I photographed Fort Fisher and Kure Beach near Wilmington, NC on my way back from Topsail Island on Tuesday, August 9, 2011. Until the last few months of the Civil War, Ft. Fisher kept North Carolina’s port of Wilmington open to blockade-runners supplying necessary goods to Confederate armies inland. By 1865, the supply line through Wilmington was the last remaining supply route open to Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. When Ft. Fisher fell after a massive Federal amphibious assault on January 15, 1865, its defeat helped seal the fate of the Confederacy. These are my favorite images.
A tour guide leads his group around Fort Fisher near Wilmington, NC on Tuesday, August 9, 2011.
A wooden barrier marks the outskirts of Fort Fisher near Wilmington, NC on Tuesday, August 9, 2011.
A crane flies over the marsh at Fort Fisher near Wilmington, NC on Tuesday, August 9, 2011.
A canon sits ready at Sherman's Battery inside Fort Fisher near Wilmington, NC on Tuesday, August 9, 2011.
A young boy looks for shells amongst the breaker rocks on Kure Beach near Wilmington, NC on Tuesday, August 9, 2011.
Birds search for food amongst the sand at Kure Beach near WIlmington, NC on Tuesday, August 9, 2011.
A starfish sits trapped amongst the rocks at Kure Beach near Wilmington, NC on Tuesday, August 9, 2011.
Waves crash against the breaker rocks along Kure Beach near Wilmington, NC as the tide comes in on Tuesday, August 9, 2011.
A young boy looks at a sea anemone caught amongst the rocks at Kure Beach near Wilmington, NC on Tuesday, August 9, 2011.
A sea anemone sits trapped amongst the breaker rocks at Kure Beach near Wilmington, NC on Tuesday, August 9, 2011.
A surfer rides his board in on a wave at Kure Beach near Wilmington, NC on Tuesday, August 9, 2011.
A surfer falls towards the ocean as a wave knocks him off his board at Kure Beach near Wilmington, NC on Tuesday, August 9, 2011.
A surfer falls off of his board at Kure Beach near Wilmington, NC on Tuesday, August 9, 2011.
A woman leads her three rescued canines into the water at Kure Beach near Wilmington, NC on Tuesday, August 9, 2011.
Brothers dig for sand crabs on Kure Beach near Wilmington, NC on Tuesday, August 9, 2011.