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Cape Fear Historical Institute Papers

Major-General Robert F. Hoke

 

Prelude to Battle:

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 the 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 six times his strength, but his position was undermined by black slaves aiding the invading army. This same dilemma faced 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." This occurred again during the War of 1812.

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”

(Hall, Land of the Golden River, page 96).

At the brief battle of Town Creek, 3000 Northerners assaulted Hagood’s thin line of 450 outnumbered South Carolinians in their new defensive position, though an Ohio regiment sustained heavy casualties while attacking 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.

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 itself.

At both post-Fort Fisher defensive lines of Sugar Loaf and Forks Road, Hoke’s strong entrenchments were the most formidable obstacles facing Northern commanders, and he can rightly be called “the Stonewall of Forks Road.” And it was only the success of overwhelming Northern forces on the western side of the Cape Fear that forced Hoke to make strategic withdrawals.

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 William 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. Eugene S. Martin, Capt. John J. Hedrick, Lt.Col. John D. Taylor, Capt. Samuel Bunting, Corp. Gabriel Boney and Lt. John T. Rankin to name a few, 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).

Dug In At Forks Road:

On the east side of the river, Hoke’s 3000 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 other direction to current-day Eastwood Road.

The Northern force opposing Hoke was being guided by Jacob Horne, a local man who betrayed his State, family and brother---who was among Hoke’s brave 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 assaults that day and the next, though the advance crested about 150 yards from Hoke’s lines. 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 regiment 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 entrenched 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 black US soldiers to be used for support roles, or advanced 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 couldn’t 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 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. The ironclad would have been a welcome addition to Cape Fear defenses.

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.

A footnote to the Forks Road battle should mention that Northern commander Adelbert Ames was a Radical Republican who became a corrupt carpetbag politician after the war in Mississippi, and currying political favor, married the infamous General Benjamin Butler’s daughter in 1870. He became the third Republican reconstruction governor of Mississippi in 1874 through vote fraud, and amid justifiable fears that his rule would institute a reign of radicalism for the benefit of freedmen and carpetbag adventurers.

Note:

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)

 

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.

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. He 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.

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

Research 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
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