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Cape Fear Historical Institute Papers

Major-General Robert F. Hoke

 

Prelude to Battle: Fort Anderson

Subsequent to the fall of Fort Fisher on January 15, 1865,

Northern forces began a cautious advance on the city of Wilmington from both sides of the Cape Fear River. After the evacuation of

Fort Anderson on the west side of the river on February 19 by his subordinate, Brigadier General Johnson Hagood (future governor

of South Carolina) and his South Carolinians, Major General

Robert F. Hoke knew he had to abandon his defensive position

across the river from that fort, at Sugar Loaf. Without any strong fortifications to fall back on, Hoke knew that making a stand

between the enemy and Wilmington would be difficult.

Before evacuating Fort Anderson, General Hagood had held on against

an enemy with overwhelming strength, but his position was compromised by black slaves aiding the invading Northern army. Betrayals such as this

had brought disastrous results to North Carolina patriots in 1781:

"when British forces under the command of Lord Cornwallis advanced toward the city, slaves flocked to the British lines in

hopes of gaining their freedom; they then assisted in the plunder

of nearby farms and plantations, and stood by when the Redcoats finally captured Wilmington and sacked it."

Treason was an unpredictable enemy and would lead to the capture

and deaths of many North Carolina patriots again during the War of 1812 as British troops invaded the Cape Fear region. 

In a May 1st, 1900 address entitled "Defense of Fort Anderson, 1865,"

Capt. Eugene S. Martin described the action there as follows:

"The fort proper was commanded by Colonel [Wilmingtonian John J.] Hedrick with the 40th North Carolina Regiment; on his right was [Captain Abner] Mosely's [Sampson Artillery] Battery of Whitworth guns, then came the light artillery around this [St. Philips] Church, then Major MacRae's Command, and on our extreme right Colonel Simonton's Regiment and other South Carolina troops, the whole command under General Johnson Hagood...His headquarters were on the road to Orton [Plantation, now Highway 133]."

The shelling of the fort was incessant from enemy monitors and gunboats

on the 18th and 19th of February which destroyed many of the tombs around the Church. Just after midnight on the 18th [Saturday] General Hagood quietly evacuated Fort Anderson, leaving "Some of the dead [who] were still in the gun chambers and along the lines, whlie some had been carried into that sacred Edifice and lay there with their pale faces turned toward the silent stars above them..."

The enemy pickets discovered empty fortifications in front of them as they carefully probed the fort's defenses at daylight. In his

"Land of the Golden River", author Lewis Philip Hall describes

the unopposed enemy advance:

"Once Northern troops entered the abandoned Fort Anderson,

they were drawn to the historic graveyard and ruins of nearby

St. Philips Church where they “dug up the remains of the coffins, broke open the tombs and scattered the bones, looking for jewelry

and silver coffin plates; at which time many of the

gravestones were destroyed”

Before departing the fort for their advance on Wilmington, Northern

troops defaced the Church and removed its cornerstone.

Author James Laurence Sprunt wrote that patriot and Judge Parker Quince's "tomb though battered by Northern shellfire and marred

by vandals, [it] still remains as one of the most imposing there..." Another Northern cannonball "struck and demolished a

simple tombstone bearing the epitaph "Here lies the body of

Benjamin Smith, one time Governor of North Carolina."

When only 21 years old, Smith served as an aide to

General Washington in the retreat from Long Island in

August 1779, and performed his duty gallantly at Fort Moultrie

that same year while driving the British from South Carolina.

Battle of Town Creek

The Northern forces then caught up with the South Carolinians at the

brief battle of Town Creek, where 3000 troops assaulted Hagood’s

thin line of 450 in their new defensive position. It was a one-sided battle though an Ohio regiment sustained heavy casualties while advancing on

the Edenton Bell Battery of the 3rd North Carolina Artillery.

As a testament to the overwhelmed patriots bravery, a Northern officer commented that the North Carolinians “stood their ground to the last and did not surrender until the guns were taken from their hands.” A

12-pounder howitzer of that Battery, the “Saint Paul,” (so named as it

was cast from the melted bronze bell of Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church

of Edenton, North Carolina) was captured by the invaders.

