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Colonel William Lamb, ihe builder
and commander of Fori Fisher, was
not yet 30 years old when overwhelm¬
ing Union forces closed down on the
mouth of the Cape Fear River in De¬
cember 1864. Existing portraits show
that he had a handsome and sensitive
face, with a broad brow, thoughtful
wide-open eyes, and a tag of fluffy
beard. The son of the mayor of Nor¬
folk. Virginia, he had been educated
for the law but had edited a news¬
paper. In 1857 he had married a
beautiful and accomplished girl of
Providence. Rhode Island, who turned
her back on Yankee kinsmen and
property to follow her husband’s Con¬
federate fortunes. Courteously she de¬
clined quarters for herself and her
three young children at Orton Plan¬
tation, to take rooms in a cottage near
the fort.
THE STATE. October IB. 1952
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The line-up for battle of the Federal fleet off Fort Fisher, Christmas, 1864.
Lamb’s cannoneers made pets of the
three youngsters, and his fierce, neu¬
rotic general, W. H. C. Whiting, metic¬
ulously complimented the colonel’s
lady.
Two Years of Work
The fort, designed to protect Wil¬
mington and the blockade runners
heading in and out with supplies and
commissions for the Confederacy, had
been only a string of detached earth¬
works in July of 1862 when Lamb
took command. He judged then that a
single enemy frigate could blow it out
of existence in a few hours. For more
than two years he had enlarged and
strengthened it, with 500 Negro labor¬
ers spading sand and earth high over
heavy timbers. Even so, he did not
consider it completed when the Union
fleet hove in sight on December 20.
That fleet numbered more vessels
than Lamb numbered guns — nearly
sixty — with 8,000 seasoned infantry in
transports and an interesting array of
commanders. Rear-Admiral David
Porter commanded, fifth of his family
line to follow the sea, and foster-broth¬
er to David Glasgow Farragut. His
flag officer was William B. Cushing,
the daring officer who sank the "Albe¬
marle" by a hand-guided torpedo and
was to die in an insane asylum.
The military command was given
to Major-General Benjamin F. Butler,
a political general from Massachusetts.
His grossly hideous aspect matched
his reputation among Confederates.
Though never a good combat officer,
Butler had been stern and fierce
enough as military governor of New
Orleans. His astoundingly insolent or¬
der concerning the ladies of that city
had won for him the lasting hate and
scorn of Louisianans, making his name
an anathema comparable to that en¬
joyed by Sherman after his plundering