![Portrait of William Lamb](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/Portrait_of_William_Lamb.jpg)
William Lamb (7 September 1835 – 23 March 1909) was an American newspaper editor, politician, businessman, and soldier, noted for his role as a Confederate States Army officer in commanding the Confederate garrison at
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' ...
at the mouth of the Cape Fear River during the
Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
.
Life
Early years
William Lamb was born in
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...
to William Wilson and Margaret Kerr Lamb. He studied in the Rappahannock Military Academy before attending the
College of William & Mary
The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William III ...
at
Williamsburg, Virginia
Williamsburg is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 15,425. Located on the Virginia Peninsula ...
, where he received a degree in law.
[Joseph Edmund Deaton]
Lamb, William
From ''Dictionary of North Carolina Biography'', ed. by William S. Powell, 6 volumes, University of North Carolina Press, 1979-1996
After his 1855 return to the family home,
Kenmure
Kaikorai Valley is a long broad valley which runs through the west of the New Zealand city of Dunedin, to the west of the city centre. It is the valley of a small stream, the Kaikorai Stream, which runs from northeast to southwest down the l ...
in Norfolk, Lamb became the co-owner and co-editor with A. F. Leonard of the ''Southern Argus'', a Norfolk newspaper. He entered local politics and was elected a delegate to the Democratic National Convention; in 1860 he was a Presidential elector on the Democratic ticket of
John C. Breckinridge
John Cabell Breckinridge (January 16, 1821 – May 17, 1875) was an American lawyer, politician, and soldier. He represented Kentucky in both houses of Congress and became the 14th and youngest-ever vice president of the United States. Serving ...
and
Joseph Lane
Joseph "Joe" Lane (December 14, 1801 – April 19, 1881) was an American politician and soldier. He was a state legislator representing Evansville, Indiana, and then served in the Mexican–American War, becoming a general. President James K. P ...
.
Civil War
![Colonel William Lamb](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/Colonel_William_Lamb.jpg)
Lamb was active in the state militia and commanded the Woodis Rifles, a militia company raised in Norfolk, Virginia in 1858 and named after Hunter Woodis, the city mayor. It was sent in 1859 to
Harpers Ferry
Harpers Ferry is a historic town in Jefferson County, West Virginia. It is located in the lower Shenandoah Valley. The population was 285 at the 2020 census. Situated at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers, where the U.S. stat ...
during
John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second E ...
.
On 24 September 1861, he was commissioned major and appointed quartermaster on the staff of Brigadier General
Joseph R. Anderson. He initially oversaw Fort St. Philip located 15 miles south of
Wilmington, North Carolina
Wilmington is a port city in and the county seat of New Hanover County in coastal southeastern North Carolina, United States.
With a population of 115,451 at the 2020 census, it is the eighth most populous city in the state. Wilmington is the ...
, which was on July 1, 1863 renamed
Fort Anderson Fort Anderson can refer to:
*Fort Anderson (Kentucky) ; A Union fort used in the American Civil War and site of the Battle of Paducah, Kentucky
*Fort Anderson (North Carolina) ; A Confederate fort used in the American Civil War
*Fort Anderson Locate ...
. In 1862, Lamb was elected as the colonel of the 36th North Carolina Regiment.
On 4 July 1862, Colonel Lamb assumed command of
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' ...
. Located on the narrow Federal Point peninsula, it protected the New Inlet, which led 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 ...
and thus was critical for the operation of the Port of Wilmington. When he arrived, he observed in his words "... a small work, part of it constructed of perishable sand bags and its longest face was about one hundred yards. Out of its half dozen large guns, only the two eight-inch Columbiads were suitable for seacoast defense. One of the Federal frigates could have cleaned it out with a few broad-sides.”
Although not trained as an engineer, he was interested in military fortifications and studied their role in the
Crimean War
The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia.
Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...
, especially, the Russian fortress of
Malakoff
Malakoff () is a suburban commune in the Hauts-de-Seine department southwest of Paris, France. Located from the centre of the city, it had a population of 30,286 in 2016. The European Organisation for Civil Aviation Equipment (EUROCAE) is base ...
at Sevastopol. Lamb spent two-and-a-half years working relentlessly to construct the Confederacy's largest bastion at a length of seven hundred yards that became known as the ''South’s Gibraltar''.
