Fort Fisher, 1862, Yellow Fever

In late-Summer, 1862, a yellow fever epidemic started to spread in Wilmington, NC around the site of Fort Fisher. Throughout the tenure of the Confederacy, the ports provided much-needed supplies to the army from blockade runners. Fort Fisher and the port of Wilmington on the Cape Fear River was arguably the most reliable of those forts to the cause. It was able to hold off Federal occupation for most of the war.

In 1862, the strength of Fort Fisher was in serious jeopardy. Out of 1,505 reported cases, there were 654 deaths...a rate of 43%! The bulk of the population of Wilmington and the surrounding area left town. It was suspected that sailors from blockade runners brought the disease to the town.

The first hard freeze occurred in November, 1862, effectively ending the epidemic before more damage could have been done. The Confederacy's most secure port and supply line survived. God spared the lives of many residents of the area. Had the epidemic begun earlier in that year, the damage could have been far worse, and the cause for Southern independence may have had a shorter life. The war would have likely been shortened and more lives spared.

source: Confederate Goliath: The Battle of Fort Fisher, Rod Gragg.