WESTERN FRONT DRIVING TOUR
STOP 3: Fort Fisher
Allow 10 minutes for a visit
The third stop on a tour of the Western Front Unit of Petersburg National Battlefield is at Fort Fisher, one of 36 earthen forts built by the Union Army during the fighting at Petersburg between June 1864 and April 1865. As the Union army captured more ground on its westward campaign to seize vital Confederate roads and railroads that supplied Petersburg and Richmond, forts were built at key locations. Fort Fisher protected the area gained after the three-day Battle of Peebles’s Farm (September 30 through October 2, 1864). It was the Union’s largest fortification at Petersburg.
Earthen forts, not masonry forts, were built because they could be quickly constructed. Furthermore, earth actually offers better protection than masonry from incoming cannonballs, for the metal balls are absorbed into the dirt upon impact instead of shattering the stone or brick.
Fort Fisher is one of the better preserved earthen forts in the park. Though hard to see from the ground, it is a rectangular fort with bastions at all four corners. Bastions are structures that protrude from the corners of a fort that allow men stationed within or on the structure to have a clear view of the fort walls and entrance. In addition to armed soldiers, short range artillery pieces were mounted on the bastions, and any invader who approached the walls would be trapped in a crossfire between two bastions. If a fort were a perfect square, it would be hard to shoot at any enemy soldier who made it to the wall, for soldiers within the fort would practically have to hang over the wall to get a shot at him.
From the parking lot, enter Fort Fisher via a footbridge. Standing at the bridge, you can see the trenches in front of the earthen wall. The way forts were built, dirt was dug and piled high to create a wall. The ditch where the dirt came from formed a moat. Enemy troops storming the fort walls had to first deal with the ditches, which were deep and usually filled with obstacles such as rain water or sharpened logs called abatis. The earthen walls at Fort Fisher were much taller and the ditches much deeper in 1864. Two hundred and fifty-plus years of erosion have taken a toll on the fort, filling in the ditches and whittling down the walls to what you see today.
Once inside the fort, follow the dirt loop trail. There are a couple of observation decks inside that provide a nice view of the fort construction. One of the decks is located within the northwest bastion and another at the entrance to the northeast bastion.
Stop 4: Fort Gregg | Stop 2: Poplar Grove National Cemetery | Western Front Tour Home Page
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Last updated on March 28, 2023