Fort Fisher’s Armstrong Canon
The most effective gun in the fort. – Col. William Lamb, Fort Fisher commander
The Confederacy relied heavily on English artillery during the Civil War. A variety of English cannons, including Whitworths and Blakelys, were imported and used at Fort fisher. The most imposing cannon at the fort was the Armstrong 150-pounder mounted at Purdie battery midway along Fisher’s sea face.
Manufactured by Sir William Armstrong & Co. in England, the rifled tube weighed 16,000 pounds and could accurately hurl a 150-pound shell a distance of up to five miles. But even the great Armstrong gun could not prevent the capture of Fort Fisher. In fact, because the Confederates did not have an adequate supply of shells for the gun, it was rarely fired during the final Battle of Fort Fisher in January 1865.
Marker can be reached from Fort Fisher Boulevard South (U.S. 421) near Battle Acre Road.
Courtesy hmdb.org
