Underwater Archaeology Branch North Carolina Division of Archives & History Department of Cultural Resources Kure Beach, NC 1981 Excavation of a Fort Fisher Bombproof By Gordon P. Watts, Jr. Mark Wilde-Ramsing Richard W. Lawrence Dina B. Hill Underwater Archaeology Branch North Carolina Division of Archives and History 1981 TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF FIGURES___________________________________________________iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS _______________________________________________ iv INTRODUCTION ______________________________________________________ 1 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND ___________________________________________ 2 DESCRIPTION OF THE WORK __________________________________________ 4 METHODS____________________________________________________________ 5 CONDITION OF STRUCTURAL REMAINS ________________________________ 9 ARCHITECTURAL AND CONSTRUCTION FEATURES ____________________ 21 ARTIFACTS__________________________________________________________ 26 CONCLUSIONS ______________________________________________________ 27 UAB 1981 Watts, Wilde-Ramsing, Lawrence, Hill ii TABLE OF FIGURES Figure 1: Location of excavation site______________________________________________________ 1 Figure 2: Excavation site in 1971 ________________________________________________________ 7 Figure 3: Cave-in at the excavation site____________________________________________________ 7 Figure 4: Overburden being removed by hand ______________________________________________ 8 Figure 5: Mobile crane utilized during excavation ___________________________________________ 8 Figure 6: Terraces and shoring constructed at site ___________________________________________ 9 Figure 7: Remains of roof _____________________________________________________________ 11 Figure 8: Remains of tunnel structure ____________________________________________________ 11 Figure 9: Sills of bombproof entrance ___________________________________________________ 12 Figure 10: Wall studs along entrance tunnel _______________________________________________ 12 Figure 11: Architectural details of entrance tunnel __________________________________________ 13 Figure 12: Remains of bombproof roof ___________________________________________________ 13 Figure 13: Remains of entrance tunnel and bombproof_______________________________________ 14 Figure 14: South corner of bombproof____________________________________________________ 14 Figure 15: Construction details of bombproof______________________________________________ 15 Figure 16: Tenon from bombproof wall ___________________________________________________ 15 Figure 17: Mortises in bombproof sills ___________________________________________________ 16 Figure 18: Evidence of vent locations and construction ______________________________________ 17 Figure 19: Mortice from wall stud tenon __________________________________________________ 17 Figure 20: Bombproof sills ____________________________________________________________ 18 Figure 21: Evidence of interior planking __________________________________________________ 19 Figure 22: Diagonally attached planks ___________________________________________________ 20 Figure 23: Fort Fisher bombproof entrance section _________________________________________ 22 Figure 24: Fort Fisher bombproof entrance baffle___________________________________________ 22 Figure 25: Fort Fisher bombproof room___________________________________________________ 24 Figure 26: Fort Fisher bombproof complete structure _______________________________________ 25 Figure 27: Phtograph showing tunnel entrance_____________________________________________ 28 Figure 28: Fort Fisher gun emplacement and bombproof excavations ___________________________ 29 Figure 29: Fort Fisher gun emplacement and bombproof locations within mounds _________________ 29 UAB 1981 Watts, Wilde-Ramsing, Lawrence, Hill iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Fort Fisher excavation would not have been completed without the determination and perseverance of Richard Sawyer, Administrator of Historic Sites Section of the Division of Archives and History. His continuing interest in and support of the project are most appreciated. Actual work in the excavation was facilitated and supported by Gehrig Spencer, manager of the Fort Fisher State Historic Site. His participation and willingness to provide tools, equipment, and personnel greatly contributed to the completion of the excavation. The participation and assistance of numerous additional individuals must also be recognized and acknowledged. These include Everett Balderson, Kenny Koch, Don Taylor, Ray Jackson, Paul Longnecker, Clarence Jones, Mike Lovell, Richard Olson, Randy Bright, and Linda Williams of the Fort Fisher Museum staff; James Duff, Cynthia