties from exploding guns aboard ships, and the Confederates were able to score direct hits on three ships.
The transports carrying the Union soldiers arrived that evening. Initially, Butler thought that by exploding the Louisiana and starting the bombardment without the army, Porter had given the Confederates warning that the Union assault was coming and would therefore have time to contest the landings. However he was convinced to land a reconnaissance party to determine if an attack was still feasible. The landings started Christmas morning, with Brig. Gen. Adelbert Ames' division the first to be ashore, while the navy continued bombarding the fort. The Union troops captured a battery protecting the beach north of Fort Fisher, and accepted the surrender of the 4th and 8th North Carolina Junior Reserve battalions, which had been cut off by the Union landings. After setting up a defensive line, Ames sent the brigade of N. Martin Curtis towards the fort to see if it could be attacked. Curtis found the land wall lightly defended and was prepared to attack, but was prevented from doing so by Ames. Butler was convinced that the fort was undamaged and too strong for an assault; he had also received word that Hoke's division was a few miles north of the fort, and another storm was forming in the area. All this convinced him to halt the landings and order the troops on the beach to return to the ships; the entire Union fleet then returned to Hampton Roads.
Read more about this topic: First Battle Of Fort Fisher
Famous quotes containing the word battle:
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—Adrienne Rich (20th century)
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
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—Fred G. Gosman (20th century)