During World War II, a man 

 in the Atlantic anti-submarine force 



stationed at the fort 

 used an old Civil War shell casing 

 as an andiron in a fireplace. 



The shell exploded, 

 injuring the man. The fort 

 became internationally known 

 when "Ripley's Believe it or Nor 

 published the incident as 



ihe last shot fired 

 in the American Civil War." 



and the men stationed there would 

 surrender their arms. The general 

 generously pardoned all the 

 Confederates as prisoners of war 

 for exchange. 



For the remainder of the war, 

 Fort Macon stayed in Union hands, 

 guarding the entrance to Beaufort 

 Harbor from Confederate gunships 

 and privateers. 



After the Civil War, its glory 

 made obsolete by sophisticated 

 weaponry like rifled cannons, the 

 fort was abandoned by the U.S. 

 Army. The federal government 

 used the structure as a penitentiary 

 until 1876, and the Army stationed 

 a garrison of men there during the 

 Spanish-American War in 1898. 



By 1903, the Army abandoned 

 Fort Macon permanently and al- 

 lowed the catbrier, yaupon and 

 blowing sand to attack at will. In 

 1924, after the Army offered the 

 fort and its compound for sale as 

 surplus property, the U.S. Congress 

 allowed North Carolina to acquire 

 the fort for $ 1 . And on May 1 , 

 1936, Fort Macon became the 

 state's first functional state park. 



The fort's last official duty 

 came during World War II, when 

 the federal government again leased 

 the property as quarters, this time 

 for anti-submarine forces stationed 

 on the barrier islands. 



Scotl D Taylor 



18 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1993 



