civil war reenactment huntington beach 2018

CIVIL WAR REENACTMENT HUNTINGTON BEACH 2018 FULL

Grant considered this attack “a gross and culpable failure,” the N.C. During the first attempt on Christmas Eve 1864, the Confederates thwarted the Union forces by land and sea. Wilmington would become the last southern port open to trade during the Civil War.įort Fisher was attacked twice through the Civil War. In particular, the Confederate forces needed the port town of Wilmington to export their naval supplies. It was constructed in 1861 to protect valuable blockade-runners traveling to ports along the Cape Fear River. The fort gives visitors the opportunity to learn about and appreciate those sacrifices,” Lawrence explains. “The fort is sacred ground where thousands of soldiers gave their lives for what they believed was right. Located in Kure Beach, Fort Fisher is “rich in Civil War history, and is in a fabulous location near the coast and Cape Fear River,” says Si Lawrence, III, the historic site’s public information officer. Once the largest earthen fortification in the world, Fort Fisher is a state historic site with a namesake state recreation area nearby. State Troops Civil War Reenactment Regiment. “Whether through a narrated public demonstration on drill, small arms, the artillery pieces or simpler aspects of fort life such as cooking or serving as a sentry, the Living Historians that participate in the programming at Fort Macon State Park help bring the fort to life…literally,” says Lee Gordon, adjutant of the First N.C. Fort Macon State Park is open year-round for visitors.

“It is one of the most visited state parks and is a huge tourist draw that brings money to the local economy.” Tours and reenactments depict life in the fort during the Civil War. The fort currently is considered “one of the best-preserved examples of 19th-century fortifications in the country,” Branch says. The Army returned the fort to state control in 1946. Army garrisoned the old fort to protect the coast against the threat of German U-boats lurking offshore. This was the second state park, after Mount Mitchell State Park. After restoration work by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Depression, the park officially opened in May 1936. North Carolina acquired the fort and surrounding land in 1924 for a public park. The Union controlled the fort for the remainder of the war and Beaufort Inlet became a vital repair and coaling station for the Union’s Navy blockade.ĭuring the Reconstruction Era, the fortification became a civil and military prison for roughly a decade due to the lack of state and federal penitentiaries. It fell to Union control in 1862, after the fort took heavy artillery fire from land and sea. The pentagonal fort had been constructed between 18 to bolster North Carolina’s coastal defenses, especially to guard Beaufort Inlet and Harbor.Ĭonfederate forces occupied Fort Macon for the first year of the Civil War. This incident “has been remembered ever since as the ‘last shot of the Civil War,’ because the 244th Coast Artillery originally was the Ninth New York National Guard,” Branch recalls in a 1995 issue of Ramparts, a publication of the Friends of Fort Macon. Volunteers perform a Civil War reenactment at Fort Macon.

CIVIL WAR REENACTMENT HUNTINGTON BEACH 2018 FULL

One cannonball was live and abruptly exploded into a full room of soldiers from the 244th Coast Artillery. A soldier placed two old Civil War cannonballs in a fireplace of the living quarters to serve as andirons. “It is a unique place, rich in history and nature, a recreation and an attraction area that will appeal to the family,” says Paul Branch, historian and park ranger.Ī unique bit of history occurred at Fort Macon in late 1941. Located in Atlantic Beach, Fort Macon is a state park. Others are only identifiable by a North Carolina Highway Historical Marker placed near where the earthwork or stronghold once stood.

Some are visible structural fortifications with noticeable additions of stone, brick or concrete that have aged throughout the years. Each provides a glimpse into our state’s past, from the American Revolutionary War to as recently as the Persian Gulf War. Scattered along the banks of the Cape Fear River, Pamlico Sound and the Atlantic Ocean are several historic coastal forts.

Civil war reenactment huntington beach 2018