NAVY, T. S., OPEKATIOXS OF. 



565 



declined, without such cooperation, to assume 

 the responsibility of reducing the strong forts 

 at the mouth of the Cape Fear River. In pre- 

 vious years the exigencies of the service had 

 T >revciited the employment of land forces for 

 this specific purpose ; now it was determined to 

 furnish troops enough to crown the expedition 

 with success. The stubborn fighting between 

 the Rapidan and the Jarnes entailed, however, 

 such serious losses upon Gen. Grant, that all 

 the surplus troops at the disposal of the Govern- 

 ment were needed during the summer, to re- 

 plenish the wasted ranks of the Armies of the 

 Potomac and the James, and for months the 

 contemplated expedition remained unorganized. 

 The naval part of it alone, in consequence of 

 the constantly-increasing number of vessels at 

 the disposal of the naval department, seemed 

 to make progress. As early as August, iron- 

 clads and wooden steamers began to rendez- 

 vous at Hampton Roads, until in October a 

 formidable fleet, numbering over fifty war ves- 

 sels, and including the iron-clad Xew Ironsides 

 and four monitors, was collected, of which Ad- 

 miral Porter assumed command. 



Long before December the squadron was at 

 its rendezvous in readiness to sail; but it was 

 not until the winter had fairly commenced that 

 the necessary quota of troops could be fur- 

 nished. The signal successes of Thomas and 

 Sherman having disarmed all apprehensions 

 with respect to the result of military operations 

 in the South and Southwest, and the Armies 

 of the Potomac and the James having been re- 

 cently largely recruited, the Government early 

 i'i December issued orders for the troops des- 

 d for the service to repair to Hampton 

 Roads. These consisted of Gen. Ames's divis- 

 ion of the 24th corps, and of Gen. Paine's 

 colored division of the 25th corps, numbering 

 together 6,500 effective men, both of which 

 belonged to the Army of the James. Gen. 

 "\Veitzel was designated as commander-in-chief 

 of the military part of the expedition, but Gen. 

 Butler subsequently accompanied it in that 

 capacity, and on the 9th notified Admiral Por- 

 ter that he was in readiness to move. Owing 

 to stormy weather none of the vessels sailed 

 until the 12th, when the transports and smaller 

 war out 75 in number, took their 



departure, followed on the succeeding day by 

 : w Ironsides and the heavy steam frigates. 



After careful consideration it was determined 

 that of the two entrances to the Cape Fear 

 River, Xew lulet could be the more success- 

 fully attacked. The narrow strip of land 

 forming part of the east bank of the Cape Fear 

 River, and terminating in Federal Point, 

 1, on the whole, better facilities for land- 

 ing troops than any other part of the coast ; 

 and the capture of the works which protected 

 it would not only give to the fleet the com- 

 mand of the river, and tnus virtually close the 

 port of Wilmington, but by cutting off Fort 

 Caswell, which commands the other mouth of 

 the river, would render the possession of that 



strong work of no further importance to the 

 rebels. For the immediate defence of the inlet 

 the rebels relied chiefly upon Fort Fisher, and 

 a series of batteries, connected by rifle-pits, 

 running thence in a southwest direction along 

 the coast, at an average distance of two hun- 

 dred yards from the beach, to what was 

 called the "Mound Battery." situated near 

 the extreme end of Federal Point. The fort 

 and its connecting batteries, forming practically 

 a single work, consisted of two fronts : the first, 

 or land front, being four hundred and eighty 

 yards in length and extending nearly across 

 the narrow peninsula, while the sea front has 

 a length of about thirteen hundred yards. The 

 former was intended to resist any attack from 

 troops approaching the fort from the north, 

 and the sea front to prevent vessels from run- 

 ning through Xew Inlet or landing troops on 

 Federal Point. The following more particular 

 description of both fronts is given by Colonel 

 Comstock, chief engineer of the military part 

 of the expedition : ' The land front consists of 

 a half bastion on the left or Cape Fear River 

 side, connected by a curtain with a bastion on 

 the ocean side. The parapet is 25 feet thick, 

 averages 20 feet in height, with traverses rising 

 10 feet above it and running back on their tops, 

 which are from 8 to 12 feet in thickness, to a 

 distance of from 30 to 40 feet from the interior 

 crest. The traverses on the left half bastion 

 are about 25 feet in length on top. The earth 

 for this heavy parapet and the enormous 

 traverses at their inner ends, more than 30 feet 

 in height, was obtained partly from a shallow 

 exterior ditch, but mainly from the interior of 

 the work. Between each pair of traverse* 