Wilmington-natives with Hagood's forces included Captains' John D. Taylor and Edward B. Dudley (Anderson Artillery) of the Thirty-Sixth NC Regiment; Lt. William Calder, adjutant of First NC Battallion, Heavy Artillery; Lt. John Hampden Hill of the Fortieth Regiment; Capt. Eugene S. Martin (Ordnance Officer for Hagood); and Captain John T. Rankin.

Another veteran of the Fort Anderson and Town Creek battles was Gabriel J.  Boney, a private in the 3rd NC Artillery.

His capture at the Battle of Bentonville on March 19th, had him spend

the remainder of the war at Point Lookout prison of war camp. Boney is known for the legacy of $20,000 upon his death in 1915, specifically to fund the Confederate Memorial (1924) monument to his comrades now standing at Third and Dock Streets in Wilmington.

General Johnson Hagood

Also with Hagood's force were the remnants of Wilmingtonian Major Alexander MacRae's 1st Battalion, North Carolina Heavy Artillery which had fought valiantly at Forts Fisher and Anderson. MacRae was the father of Brigadier General William MacRae who distinguished himself in Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Both MacRae's are buried in Wilmington's Oakdale Cemetery.

General Hoke Lays His Plan of Defense:

Hoke knew enemy strategy as he was in possession of a captured order from Northern General Schofield that the ultimate goal was to reach Goldsboro, and linking up with Sherman’s forces that had been ravaging the Carolinas. Hoke hoped to thwart this, and was also aware that a Confederate force of 6,000 troops under Lt. General William J. Hardee was fast approaching Wilmington from South Carolina. He was

determined to create a strong defensive work before Wilmington in

order to hold the city until Hardee arrived. Nor would a Northern

naval advance up the Cape Fear River be easy, Hoke had artillery

batteries above Sugarloaf (Town Creek, Nine Mile, Eagle's Island,

and Forts Meares, Campbell, Lee and Stokes), on both sides all the

way up to the city of Wilmington itself.

At both post-Fort Fisher defensive lines of Sugar Loaf and later Forks Road, Hoke’s entrenchments were formidable obstacles facing Northern commanders, and as he deployed his veterans across the peninsula below Wilmington and easily fought off repeated assaults, he is worthy of the title “the Stonewall of Forks Road.” And it was only the success of vastly overwhelming Northern forces on the western side of the Cape Fear at Fort Anderson which forced Hoke to make a strategic withdrawal.

Thomas L. Clingman as Colonel

General Hoke’s division consisted of four brigades commanded by Brigadier General Alfred Colquitt (a future governor of Georgia),

Brigadier General Thomas L. Clingman (who was convalescing,

Col. William Devane in his place), Brigadier General W. W. Kirkland,

and the aforementioned Hagood. The entire force was made up of

North Carolina patriots except for the South Carolinians of Hagood,

and Georgians of Colquitt. Among Hoke’s Cape Fear defenders were Wilmington natives Capt. John J. Hedrick, Capt. Samuel Bunting,

Corporal Gabriel Boney, as well as soldiers of the Sampson Artillery

and Bladen Guards. Also near Hoke’s lines were the MacRae and Parsley batteries, named for local patriots, and located at Young’s Pond at the “extreme northeastern tip of Greenfield Mill Pond, on the old Federal

Point Road  (an extension of 12th Street).

General Alfred Colquitt

Dug In At Forks Road:

On the east side of the river, 3000 of Hoke's men had entrenched at

Forks Road, about 4 miles southeast of Wilmington and now the site of the Cameron Art Museum. It is reported that the entrenchments extended from the Cameron site to the Cape Fear River, and in the opposite direction toward present-day Eastwood Road.

General William W. Kirkland

The Northern force opposing Hoke was being guided by Jacob Horne,

a local man who betrayed his State, family and brother---the latter was among Hoke’s defenders. On February 20th, Northern forces opposing Hoke numbered about 8500 and in probing his position, sent five US Colored Troop (USCT) regiments comprising 1600 men in repeated

and near-suicidal assaults that day and the next, getting no closer to

Hoke's breastworks than 150 yards.

As Hoke’s lines were stretched out, the brunt of the Northern attack was received by General Clingman’s Brigade of North Carolinians, numbering about 900 men, under Colonel Devane. It is notable that Clingman's command included Captain Lippitt's 51st North Carolina that routed the 54th Massachusetts at Battery Wagner, near Charleston, in  July 1863.

