Fort Fisher 1865 The Photographs of T.H. O’Sullivan Chris E. Fonvielle, Jr. SlapDash Publishing, LLC Carolina Beach, North Carolina Dedication To Thomas Meares Green, my best friend for as long as I can remember. Chris E. Fonvielle, Jr. Table of Contents Forewords 1 311 Florida Avenue, Carolina Beach, NC 28428 • 910.232.0604 • [email protected] • www.carolinabeach.net The Fort 3 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CONTROL NUMBER: 2010936896 The Battles 15 Chris E. Fonvielle, Jr. Fort Fisher 1865 - The Photographs of T.H. O’Sullivan Carolina Beach, N.C., SlapDash Publishing, LLC. The Photographer 27 128 pp. Nomenclature 29 ISBN: 978-0-9792431-8-9 Copyright © 2011 Chris E. Fonvielle, Jr. The Photographs 31 First Printing: April 2011 Miscellaneous Photographs 117 Designed and produced by Daniel Ray Norris (SlapDash Publishing, LLC). Software: Adobe InDesign CS5, Photoshop, Illustrator and other Adobe products. Apple Macintosh computers and Canon imaging products were used in the proofing and production of this book. Endnotes 119 All rights reserved: No part of this book shall be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise – without written permission from the publisher or author(s). No patent liability is assumed with respect to the use of the information contained herein. Although every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher and author assume no responsibility for errors or omissions. Neither is any liability assumed for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein. Glossary 121 Trademarks: All terms mentioned in this book that are known to be trademarks or service marks have been appropriately capitalized. SlapDash Publishing, LLC or the author(s) cannot attest to the accuracy of this information. Use of a term in this book should not be regarded as affecting the validity of any trademark or service mark. Warning and disclaimer: Every effort has been made to make this book as complete and as accurate as possible, but no warranty of fitness is implied. The information is provided on an “as is” basis. The author and the publisher shall have neither liability nor responsibility to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damages arising from the information contained in this book. 1 2 Fort Fisher 1865 The Photographs of T.H. O’Sullivan Foreword Acknowledgements By 1865, Timothy H. O’Sullivan was one of the most rugged, field- the U.S. Navy fleet preparing to sail toward Fort Fisher, but there is From 1979 to 1983, I served as the last curator of the Blockade Runners newspaper. Fort Fisher 1865: The Photographs of T.H. O’Sullivan worn photographers of the Civil War. And he was only twenty-five no evidence that O’Sullivan ventured to southeastern North Carolina of the Confederacy Museum at Carolina Beach, North Carolina. The comprises the most complete assemblage of the only extant wartime years old. until he photographed the earthen stronghold in early February 1865. privately owned and operated museum, which opened in 1967, was images of the mighty earthen stronghold to date. the dream of the late John H. Foard. A native of Wilmington, North O’Sullivan started in photography as a teenager, working for Mathew Using both a “large plate” camera for 7x9-inch glass plates and the Carolina, Mr. Foard had always been fascinated with the role his I deeply appreciate the assistance and support for this project from the Brady, one of the most famous photographers in the booming field. twin-lens stereoscopic camera to produce 4x10-inch stereo glass plates, hometown played as the Confederacy’s most important seaport during following friends and institutions: Jonathan Anderson; Barbara Baker; It was Brady’s mission to document the great war in photos. To that O’Sullivan methodically documented Fort Fisher in photographs. the Civil War. In 1982, five years after Mr. Foard’s death, his beloved Ray Flowers, Becky Sawyer, and Jim Steele, Fort Fisher State Historic end, he sent O’Sullivan with the U.S. Navy on one of the war’s first He never bothered to make a detailed list of exactly what images Blockade Runner Museum collection was purchased by New Hanover Site; Josh Howard; Albert Jewell; Chadwick Johnson; Jim Keith; Paul amphibious operations in the South in the autumn of 1861. O’Sullivan he took. The negatives and their paper sleeves, often inscribed with County, and moved to the Cape Fear Museum in Wilmington early Laird; James Legg; Prints and Photographs Collections, Library of took some of the first images of occupied territory after Beaufort, handwritten titles and captions, were the only key to O’Sullivan’s work. the following year. Congress; Jim McKee, Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson State Historic South Carolina, was captured in November 