Located in

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

on the Atlantic Coast, the Fort Caswell Historic District encompasses 2 sites, 43 buildings, and 23 structures; it was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 2013. The fort itself was occupied by various branches of the

U.S. armed forces The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...

for most of the period between 1836 and 1945 and is now a part of the

North Carolina Baptist Assembly The North Carolina Baptist Assembly is a Christian retreat owned and operated by the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, the state's largest denomination. The grounds of the retreat, located adjacent to Caswell Beach on the eastern en ...

, a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

retreat, owned and operated by the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina. It is accessible by the public to a limited extent per the conditions set forth by the Assembly’s Director.

Geography

Sited on the eastern tip of

Oak Island Oak Island is a privately owned island in Lunenburg County on the south shore of Nova Scotia, Canada. The tree-covered island is one of several islands in Mahone Bay, and is connected to the mainland by a causeway. The nearest community is the ...

in Brunswick County, NC, the fort juts into the confluence of the Cape Fear River and the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

. The district's boundaries also extend a little over 1/2 mile south into the Atlantic Ocean and east into the

Cape Fear River The Cape Fear River is a long blackwater river in east central North Carolina. It flows into the Atlantic Ocean near Cape Fear, from which it takes its name. The river is formed at the confluence of the Haw River and the Deep River (North Carol ...

in recognition of the fort's association with blockade runners during the Civil War and its role in hunting down German submarines during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The rifle range site is located a little over two miles to the west-northwest of the fort in the Town of

Caswell Beach Caswell Beach is a small seaside town located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Cape Fear River in Southeastern North Carolina, United States. Occupying the eastern part of Oak Island in Brunswick County, its population was listed at 395 ...

. Typical of coastal southeastern North Carolina, the natural topography of the site is flat, roughly ten feet above sea level with a wide sandy beach along its southern boundary. Grass covers most of the area, with Yaupon Holly and Live Oaks trees liberally spread throughout the district.

History

Named after former governor

Richard Caswell Richard Caswell (August 3, 1729November 10, 1789) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the first and fifth governor of the state of North Carolina from 1776 to 1780 and from 1785 to 1787. He also served as a senior officer of mil ...

, the original pentagonal fortification of

brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

walls and large

earthworks Earthworks may refer to: Construction *Earthworks (archaeology), human-made constructions that modify the land contour * Earthworks (engineering), civil engineering works created by moving or processing quantities of soil *Earthworks (military), m ...

was completed in 1836 at a cost of $473,402. With over 61 gun emplacements, it guarded the mouth of the

in defense of Wilmington, then an important port 20 miles upriver and, at the time, the state's largest city. In 1861, it was seized twice by a group called the "Cape Fear Minutemen", who were subsequently ordered by Governor

John Willis Ellis John Willis Ellis (November 23, 1820 – July 7, 1861) was the 35th Governor of the U.S. state of North Carolina from 1859 to 1861. He was born in Rowan County, North Carolina. Ellis attended the University of North Carolina, studied law under ...

to return it to the keeper of the fort, the only man stationed there by the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

at the time. When the state finally seceded, the new

Confederate Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

made it, along with nearby

Fort Fisher Fort Fisher was a Confederate fort during the American Civil War. It protected the vital trading routes of the port at Wilmington, North Carolina, from 1861 until its capture by the Union in 1865. The fort was located on one of Cape Fear River' ...