The 54th Massachusetts was a black regiment led by white northern officers, as were the black troops that assaulted Hoke's well-entrenched defensive position (see note below).

According to Chris Fonvielle’s The Wilmington Campaign, “Clingman’s [Brigade] fire ravaged Wright’s (USCT) brigade with continuous volleys

of musketry, while the Rebel artillery assisted with barrages of iron case shot.” The attackers were swept off the field by a murderous fire from

the Wilmington Horse Artillery’s 6 and 12-pounders. Realizing further attacks would be futile, the black troops “promptly erected a defensive line” at the front while white Pennsylvania troops were entrenched a

half-mile to the rear.

It was common by 1865 for US Colored Troops to be used in support roles, or assault troops if white soldiers saw the potential for great casualties—as at Battery Wagner near Charleston. Also, the performance of black soldiers in past battles such as Battery Wagner, Olustee and the Crater made Northern commanders hesitant to use them in critical assaults.

(see note below).

At Forks Road, the Northern gunboats were out of range and could not effectively support the attack of the USCT, which helped ensure the failure of the assault. Several Northern gunboats grounded in the shallows of the Cape Fear River below Wilmington, and lighter craft were severely damaged or driven off by the strong artillery batteries Lee, Campbell, Meares and Davis just south of the city and effectively anchoring Hoke’s western flank. The Northern transport Thorn blew up in the river after striking a submerged torpedo at Orton Cove, one of twenty known to

have been strategically placed to destroy invading enemy ships.

Despite Hagood’s defeat at Town Creek making Hoke’s position at

Forks Road increasingly untenable, Wilmington’s defenders defiantly floated mines downriver to surprise Northern gunboats, killing several sailors and nearly sinking the transport Osceola.
Late in the evening of the 20th, Hoke telegraphed the approaching

Hardee that with his two brigades soon in Wilmington, the city may

yet be saved from the invader.

On February 21, Hoke’s firmly entrenched lines at Forks Road stoutly resisted a series of additional assaults that sent the USCT fleeing back to safety of their trenches, and the shore batteries below Wilmington were

still harassing any movements of enemy gunboats. Hoke was resolutely holding his impregnable position in hopes that Hardee’s brigades would soon arrive, but General Braxton Bragg, Hoke’s superior, had already telegraphed Hardee and advised him to avoid Wilmington. Bragg was concerned that the Wilmington railroad line was soon to be severed,

and sent Hardee from Florence on to Cheraw, South Carolina.

Bragg Orders Wilmington Evacuated:
General Lee ordered Bragg to abandon the city and set fire to all tobacco, cotton and naval stores that could be used by the enemy. Also destroyed was the ironclad Wilmington, nearly completed at Beery’s Shipyard on Eagles Island across river from the city. Had it been completed before the assault on Fort Fisher, the new ironclad would have made Northern gunboat advances up the Cape Fear difficult if not impossible.

When Bragg learned of Northern forces approaching Wilmington and gaining a foothold on Eagles Island, he ordered Hoke to retreat and abandon Wilmington on February 22. Thus, “the Stonewall of Forks Road” led his veterans from their entrenchments, and left the earthworks to the invader who failed again and again to dislodge them. Hoke would pass through Wilmington amid burning supplies and stores and follow the Wilmington and Weldon tracks toward Rockfish Creek, where he

would establish his next defensive line.

 

Note, 54th Massachusetts:

"At Battery Wagner in July 1863, Northern General Strong's

"leading regiment was the 54th Massachusetts, a Negro regiment commanded by white officers. (Colonel Robert) Shaw's Negro regiment of 600 men advanced at a double quick, but broke at the ditch of Wagner under the withering fire of the Charleston battalion and the 51st North Carolina, and, says Major Johnson, "rushed

like a crowd of maniacs back to the rear" (Defense of Charleston Harbor, page 104). Colonel Shaw was killed; and as his men, with

a few brave exceptions, rushed back, they, General Seymour

reported,"fell harshly upon those in their rear."

Two of General Strong's regiments had been effected by the panic

of the Negro regiment, and soon the whole First brigade was routed. General Strong was mortally wounded."