1861. His Fort Fisher negatives remained a part of Alexander Gardner’s vast Site; Torrey McLean; Henry Mintz; New York Historical Society; collection of Civil War images until the Library of Congress acquired One of the more exciting displays at the former Blockade Runner Charles V. Peery; Alan Purdie; Joseph Sheppard and Beverly Tetterton, The following year O’Sullivan was at Cedar Mountain, Virginia to them in 1944. Museum was a large interactive diorama depicting Fort Fisher, the New Hanover County Public Library; Tonia Smith; Jay Taylor; Frank photograph the freshly scarred battlefield there. In 1863, now working Confederacy’s strongest seacoast fortification and the main guardian Vattelana; and Marvin Willett. Special thanks goes to Daniel Ray for Alexander Gardner, O’Sullivan was at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Although fairly complete, the thirty-one extant T.H. O’Sullivan of Wilmington. A state-of-the-art sound and light show took visitors Norris, master book designer and president of SlapDash Publishing photographing the dead of both sides. When General U.S. Grant took negatives of Fort Fisher—eighteen large plates and thirteen through the fort’s history, from construction to capture. Flanking and N.C. Starburst Press; Bob Zeller, co-founder and president of the his army across the Rapidan River in early May 1864 to begin his stereoscopic (half stereo) plates at the Library of Congress—represent the diorama on both sides were copies of thirty-six photographs of Center for Civil War Photography, who kindly wrote the Foreword relentless march on Richmond, Virginia, O’Sullivan was there, too. only a portion of his photographic work at Fort Fisher. While taking Fort Fisher taken by Timothy H. O’Sullivan shortly after the fort’s to Fort Fisher 1865: The Photographs of T.H. O’Sullivan; and my wife advantage of the high quality scans available of the extant negatives fall to Union forces in January 1865. As an enthusiast of Civil War Nancy, who proofread the manuscript. For four long years, O’Sullivan took his “what is it?” darkroom wagon of the Fort Fisher photographs, Fonvielle has tapped other sources: to the battlefields and forts, and into Union army camps. He shared photography, I was familiar with O’Sullivan views of Fort Fisher original stereo view cards, and in the case of one photo, digging up published in Alexander Gardner’s Photographic Sketchbook of the War the same rugged conditions as soldiers, slogging through the mud Chris E. Fonvielle, Jr. the only known reproduction from an undated early 20th century (Washington, D.C., 1866), Francis T. Miller’s ten volume Photographic during bone-chilling winters and swatting the infernal flies in the heat newspaper. Wilmington, North Carolina of summer. Through it all he exposed hundreds of plates, and in the History of the Civil War (New York, 1911), and on display at the Fort process took some of the most famous photographs of the Civil War. This book, Fort Fisher 1865: The Photographs of T.H. O’Sullivan, Fisher State Historic Site. Born and raised in Wilmington, I spent presents for the first time all of the thirty-nine known O’Sullivan many hours exploring the remains of Fort Fisher. Until I went to work And yet, in the waning months of the war, when offered the opportunity photos of Fort Fisher and the immediate vicinity, and two of the U.S. at the Blockade Runner Museum, however, I had no idea that T.H. to go on one more adventure—to photograph the recently captured Navy’s task force assembled to attack the fort. After more than three O’Sullivan had taken so many photographs of the imposing fortress. Fort Fisher on the North Carolina coast—O’Sullivan did not hesitate. decades of studying Fort Fisher’s history, Dr. Chris E. Fonvielle, Jr. has Thus North Carolina’s most famous Civil War battlefield came to be I became entranced by O’Sullivan’s images, and studied them closely reassembled the most complete photographic record of O’Sullivan’s to learn more about Fort Fisher’s construction, armament, defenders, thoroughly documented in a series of about forty images by one of images of Fort Fisher known to exist. Barring new discoveries (which America’s most prolific photographers. and captors. My keen interest soon led me on a quest to discover if is always a possibility), O’Sullivan’s photographic record of Fort Fisher there were additional O’Sullivan views of Fisher not on display at As was typical of Civil War photographers, O’Sullivan left us little is presented here in its entirety. the Blockade Runner Museum. Indeed there were, although not as in the way of documentary evidence about his life. His Civil War many as I had hoped. After thirty years of searching, I uncovered only Bob Zeller journeys are known principally through his images.