Qualla: Battle of Wilmington https://qualla.com/battle-of-wilmington en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:15 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/d/q/0/d/battle-of-wilmington-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Battle of Wilmington https://qualla.com/battle-of-wilmington Battle of Wilmington: Introduction https://qualla.com/battle-of-wilmington/ Photo credit American Battlefield Protection Program, Public domain. Lt. Commander William B. Cushing built a fake warship out of old barrels and canvas, floated it up the Cape Fear River, and watched the Confederates panic. They detonated their own water mines trying to destroy the decoy, clearing the way for Rear Admiral David D. Porter's real gunboats. It was that kind of fight -- improvised, relentless, and fought as much in waist-deep swamp water as on solid ground. The Battle of Wilmington, waged from February 11 to 22, 1865, was the Confederacy's last stand on the Atlantic seaboard, a twelve-day campaign to defend the only major port still feeding supplies to Robert E. Lee's army. When it ended, the Union blockade was finally complete, and the war had weeks left to run.

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]]> Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/q/0/d/battle-of-wilmington-wp/dq0d-battle-of-wilmington-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Battle of Wilmington: The Last Open Door https://qualla.com/battle-of-wilmington/ Photo credit American Battlefield Protection Program, Public domain. By early 1865, Wilmington was the Confederacy's final functioning Atlantic port. Blockade runners still slipped through the Cape Fear River inlet carrying tobacco, cotton, and military supplies to trading partners in Great Britain, the Bahamas, and Bermuda. Much of what kept the ...

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]]> Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/q/0/d/battle-of-wilmington-wp/dq0d-battle-of-wilmington-the-last-open-door.mp3 0:06 2 full Battle of Wilmington: Three Fights Along the River https://qualla.com/battle-of-wilmington/ Photo credit American Battlefield Protection Program, Public domain. Major General John M. Schofield commanded the combined Union force: Alfred H. Terry's Fort Fisher Expeditionary Corps reinforced by the newly arrived XXIII Corps. On February 11, Schofield struck Hoke's Sugar Loaf Line with Terry's troops while Porter's gunboats bombarded the for...

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]]> Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/q/0/d/battle-of-wilmington-wp/dq0d-battle-of-wilmington-three-fights-along-the-river.mp3 0:06 3 full Battle of Wilmington: The Flat-Bottom Boat https://qualla.com/battle-of-wilmington/ Photo credit American Battlefield Protection Program, Public domain. Hagood fell back to Town Creek and burned the bridge behind him. Cox needed to cross, but the creek was too deep to ford. His troops found a single flat-bottom boat in the river and used it to ferry three full brigades across while a fourth brigade kept Hagood distracted with a d...

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]]> Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/q/0/d/battle-of-wilmington-wp/dq0d-battle-of-wilmington-the-flat-bottom-boat.mp3 0:06 4 full Battle of Wilmington: Fire on the Waterfront https://qualla.com/battle-of-wilmington/ Photo credit American Battlefield Protection Program, Public domain. Bragg used February 21 to evacuate everything he could. Union prisoners held in the city were moved out. Anything of military value that could not be transported was put to the torch -- bales of cotton and tobacco, storehouses, foundries, shipyards, and ships at anchor. The fires...

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]]> Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/q/0/d/battle-of-wilmington-wp/dq0d-battle-of-wilmington-fire-on-the-waterfront.mp3 0:06 5 full Battle of Wilmington: A Blockade Complete https://qualla.com/battle-of-wilmington/ Photo credit American Battlefield Protection Program, Public domain. Wilmington's capture completed the Union naval blockade that had been strangling the Confederacy since 1861. No Atlantic port remained to replace what had been lost. The press savaged Bragg for the defeat, and members of the Confederate Congress demanded President Jefferson Davis...

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]]> Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/q/0/d/battle-of-wilmington-wp/dq0d-battle-of-wilmington-a-blockade-complete.mp3 0:06 6 full