The busy port of Wilmington, North Carolina, was a key city linking the Confederacy to the goods and the weapons merchants of Europe and the world. By late 1864, the port city had become an important target for Federal military leaders. To keep the city from falling, the Confederacy relied on a strong system of fortifications, the most formidable of which was Fort Fisher.

The Federal Army in late 1864 and early 1865 made the fort the target of the largest amphibious operation prior to World War II. The successful reduction of the post sounded the knell for the brief life of the...