, one of the most elaborate defensive system in the world at that time. (Fort Fisher guarded the other

inlet An inlet is a (usually long and narrow) indentation of a shoreline, such as a small arm, bay, sound, fjord, lagoon or marsh, that leads to an enclosed larger body of water such as a lake, estuary, gulf or marginal sea. Overview In marine geogra ...

to the Cape Fear River). This system, along with swift

blockade runner A blockade runner is a merchant vessel used for evading a naval blockade of a port or strait. It is usually light and fast, using stealth and speed rather than confronting the blockaders in order to break the blockade. Blockade runners usuall ...

s, kept Wilmington's port open longer than any other. No fewer than six plans were devised to capture the fort, but its imposing defenses and the

Frying Pan Shoals The Frying Pan Shoals are a shifting area of shoals off Cape Fear in North Carolina, United States. Formed by silt from the Cape Fear River, the shoals are over 28 miles long and resemble a frying pan in shape. They provide excellent fishing. The ...

just offshore deterred them; the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

then diverted its attention to Fort Fisher. After a massive Union assault captured Fort Fisher on January 15, 1865, orders came to

spike Spike, spikes, or spiking may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Books * ''The Spike'' (novel), a novel by Arnaud de Borchgrave * ''The Spike'' (book), a nonfiction book by Damien Broderick * ''The Spike'', a starship in Peter F. Hamilto ...

Fort Caswell's guns, burn the barracks, and explode the

magazines A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combination ...

. On January 17, the magazines were ignited, exploding approximately 100,000 pounds of powder (reports at the time state that the blast could be heard as far as 100 miles away in Fayetteville). As a result of the explosion, one whole wall of the fort was destroyed. The loss of the Confederacy's last port was a major factor in

Robert E. Lee Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, towards the end of which he was appointed the overall commander of the Confederate States Army. He led the Army of Nort ...

's decision to

surrender Surrender may refer to: * Surrender (law), the early relinquishment of a tenancy * Surrender (military), the relinquishment of territory, combatants, facilities, or armaments to another power Film and television * ''Surrender'' (1927 film), an ...

at Appomattox The U.S. Army built a full military reservation on the site in the 1890s complete with

coastal artillery Coastal artillery is the branch of the armed forces concerned with operating anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications. From the Middle Ages until World War II, coastal artillery and naval artillery in the form of c ...

batteries, and most of the buildings currently extant as well as the

sea wall A seawall (or sea wall) is a form of coastal defense constructed where the sea, and associated coastal processes, impact directly upon the landforms of the coast. The purpose of a seawall is to protect areas of human habitation, conservation ...

were constructed during this period. During World War I, the fort along with the discontiguous Fort Caswell Rifle Range served as a army training facility. In 2020, a pictorial story of the rifle range along with extensive biographic sketches of all WW I Brunswick County veterans became available. Abandoned after World War I, from 1937-1941 the fort was unsuccessfully converted into a resort, with the gun emplacements used as swimming pools (two

artesian wells An artesian aquifer is a confined aquifer containing groundwater under positive pressure. An artesian aquifer has trapped water, surrounded by layers of impermeable rock or clay, which apply positive pressure to the water contained within th ...

produced hot

mineral water Mineral water is water from a mineral spring that contains various minerals, such as salts and sulfur compounds. Mineral water may usually be still or sparkling (carbonated/effervescent) according to the presence or absence of added gases. Tra ...

to fill the pools). In 1941, the Navy purchased the fort for use as a patrol/

anti-submarine An anti-submarine weapon (ASW) is any one of a number of devices that are intended to act against a submarine and its crew, to destroy (sink) the vessel or reduce its capability as a weapon of war. In its simplest sense, an anti-submarine weapo ...

base during World War II. The

Baptist State Convention of North Carolina The Baptist State Convention of North Carolina (BSCNC) is an autonomous association of Baptist churches in the state of North Carolina. It is one of the state conventions associated with the Southern Baptist Convention. Headquartered in Cary, North ...

bought the property in 1949 as surplus for $86,000.

References

External links

Fort Caswell (website)
{{National Register of Historic Places in North Carolina Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in North Carolina Caswell Caswell Colonial Revival architecture in North Carolina Queen Anne architecture in North Carolina Buildings and structures in Brunswick County, North Carolina National Register of Historic Places in Brunswick County, North Carolina 1949 establishments in North Carolina American Civil War on the National Register of Historic Places

Geography

History

References

Further reading

External links