Recognizing Fort Fisher's strategic value to the Confederacy, he successfully defended the fort against a Union attack led by
Benjamin Butler
Benjamin Franklin Butler (November 5, 1818 – January 11, 1893) was an American major general of the Union Army, politician, lawyer, and businessman from Massachusetts. Born in New Hampshire and raised in Lowell, Massachusetts, Butler is best ...
and
David Dixon Porter
David Dixon Porter (June 8, 1813 – February 13, 1891) was a United States Navy admiral and a member of one of the most distinguished families in the history of the U.S. Navy. Promoted as the second U.S. Navy officer ever to attain the rank o ...
on December 24–26, 1864. Two weeks later, in January 1865,
Alfred Terry
Alfred Howe Terry (November 10, 1827 – December 16, 1890) was a Union general in the American Civil War and the military commander of the Dakota Territory from 1866 to 1869, and again from 1872 to 1886. In 1865, Terry led Union troops to vic ...
, who replaced Butler, and Admiral Porter led a renewed attack against the fort. They were able to assemble a prevailing force of 8,000 aided by over 600 guns on ships against fewer than 2,000 defenders of the fort. Despite fierce fighting by Lamb and his garrison for two days, the fort was captured. The Confederate losses stood at about 500 men; the Union toll was near three times more.
Lamb was grievously wounded and taken prisoner. He was sent to U.S. Army's Chesapeake Hospital at Fort Monroe, Virginia. There, he met with Union Col.
Newton Martin Curtis, who himself was badly wounded and lost an eye during the
Second Battle of Fort Fisher
The Second Battle of Fort Fisher was a successful assault by the Union Army, Navy and Marine Corps against Fort Fisher, south of Wilmington, North Carolina, near the end of the American Civil War in January 1865. Sometimes referred to as the "Gib ...
. They developed a friendship and later worked together on calming tensions between the North and South.
My Friend the Enemy: The Battle at Fort Fisher as recalled by Colonel Lamb, CSA and General Curtis, USA
''Federal Point Historic Preservation Society''
Later years
Lamb eventually recovered, becoming from 1880 to 1886 the mayor of Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...
as his father and grandfather had been before him. Initially a member of the Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
, he joined the Republican Party
Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party.
Republican Party may also refer to:
Africa
*Republican Party (Liberia)
* Republican Part ...
in 1882. In 1900, he was made a Knight of the Order of Vasa
The Royal Order of Vasa () is a Swedish order of chivalry, awarded to citizens of Sweden for service to state and society especially in the fields of agriculture, mining and commerce. It was instituted on 29 May 1772 by King Gustav III. It was u ...
, for his services as consul for Sweden and Norway. He died in Norfolk on 23 March 1909 and is buried there in Elmwood Cemetery. His personal papers are held by the Special Collections Research Center at the College of William & Mary
The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William III ...
.[
His family home at Norfolk, ]Kenmure
Kaikorai Valley is a long broad valley which runs through the west of the New Zealand city of Dunedin, to the west of the city centre. It is the valley of a small stream, the Kaikorai Stream, which runs from northeast to southwest down the l ...
, was listed on 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 1988.
References
Further reading
* Lamb, William: editor, soldier, and man of business, ''National cyclopedia of American Biography'', Vol. 1.
* Lamb, William. ''Colonel Lamb's Story of Fort Fisher; The Battles Fought Here in 1864 and 1865''. Carolina Beach, N.C.: Blockade Runner Museum, 1966.
* Lamb, William, Newton Martin Curtis, Darlene Bright, and Leslie S. Bright. ''My Friend the Enemy: The Battle at Fort Fisher As Recalled by Colonel Lamb, CSA & General Curtis, USA: from Post War Addresses and Written Accounts of the Conflict''. Carolina Beach, N.C.: Federal Point Historic Preservation Society, 2007.
* William Lamb. ''The Life and Times of Colonel William Lamb, 1835–1909: Patriot, Benefactor, Statesman''. Austin, Texas: 2000.
* Walker, James L., Jr. ''Rebel Gibraltar: Fort Fisher and Wilmington, C.S.A.'' Wilmington, NC: Dram Tree Books, 2005.
External links
William Lamb (1835-1909)
''North Carolina Historic Sites: Teaching through our historic sites''
Finding aid for the William Lamb Papers
Find a Grave: William Lamb
1835 births
1909 deaths
College of William & Mary alumni
Confederate States Army officers
Mayors of Norfolk, Virginia
Knights of the Order of Vasa
{{American Civil War