Wilmingtonians Begin Their Defense Of The Cape Fear

The War Between the States Sesquicentennial

Wilmingtonians Begin their Defense of the Cape Fear:

“Just to the south of Wilmington, the citizens of Smithville (now Southport) “irrespective of party” affiliation held a “large and enthusiastic meeting” on December 29^th, just 9 days after the secession of South Carolina. A strong speech in favor of self-determination was presented by Col. George Wortham of Granville County, and records of the proceedings were sent “to each of our representatives in the General Assembly and…to the Wilmington Journal and the Raleigh State Journal with a request to publish – and…to be copied by all papers friendly to Southern independence.” The meeting adjourned “with three cheers for Secession, and three cheers, long and loud, for the Old North State.”

Early in January 1861, Wilmington’s Vigilance Committee led programs of speakers, cheering and cannon-firing as they sensed a final separation with the North---raising a “lone-star flag” [white star on field of red] as well. The model for this “North Carolina Secession flag” quite likely was the red flag hoisted the previous month by Charlestonians, and emblazoned with the palmetto tree and crescent. Wilmingtonians wanted their own symbol of political independence.

Already concerned about the presence of the US military in local forts, a committee including Honorable W.S. Ashe, Captain Edward D. Hall and Captain John J. Hedrick took a special train to Raleigh on January 1^st to consult with the Governor “on the propriety of taking Fort Johnson on the Cape Fear River about two miles from its mouth.”

Early January, 1861---The Cape Fear Forts:

The “Star of the West” relief expedition sent by President Buchanan in defiance of South Carolina reasserting its independence, greatly alarmed patriots in the Cape Fear. The ship entered Charleston Harbor on January 9, 1861 and was fired upon by Citadel cadets manning batteries on Morris Island, driving the ship back to the north.

A meeting of prominent citizens in Wilmington met at the Courthouse after the Star of the West incident with merchant Robert G. Rankin, Jr. as the speaker. This group formed a Wilmington Committee of Safety patterned on the one formed to resist British invasion 86 years earlier, and they called for volunteers to join a defensive force called the “Cape Fear Minutemen” commanded by Major John J. Hedrick. Their primary concern was the two fortifications guarding the Cape Fear, Forts Johnston and Caswell. Named for Royal Governor Gabriel Johnston, the former was ceded by North Carolina to the federal government in 1794 on the condition that a fort was to be erected there within three years. This never occurred and only a barracks was to exist there. The latter fort was named for Richard Caswell, North Carolina’s first governor under the US Constitution.

Major John J. Hedrick

Major Hedrick and his small force departed from the Market Street dock early on January 10^th on a schooner bound for Smithville, where they arrived at 3PM. They marched to the US military barracks at Fort Johnston then in the charge of Ordnance Sergeant James O’Reilly, and took charge of the supplies.

Fort Caswell on Oak Island near Smithville (now Southport) was a bastioned, masonry fortress commanding the main entry into the Cape Fear River, and it only mounted two decrepit 24-pounder cannon. After the ill-advised Star of the West incident by Buchanan, this fort being reinforced with a strong Northern garrison and guns, controlling maritime traffic in and out of Wilmington was not to be allowed. It had to be taken. With twenty men from the Minutemen and Captain S.D. Thurston’s “Smithville Guards,” Major Hedrick sailed to Fort Caswell about three miles distant and took charge of the fort from the sergeant posted there.”

(from “Wilmington in the Secession Crisis,” www.cfhi.net Historical Essays)