Artillery Program at Fort Fisher Civil War Historic Site - June 28th

The awesome power of Civil War artillery will be highlighted on Saturday, June 28, 2014, when Fort Fisher State Historic Site presents "Hot Waves of Fire and Smoke and Deadly Showers of Cast Iron: Artillery at Fort Fisher." This free program will be held from 10 am-4 pm and will feature periodic firings of the site's 32-pound seacoast rifled and banded cannon.

Costumed interpreters will also be teaching the field artillery drill using the site's 12-pound bronze Napoleon full scale reproduction cannon. Author Richard Triebe will sign and discuss his new book "Point Lookout Prison and Hospital." Rounding out the day's activities will be costumed tours of the site's remaining earthworks, as well as the opportunity for up to 25 visitors to go "Above the Scenes," a special paid tour offered only at noon.


All Fort Fisher programming is made possible with the support of the Friends of Fort Fisher, the non-profit organization dedicated to enhancing this national treasure, and sustaining members: Troy and Lori Barbour, Mike McCarley, Tammy and Jack Moore, Brian and Deedra Nunnally, Jim and Catherine Taylor, Ernest Kniffen, Dr. Edward Halloran, and Patrick O. McCullough. Fort Fisher, the largest earthen fortification in the Confederacy, once protected the port of Wilmington and the vital blockade running trade on the Cape Fear River. After two massive bombardments, the fort fell to a combined Union amphibious assault on January 15, 1865. With the capture of Fort Fisher, the South's vital shipping port of Wilmington was closed and the days of the Confederacy were numbered.