The map below shows the fortifications along the lower Cape Fear River during the Civil War. At that time the river entered the Atlantic Ocean via the Old and New Inlets. The New Inlet was defended by Fort Fisher, while the Old Inlet was guarded by Fort Holmes on Bald Head or Smith’s Island and Fort Caswell on Oak Island. Between 1870 and 1891 the Army Corps of Engineers filled in and closed New Inlet.

By the fall of 1863 Wilmington, North Carolina (about 30 miles up the Cape Fear River) was the only port on the Atlantic Ocean within the Confederacy that was still open. Because of concern that the Federals might occupy Smith Island and thereby shut down both inlets to the Cape Fear River construction was begun on a fort on the island in September of 1863. The batteries and ramparts were built of dirt and sand. There were five large artillery batteries (Battery Holmes and batteries 1-4) made of palmetto and pine trees from the island that mounted 15 cannons (shown below). Battery Holmes was the largest battery and contained a 10-inch Columbiad, a 100-pound seacoast cannon, and 6 other unknown guns. It predates the other batteries and there was a pier or dock there. Battery #1 had a 10-inch Columbiad, Battery #2 a 100-pounder Brooke cannon, and Battery #4 three 24-pounder cannons, one 32-pounder cannon and a bombproof magazine.

The earthworks were up to 86-feet thick at the base and 25-feet high. About 1,100 troops from the 40th North Carolina under Colonel John Hedrick were stationed there. The fort was abandoned after Fort Fisher fell in January of 1865. By 1871 Battery Holmes was underwater. By 1883 the entirety of Bald Head Point and Batteries 1 and 2 were washed away but the rest of the fort remained protected by elevations of the island’s main dune ridge and foliage. Since that time accretion has displaced the shoreline of the island further south and the locations of batteries 1 and 2 are once more on land, while Battery Holmes still remains underwater in the channel. Shown below is Bradford’s 1865 map of the fort overlaid on the landscape of the current island.

Smith’s or Bald Head Island is only accessible by ferry from Southport, North Carolina. After the arriving on the island I rented a golf cart to get to the sites below.

Battery Holmes 1863-1865 marker- 33.8707000, -78.0038333

Fort Holmes 1863-1865 Batteries 1 and 2 marker- 33.8677167, -78.0055000

Battery #1 site- 33.8685189, -78.0069302

Battery #2 site- 33.8665833, -78.0054379

Blockade runner Ella marker- 33.8596667, -78.00385000

Frying Pan Shoals marker- 33.845400, -77.961450

Union Blockade Ship Peterhoff marker- 33.845400, -77.961450

Fort Holmes 1863-1865 Encampment site marker- 33.8729588, -78.0011464

Old Baldy Lighthouse- 33.8735311, -78.0003394

Fort Holmes 1863-1865 marker

Fort Holmes 1863-1865 Battery #4 marker- 33.8722333, -77.9997500

Guarding the Confederate Lifeline Tablet- 33.8722333, -77.9997500, marker not listed on HMDB, within Battery #4

Fort Holmes Made of Sand Marker- marker not listed on HMDB, within Battery #4

Fort Holmes Estuary and River Defense marker, not listed on HMDB, within Battery #4

Gun magazine, within Battery #4

East Wall I marker- 33.8719107, -77.9999102

The East Wall- these pictures were taken from the 6th hole green on the golf course

Road trace- perpendicular to the boardwalk marked by the two thin pieces of wood running vertical in the picture. This road ran through the east wall and may have been created to move some of the mobile Whitworth guns.

East Wall II marker- 33.8684830, -78.0011363

Battery #3- 33.8674215, -78.0025143 Holmes Trail and Gunnery Court, unfortunately the road was built right through the middle of the battery but you can see parts of the battery on each side of the road.

Museum at the lighthouse

Camp Life marker at lighthouse- 33.8735311, -78.0003394