(Confederate Military History, Vol. IV, D.H. Hill, Jr.,

Blue & Grey Press, pp. 201-202)

Appendix I:

Biography of General Robert F. Hoke:
Robert Frederick Hoke was born at Lincolnton, North Carolina on May 27, 1837, son of Michael & Frances (Burton) Hoke. His father was a brilliant lawyer, orator and candidate for governor in 1844. General Hoke was educated at Lincolnton Academy and attended the Kentucky Military Institute.

Hoke as a Colonel

The outbreak of war in 1861 found him managing his families various manufacturing enterprises, which included a cotton mill and iron-works.

He entered the Confederate military as a lieutenant of the 1st North Carolina Volunteers, with which he took part in the battle of Big Bethel.

Hoke was subsequently promoted major and lieutenant colonel of the

33rd North Carolina and colonel of the 21st. Hoke made a distinguished record on all the battlefields of Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia from the Seven Days to the campaign of Chancellorsville. He was severely

wounded during General Jubal Early’s defense of Marye’s Heights

during the latter campaign. In the meantime, he had been appointed brigadier general to rank from January 17, 1863 for gallant service

at Fredericksburg.

After his recovery he was stationed in North Carolina, suppressing desertion and outlawry in the western part of the State; and later in

eastern North Carolina. For his brilliant exploit in capturing Plymouth

and its garrison of 3000 Northerners, he was promoted major general

by President Davis from April 20, 1864. He aided Beauregard in bottling up Butler at Drewry’s Bluff and in the repulse of Grant at Cold Harbor;

and his division was again ordered to North Carolina in December 1864. After participating in the defense of Fort Fisher and the Wilmington campaign, he served gallantly under Joseph E. Johnston at Bentonville

until the final surrender.

His soldiers loved him and his final words to them were:
“You are paroled prisoners---not slaves; the love of liberty which

led you in the contest burns now as brightly in your hearts as ever; cherish it, nourish it and associate it with the history of the past. Transmit it to your children. Teach them the rights of freemen and teach them to maintain them. Teach them too that the proudest day

in all your proud careers was that on which you enlisted

as Southern soldiers.”

Captain Samuel A. Ashe said: “Hoke was Lee’s best general and the most distinguished soldier in North Carolina.”

After the war General Hoke returned to private pursuits and refused all political honors. He did with reluctance accept the appointment from Governor Vance as State Director of the North Carolina Railroad and held that position for a few years. General Hoke's nephew, Hoke Smith, became a successful attorney who provided legal advice to the General's railroad operations. Smith would become Secretary of the Interior in

Grover Cleveland's second administration.

On January 7, 1869 he married Lydia VanWyck and they had six children, one of whom, Dr. Michael Hoke, became a distinguished orthopedic surgeon in Atlanta. General Hoke for awhile operated the Cranberry Iron Works and was also president of the North Carolina Home Insurance Company in Raleigh where he lived for many years. On July 3, 1912, he died in Raleigh and was buried with military honors from the Church of the Good Shepherd (Episcopal) of which he was a member.

 

About the Author

Bernhard Thuersam is the Executive Director of the Cape Fear Historical Institute in Wilmington. A native of Niagara Falls, New York, he has been a devoted student of world history since 1958 and

a former Chairman of the Cape Fear Museum Board of Trustees. Contact him at bernhard1848@att.net

Sources:

The Wilmington Campaign, Mark A. Moore, Savas Publishing, 1999
The Last Rays of Departing Hope, Chris Fonvielle, Savas Pub'g, 1997
Generals in Grey, Ezra J. Warner, LSU Press, 1959

The Story of Orton Plantation, James L. Sprunt, 1958
Land of the Golden River,, Lewis P. Hall, Hall’s Enterprises, 1980
Annals of Lincoln County, Wm Sherrill, Regional Publishing, 1937
Lee’s Modest Warrior, Robt F. Hoke, Daniel Barefoot, JF Blair,1996
General William J. Hardee, Nathaniel C. Hughes, J., LSU Press, 1965

Remembering NC's Confederates, M. Hardy, Arcadia Publ'g, 2006

Hoke Smith, Dewey W. Grantham, LSU Press, 1958