The Port and the Forts: A Multiscalar Study of the Defensive Landscapes on the Lower Cape Fear River in the Nineteenth Century

Summary

Located in southeastern North Carolina, Wilmington was one of the most active trans-Atlantic ports during the nineteenth century in the Southeast, particularly in the export of naval stores. Second only to Charleston, it was also the most heavily fortified port on the Atlantic Coast. This study summarizes the landscapes and archaeological investigations of the four primary forts of the Cape Fear Region’Fort Johnson, Fort Caswell, Fort Fisher, and Fort Anderson’that protected the Lower Cape Fear River and Wilmington throughout the nineteenth century. Each fort will be considered individually for its unique layout, construction, and use (or reuse) of land, as well as how these forts worked together to form a network of defense again potential coastal assaults. A summary of these forts in context will serve to provide methodological insights into the ‘questions that count’ for the archaeological investigations of these military landscapes.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2014   •
• Foregrounding the Landscape in Archaeology

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): SYM-38,07