Battle of Wilmington

The Battle of Wilmington consisted of three smaller engagements along the Cape Fear River. A Confederate division under Major General Robert Hoke occupied the Sugar Loaf Line north of Fort Fisher. On February 11 Schofield attacked Hoke's Sugar Loaf Line with Alfred Terry's corps; the engagement started in the morning with a bombardment by Union gunboats along the Atlantic side of the fortifications. A half-hour later, Terry started his advance but his left wing was hindered by a swamp located along the river. By late afternoon, Schofield and Terry had overrun the Confederate skirmish line but then concluded that the main Confederate works were too strong to be captured by frontal assault; Schofield decided that he had to capture Wilmington from the western side of the river. Next, Major General Jacob D. Cox's 3rd Division, XXIII Corps was ferried to the west bank of the Cape Fear River to deal with Fort Anderson, the main fortress guarding Wilmington.[6]

The Bombardment of Fort Anderson, February 11, 1865

Rear Admiral David D. Porter's gunboats sailed up the river and shelled Fort Anderson silencing all twelve guns. Under the direction of Lt. Commander William B. Cushing the Federal Navy constructed a Quaker (or fake) monitor to trick the Rebels into detonating their water mines to make way for Porter's gunboats. Both Cushing and Porter were highly pleased with the success of the ploy. However, later Confederate reports claimed the garrison was expecting a dummy boat and were prepared. Meanwhile, Cox, supported by General Adelbert Ames' division, advanced up the west bank towards the fort. Cox sent the brigades of Colonel Thomas J. Henderson and Colonel Orlando Moore against the garrison itself while Brig. General John S. Casement and Col. Oscar Sterhl marched through the swamps around the Confederate flank. Casement and Sterhl encountered Confederate cavalry and pushed it back after a short fight. The fort's commander, General Johnson Hagood sensed the trap and received permission from Gen. Hoke to pull back to a defensive line along Town Creek to the north. Just as Hagood's troops began their retreat, Henderson's brigade attacked, thus taking the fort rather easily along with a few prisoners.[7]

The Union attacks at Fort Anderson and Town Creek were largely directed by Gen. Cox.

Cox pursued Hagood from Fort Anderson, and on February 19 caught up to the Town Creek Line while Hoke's division retreated to a position three miles south of Wilmington, across the river from Hagood's force. Terry followed Hoke cautiously, worried about being surprised by an ambush or by a flank attack from his right. By this time Hoke actually outnumbered Terry as Ames' division was now on the west bank with Cox. Therefore, Ames was ferried back across again as Terry and Porter's fleet started clearing the river of torpedoes. Terry restarted his advance the next day, encountering Hoke's new lines in the afternoon. Once he was convinced that Hoke planned to remain where he was, Terry ordered the Union troops to start building entrenchments while Union gunboats tested the Confederate batteries along the river bank, just west of Hoke's division.[8]

Clearing the river

Hagood had burned the only bridge across Town Creek to slow down Cox, and entrenched on the north side of the river. Cox was eager to attempt his encircling plan that, due to Hagood's retreat at Fort Anderson, the Federals had been unable to complete. The creek was not fordable, so on February 20 Cox's troops found a single flat-bottom boat in the river and used it to ferry three brigades across the creek while the fourth brigade skirmished with Hagood as a diversion. Hagood discovered the flanking movement and decided, since his position was now untenable, to retreat back to Wilmington. He left two regiments to cover his retreat. The Federals then waded through the swamp and attacked the Confederate flank, routing the two regiments, and taking 375 prisoners along with two pieces of artillery. The next day Cox rebuilt the destroyed bridge and Schofield's artillery crossed and along with Porter's gunboats both were within range of the city itself.[9] General Bragg saw the hopelessness of the situation and ordered the city abandoned. On February 21, Cox's division continued its march toward the city but was delayed by the destroyed bridges across the Brunswick River and by Confederate cavalry, while Hoke's division continued to hold off Terry's command. Bragg used the 21st to evacuate Union prisoners located there, while evacuating anything of military value; he also ordered bales of cotton and tobacco burned so that they would not fall into Union hands, along with storehouses, foundries, shipyards, and ships. Bragg retreated with his forces at 1 a.m. on the 22nd; Cox's corps entered the city after 8 a.m., with Terry's forces entering an hour later.[10]