Coastal fortresses: did they
really defend the coast?
by Paul Branch
Since the first European settlers
arrived in the North Carolina
coastal plain, the ocean and
the state's rivers and sounds have
been major allies. These bodies of
water provided a convenient means
of transportation for North
Carolinians. But they have posed a
problem. In times of war, they were
used as a means of transportation
for enemies. Enemy warships used
this state’s waters to attack people
living in the coastal plain and ships
traveling off the coast. These attacks
continued into the 1940s, over forty
years ago. North Carolinians living
on the coast defended themselves
by building forts to protect against
attack. From 1700 to 1750, Great
Britain fought a series of wars with
France and Spain. They tried to
drive each others’ colonists out of
the New World. In a war with
France (1701-1713), French ships
made several raids along the
Carolina coast. People were not
prepared for war and could not stop
these attacks. After a period of
peace, the British fought two more
wars with France and Spain. By
1741 the fighting spread to North
Carolina. Spanish ships sailed freely
up and down the North Carolina
coast and captured the colony’s
cargo and trading ships. Between
1741 and 1748, dozens of North
Carolina’s ships were captured. The
colony began to suffer from a lack
of trade and from living in constant
fear. The Spanish even established
a camp on Ocracoke Island so they
22 could attack ships more easily.
In June, 1747, the Spanish raided
Beaufort harbor in Cartaret County.
Because this raid proved to be so
easy, they returned in August and
captured the town of Beaufort and
plundered it for valuables. Only an
attack by local militia soldiers forced
them to leave. But the raids
continued the next year. Further
south in September, 1748, the
Spanish captured Brunswick, on the
Cape Fear River south of
Wilmington. They pillaged and
almost destroyed it. Again local
soldiers drove them away, but the
town was ruined.
After the attacks on Beaufort and
Brunswick, the people of North
Carolina called on Governor Gabriel
Johnston and the General Assembly.
They demanded forts for protection.
Johnston agreed and authorized four
forts to be built. They were to guard
the mouth of the Cape Fear River in
New Hanover County, Bear Inlet in
Onslow County, present-day
Beaufort Inlet in Cartaret County,
and Ocracoke Inlet on the Outer
Banks. A special tax raised the
money necessary to build these
forts. This was the first time the
government made a major effort to
defend the coast against foreign
attacks. But the war with Spain
ended before the forts could be
built. Later during peace coastal
people forgot about the need for
defense, and nothing was done for
seven years until the French and
Indian War began in 1754. That
made the colonists realize that they
were still defenseless. The unspent
money for forts was used, and
construction began on three coastal
forts in 1756. Only two were ever
completed and manned by soldiers.
Fortunately there were no attacks
along the North Carolina coast
during this war, and the forts were
not needed.
During the American Revolution
(1776-1783), North Carolina again
tried to defend the coast. For part of
the war, local militia soldiers camped
along the Outer Banks and guarded
the coast from British attack. But the
British navy still raided North
Carolina's coastline, capturing
Wilmington and Beaufort. The war
ended and America won her
independence.
Many years passed. The threat of
a second war with Great Britain
came in 1812. The United States
government prepared for war, and it
began building a chain of forts to
guard ports and harbors. It built two
in North Carolina, one to guard
Beaufort and one to guard the
mouth of the Cape Fear River.
These proved to be useful during
the War of 1812. During this war
British ships operated off the North
Carolina coast, but they confined
their operations only to coastal raids.
After this war ended, the United
States began to build another chain
of forts to protect its harbors. In the
next twenty years, it completed two
large brick forts in North Carolina:
Fort Caswell on Oak Island, at the
