Sometimes referred to as the "Gibraltar of the South" and the last major coastal stronghold of the Confederacy, Fort Fisher had tremendous strategic value during the war, providing a port for blockade runners supplying the Army of Northern Virginia.

Ships leaving Wilmington via the Cape Fear River and setting sail for the Bahamas, Bermuda or Nova Scotia to trade cotton and tobacco for needed supplies from the British were protected by the fort.

He finally sent reinforcements from Hagood's brigade to Colonel William Lamb's garrison bringing the total at Fort Fisher to 1,900.

"[14] Alfred Terry had previously commanded troops during the Second Battle of Charleston Harbor and understood the importance of coordinating with the Union Navy.

Hoke was unwilling to risk opening the route to Wilmington and remained unengaged while the entire Union force landed safely ashore.

[7] On January 15, Porter's gunboats opened fire on the sea face of the fort and by noon they succeeded in silencing all but four guns.

all shrieking in a grand martial chorus that was a fitting accompaniment to the death dance of the hundreds about to fall.”[17] During this bombardment Hoke sent about 1,000 troops from his line to Fort Fisher, however only about 400 were able to land and make it into the defense while the others were forced to turn back.

The Union Army's original plan was for the naval force, armed with revolvers and cutlasses, to attack in three waves with the marines providing covering fire, but instead, the assault went forward in a single unorganized mass.

Mowris, a surgeon in the 117th New York Infantry, stating, "Not far in advance towered the frowning Fortress... and, though none saw, all knew, that above, in imperial majesty, sat the Angel of Death.

Meanwhile, the Confederates turned the cannons in Battery Buchanan at the southern tip of the peninsula and fired on the northern wall as it fell into Union hands.

Charging into the Union soldiers, Whiting received multiple demands to surrender, and when he refused he was shot down, severely wounded.

His gunners' aim proved to be deadly accurate and began clearing out the defenders as the Union troops approached the sea wall.

Upon hearing this notion, a frenzied Curtis grabbed a spade and threw it over Confederate trenches and shouted, "Dig Johnnies, for I'm coming for you."

[22]The grueling battle lasted for hours, long after dark, as shells plunged in from the sea and Ames struggled with a division that became increasingly disorganized as his regimental leaders and all of his brigade commanders fell dead or wounded.

Meanwhile, in Fort Fisher's hospital, Lamb turned over command to Major James Reilly, and Whiting sent one last plea to General Bragg to send reinforcements.

Ames, ordered to maintain the offensive, organized a flanking maneuver, sending some of his men to advance outside the land wall, and come up behind the Confederate defenders of the last traverse.

Potential European recognition of the Confederacy was likely already impossible, but now became entirely unrealistic; the fall of Fort Fisher was "the final nail in the Confederate coffin.

U.S. Navy Ensign Alfred Stow Leighton died in the explosion while in charge of a squad trying to recover bodies from the fort parapet.

Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton made an unexpected visit to Fort Fisher where Terry presented him with the garrison's flag.