Elliott, Dixie Ward, Sherry King, William Cottingham, Tim Smith, Mike Diamond, Jeff Johnson, C. R. Judy, and Margaret Godber of the Underwater Archaeology Branch; Jack Holt and Patricia Bland of Cape Fear Technical Institute; Terry Erlandson of Historic Sites Section; and Eleanor Crown. These individuals all assisted in bringing the excavation to completion and their contribution to the project is gratefully acknowledged. Appreciation is expressed to Barbara Brooks, who prepared the final copy of the report for publication. Note: All photographs in this report were prepared by James A. Pleasants, Underwater Archaeology Branch, North Carolina Division of Archives and History. All Illustrations in the report were prepared by Joan P. Jannaman, Underwater Archaeology Branch, North Carolina Division of Archives and History. UAB 1981 Watts, Wilde-Ramsing, Lawrence, Hill iv INTRODUCTION Fort Fisher was constructed during the Civil War to guard the entrance to New Inlet and provide protection for the port of Wilmington. Under the direction of Colonel William Lamb the fortification was developed into a formidable structure that enabled blockade-running activities to continue long after other southern ports had fallen into Union hands. When designated a state historic site in 1960, Fort Fisher had sustained considerable damage from occupation as a United States Army training base during World War II as well as from severe erosion along the oceanfront. Development plans for the historic site included reconstruction of a portion of the fortification and the construction of a bombproof as an interpretive exhibit. To obtain architectural and construction details a bombproof under one of the surviving traverses was excavated. Figure 1: Fort Fisher location of excavation site. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND On April 19, 1861, newly elected President Abraham Lincoln declared a naval blockade of those states attempting to secede from the Union. In response Confederate civil and military authorities initiated the construction of fortifications designed to protect the major port facilities of Wilmington, Charleston, Savannah, Mobile, and New Orleans. Three days after Lincoln’s declaration North Carolina Governor John W. Ellis appointed Major W. H. C. Whiting as inspector general and charged the West Point engineer with developing defenses for the state. Realizing the importance of the port of Wilmington, Major Whiting immediately dispatched Captain Charles P. Bolles of Wilmington to “construct sand batteries . to command the entrance of (New) Inlet.” The batteries initiated by Captain Bolles were completed under the direction of Captain William L. De Rosset and named Fort Fisher in honor of Colonel Charles F. Fisher of Salisbury, who was killed on July 21, 1861, in the battle of First Manassas. Although work on the fortification continued, progress was nominal until Brigadier General Samuel G. French was assigned to command the Cape Fear River District on March 15, 1862. General French devoted considerable attention to the fortifications during his four-month command and assigned a sizable labor force to expand the works. When Colonel William Lamb took command of the fortification on July 4, 1862, the complex of earthworks mounted a total of seventeen cannon. From Shepherd’s Battery on the extreme left near the river a quadrilateral work constructed partially of sandbags extended approximately 100 yards in the direction of the ocean. To the right Meade’s Battery had been constructed of heavy palmetto timbers covered with sand and turf. South of Meade’s Battery and located adjacent to the beach was Cumberland’s Battery. Two additional batteries, Hedrick and Bolles, had been constructed to the southwest to form the southern extreme of the fortifications. Although impressive, Fort Fisher in Lamb’s opinion was too weak to defend properly New Inlet, and he immediately began to strengthen the works. From the summer of 1862 until the United States Navy attacked the fort in December, 1864, Colonel Lamb worked continuously on developing the capability to withstand the heaviest bombardment. Occasionally working on Sundays, Lamb’s combined force of UAB 1981 Watts, Wilde-Ramsing, Lawrence, Hill 2 soldiers and slaves, at times more than 1,000 in all, made dramatic changes. When Major General W. H. C. Whiting submitted a brief description of the fortification in July, 1863, the progress was obvious. This work has been a gradual development of designs of different commandery, commencing with battery Bolles . The different batteries are connected by long covered ways. On the left flank at Shepherd’s battery flanking defence . A 12' palisade line from Shepherd’s battery around to Meade’s battery is being constructed which also includes a demilune between the carronade and A [a point on the eastern