Fort Anderson (Brunswick County, North Carolina)
Brunswick County · North Carolina · American Civil War
History & Significance
Fort Anderson was constructed on the west bank of the Cape Fear River atop the ruins of colonial Brunswick, with its earthen walls stretching nearly a mile from the river to the headwaters of Orton Pond. Enslaved laborers, free blacks, and Confederate soldiers built the fort by hand.
Initially named Fort St. Philip in May 1862 to honor the colonial Anglican church ruins within it, the fort was renamed Fort Anderson on July 1, 1863, in honor of Brigadier General George Burgwyn Anderson, who was mortally wounded at Antietam. Major William Lamb, who took keen interest in fortification engineering, ordered the walls nearest the river increased to twenty-four feet high and added five gun emplacements, three underground magazines, and buffer traverses twenty-six feet high.
Late in 1862, the fort served as a quarantine station where every blockade runner entering the Cape Fear was inspected, a precaution stemming from a devastating yellow fever epidemic in Wilmington. By February 1865, the fort's garrison of approximately 2,300 troops included North Carolina soldiers, Junior Reserves, and reinforcements including Brigadier General Johnson Hagood's brigade of South Carolina infantry.
After enduring bombardment exceeding 2,700 shells and facing encirclement via Orton Pond, Hagood evacuated the fort in the early morning of February 19. From 1865 to at least 1867, the Freedmen's Bureau operated a refugee camp at Fort Anderson, sheltering no fewer than 3,400 freed people at peak population in spring 1865.
Key Facts
Map
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🧳 Visiting
What you’ll see when you visit:
- Confederate earthen batteries and bombproof shelters from Civil War era
- Excavated ruins of colonial town of Brunswick beneath fort site
- Interpretive displays on Cape Fear River defense and Union blockades
- Restored fortification offering insight into 19th-century coastal military engineering
Sources
- https://historicsites.nc.gov/all-sites/brunswick-town-and-fort-anderson/history
- https://historicsites.nc.gov/all-sites/brunswick-town-and-fort-anderson/educators/lesson-plan-fort-anderson-8th-grade/fort
- https://historicsites.nc.gov/all-sites/brunswick-town-and-fort-anderson/educators/lesson-plan-fort-anderson-8th-grade/fall-fort
- https://northcarolinahistory.org/encyclopedia/fort-anderson-confederate/
- https://www.battlefields.org/visit/heritage-sites/brunswick-townfort-anderson-state-historic-site
- https://www.battlefields.org/visit/heritage-sites/capturing-fort-anderson
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Anderson_(North_Carolina)
Other Forts in North Carolina
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