Confederate Goliath: The Battle of Fort Fisher

You should see the movie! It will be premiering on UNC-TV November 6, 2005 at 10 PM. Rod Gragg is interviewed throughout, and it is based on his book, of course. He is a great writer, and it turned out to be a wonderful film.

Gragg's book is very easy to read and is filled with great descriptions of the many participants. He describes why Wilmington was so vital to the survival of the Confederacy and why its capture was so important to the Union for a quicker end to the War. Some of the most interesting characters of the Civil War participated in at least one of the battles. William lamb was 29 years old when he finished building the fort. Young Lamb had a keen interest in military history. As a young boy of twenty in the mid-1850s, Lamb became captivated by a farawy war that was then being waged between Russia, Great Britain, and France. Fisher's design and physical features drew praise from her Federal captors-and more than a few references were made to the Russian fortress of Malakoff (a defensive bastion at Sebastopol that had greatly influenced Lamb's efforts to strengthen Fort Fisher)that was built during that war. The First Battle effectively ended the military career of Union General Bejamin Butler, a "Political General" who was a constant headache for both the Lincoln Administration and any Commander to whom he was a subordinate. The Failure to capture the Fort after a sucessful amphiboious landing was the final nail in his coffin and he did not receive another command during the war. Is there a Confederate defeat outside of Gettysburg and Petersburg that does not have the hand of General Braxton Bragg somewhere behind it? Bragg was in command in Wilmington instead of being cashiered after Missionary Ridge mainly because he was friends with Jeff Davis. Bragg did not send reinforcements to the fort that would have cut off Banks' invaders. Alfred Terry was in command of the second attempt to storm the fort in January 1865. One of the lesser known of Grant's favorite lieutenants, he is better known as the scapegoat of Custer's Last Stand. Lt. William B. Cushing USN was a precursor of the Navy SEALS. He had many special forces operations during the war including the sinking of the CSS Albemarle with a mine and doing soundings in a rowboat off Fort Fisher while under fire. Gragg's book was a page turner for me even though I knew the outcome beforehand and I would reccomend it to Civil War enthusiasts everywhere. UPDATE: 02/14/2006. NC Educational Television ran a television adaptation of the Book last week featuring a recreation of the two invasions of Ft. Fisher. It really helped bring the book to life.

Fort Fisher, guardian of Wilington, North Carolina, was easily the strongest fort in the entire Confederacy, thanks to the engineering genius Col. William Lamb, who at age 26 was given command of the fort. He quickly determined to make it "a work of such magnitude that it could withstand the heaviest fire of any guns in the American navy." He came very close to succeeding, arming the fort with some of the heaviest cannon in existence, including a powerful 150-pounder Armstrong cannon. However, Col. Lamb was plagued by a serious lack of troops, and his superiour, Gen. Braxton Bragg, was an unreliable moron who refused to believe that Fort Fisher could be taken by any assault. Of course, there were also infamous morons on the Union side, like Gen. Benjamin Butler, known as "Beast Butler" for his notorious policies during the Union occupation of New Orleans. It was Butler's fault that the first assault of Fort Fisher in late 1864 ended in a near disaster for the Union army, after which he was finally relieved of command. The second Union attack which would take place in Jan. 1865 was to be better planned and had far better officers in command (this time Gen. Terry was to be in overall command). Still, even after days of bombardment from the Union navy, the fort proved to be a tough obstacle for the 10,000+ attacking force, which included over 2,000 sailors and marines. The sailors and marines attacked one side of Fort Fisher while the thousands of well-armed infantry attacked the other side of the fort. The sailors and marines were bloodily repulsed (one in every five was a casualty) while the infantry slowly fought their way into the fort. Col. Lamb had fewer than 2,000 men but he made the enemy pay dearly for every foot of ground they gained. Finally, six hours after the assault began, the fort finally fell. The Union dead were actually in piles (some estimate as many as 1,710 were killed or wounded in both battles at Fort Fisher) around the fort, and the Confederates also suffered heavy losses, with aprox. 600 killed or wounded during both battles. Rod Gragg told the story of Fort Fisher in a gripping and entertaining way and he's one of my favorite authors. In fact, his book _The Illustrated Confederate Reader_ was one of my very first Civil War books, bought when I was 8 years old! This book has several great maps and two sections of photos, showing both the main Union and Confederate officers involved in the battle as well as photos of the fort itself. Captain Towle, one of (Union) General Terry's staff officers, perhaps summed up the battle best. "The fort never surrendered to anybody. It was taken by Gen. Terry by force of arms after a long and desperate resistance which did honor to both sides." This book is an absolute must for any Civil War buff!

Civil War bufs rejoice! Rod Gragg is by far one of the greatest writers of Civil War history today. This book won the "Fletcher Pratt" Prize for Civil War history and is indeed very worthy. Gragg kept me glued with his marvelous account of the events surrounding the battle of Fort Fischer which took place near the end of the war. For me, Gragg does several things right: He writes in an easy to read elegant style and makes the history come alive with vivid descriptions. Best of all, Gragg reveals the stories behind the story. He deals with the motivations of all the participants, men from Admirals and Generals all the way down to the seamen and soldiers. The action flows and the suspense builds with every page as the battle takes form. Theres enough rich detail to please the most hardcore Civil War buf. This is a story of a almost now forgotten, but important battle, and Gragg has a done a great job in re-telling it.

What a Great Story, What a Great StorytellerSeveral years ago, I had the great honor to speak with author Shelby Foote about his wonderful narrative "The Civil War." He was very kind and a true gentleman to spend a few minutes discussing with me my new found hobby of reading about Civil War history. Coming originally from Utah, I knew very little and he in a light hearted way joked about how once I started I would not be able to stop. Well he was correct. Three years later I've been thrilled to learn about this incredible period of time in our history through dozens of wonderful books. Confederate Goliath - The Battle of Fort Fisher, by Rod Gragg, is perhaps the best of them all dealing with a single battle, though it lights up many aspects of the general war situation, in a number of ways: very complete, readable, and by the last half I could not set it down. I admit to even welling up in tears at parts and gasping with disbelief and sadness at the human destruction and struggle so vividly and aptly described by Mr. Gragg. I'm heading to North Carolina in two weeks just to stand near the place where what I've just read happened. It'll affect anyone who reads it and I'd recommend it to first time Civil War readers as well as to the more experienced and informed.