Editing Second Battle of Fort Fisher (section)

==Background==
{{see also|First Battle of Fort Fisher}}
Wilmington was the last major port open to the Confederacy on the Atlantic seacoast. Ships leaving Wilmington via the [[Cape Fear River]] and setting sail for the [[Bahamas]], [[Bermuda]] or [[Nova Scotia]] to trade cotton and tobacco for needed supplies from the [[United Kingdom|British]] were protected by the fort.<ref>Gragg, p. 4.</ref> Based on the design of the [[Battle of Malakoff|Malakoff redoubt]] in [[Sevastopol]], [[Russian Empire]], Fort Fisher was constructed mostly of earth and sand. This made it better able to absorb the pounding of heavy fire from Union ships than older fortifications constructed of mortar and bricks. Twenty-two guns faced the ocean, while twenty-five faced the land. The [[sea]] face guns were mounted on {{convert|12|ft|m|adj=mid|-high}} batteries with larger, {{convert|45|and|60|ft|adj=on}} batteries at the southern end of the fort. Underground passageways and bombproof rooms existed below the giant earthen mounds of the fort.<ref>Chaitan, p. 158.</ref> The [[fortifications]] kept Union ships from attacking the port of Wilmington and the [[Cape Fear River]].

On December 23, 1864, Union ships under Rear Admiral [[David Dixon Porter|David D. Porter]] commenced a naval bombardment of the fort, to little effect. On December 25, Union troops under Major General [[Benjamin Butler (politician)|Benjamin F. Butler]] began landing in preparation for a ground assault, but Butler withdrew them upon word of approaching Confederate reinforcements.<ref>Kennedy, p. 401.</ref>