FORT FISHER, CAPE FEAR RIVER NC

"It was shortly after midnight on January 13, 1865, when the long roll sounded to summon the garrison of Fort Fisher to the ramparts. Looking seaward, the officer commanding the Rebel bastion at the mouth of the Cape Fear River could see the distant, flickering lights of a massive Union fleet. This was the second time in less than a month that an amphibious Federal force had descended on Fort Fisher, which kept open the Confederacy's last seaport--Wilmington , North Carolina . The first attempt had come on Christmas Eve, heralded by one of those trademark devices so favored by the commanding officer of the Union landing forces , Major General Benjamin F. Butler... "This time, even Benjamin Butler's political power base was not enough to shield him from the repercussions of his failed scheme: the man who had been the highest ranking officer actively to promote the combat service of black troops was summarily sacked by Lt. General U.S. Grant. In almost the same motion, Grant ordered a new expedition to be mounted against Ft. Fisher. The command this time was given to Major General Alfred H. Terry, who eschewed the elaborate designs of his predecessor in favor of a simple direct approach ... "Terry's force comprised two divisions, drawn for the most part from the Army of the James. One of these consisted of black infantry commanded by Brigadier General Charles J. Payne.... "Worried that a single white division would not be enough to capture Fort Fisher , General Terry drew off one of the two white brigades posted with Paine's men to support his effort, leaving his rear line held by all of his black troops and a single white brigade. Then on the afternoon of January 15, he began his land attack against Fort Fisher. Henry M. Turner , the black Chaplain of the 1 USCT, accompanied some of the assaulting units as a surgeon's aide. "Never had I seen grape and canister used so effectively as on our troops on this occasion," he wrote soon afterward . "At one time I thought they could never stand it, neither do I believe they would have stood, but for the fact they knew the black troops were in the rear, and if they (the white troops) failed, the colored troops would take the fort and claim the honor." P. 358-360, "Ye's Long Been A-Coming," LIKE MEN OF WAR : BLACK TROOPS IN THE CIVIL WAR, 1862-1865 by Noah Andre Trudeau (1998)