Key Facts
- Dates
- February 11–22, 1865
- Duration
- 12 days
- Theater
- Department of North Carolina
- Key prior event
- Union victory at Second Battle of Fort Fisher, January 1865
- Confederate scorched-earth action
- Tobacco, cotton, and supplies burned before retreat
Strategic Narrative Overview
Between February 11 and 22, 1865, Union forces engaged Confederate defenders in a series of battles and skirmishes along the Cape Fear River south of Wilmington. Confederate General Braxton Bragg commanded the defense but was unable to hold the river approaches against the Union advance. Fighting progressed steadily northward, with Union troops overcoming successive Confederate positions guarding the land and river routes into the city over roughly twelve days of operations.
01 / The Origins
By early 1865, Wilmington, North Carolina, was the Confederacy's last significant Atlantic port, vital for receiving blockade-runner supplies. The Union capture of Fort Fisher in January 1865 neutralized the river defenses guarding the port's sea approach, leaving Wilmington exposed. Union forces moved to exploit this advantage by advancing up the Cape Fear River to seize the city and sever a critical Confederate logistical lifeline in the final months of the Civil War.
03 / The Outcome
Faced with the Union advance, Confederate General Braxton Bragg ordered stores of tobacco, cotton, and other military supplies burned to deny them to Union forces, then evacuated the city. Union troops entered Wilmington on February 22, 1865. The fall of the city eliminated the Confederacy's last functioning major Atlantic port, further strangling Southern supply and contributing to the broader Confederate collapse that culminated in surrender in April 1865.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Side B
1 belligerent
Braxton Bragg.
Kinetic Engagement Axis
Scroll horizontally to view full axis. Events plotted relatively.