general braxton bragg abandoned the fort at the mouth of the river and withdrew them to four anderson. soldiershen the most were in four anderson during the war, around 2300 confederate soldiers here. a division of troops who had been sent i generally to make sure that wilmington remained in confederate hands. it had to be safeguarded. if only did fell, he cannot maintain his army. you have troops here, troops directly across the cape ripper, but general grant wanted to capture not only fort fisher, he needed to capture wilmington. why? at the time that the federals were being defeated at fort fisher in the first attack of 1864, federals gained a victory 300 miles to the south. savannahal captured after occupying and destroying atlanta. armyal sherman marched his the entire breadth of the state and captured savanna on december 21. he presented the city to president lincoln as a christmas gift. now safe on the seacoast, general grant wanted to transfer a fromn's army by se petersburg -- i'm sorry from savannah to petersburg one last push against robert e lee's army. the great expanded

general braxton bragg was partner and commander abandoned the fort south of the river and withdrew them to fort anderson. and that's when the most soldiers were in fort anderson during the war, for about 2300 confederate soldiers here, 4500 confederate soldiers across the river. a division of troops that had been sent by general lee from petersburg alliae to me sure wellington remained in confederate hands. it had to be safeguarded. remember, if wilmington fell, he could not maintain his army troops over here, you've got a river across the cape fear river but general grant forced the capture not just for fisher, closed the harbor to blockade running, he needed to capture wilmington. why? well, that time that generals were being defeated at fort fisher in the first attack in 1864, the federals gained an important victory 300 miles to the south. general sherman's army captured savanna after capturing, occupying and destroying atlanta in the fall of 1864, where sherman marched is 3000 army and the entire estate and captured savanna on december 21. then the city, president lincoln, general

general braxton bragg to his departmental commander abandoned the forts at the mouth of the river and with drew them to fort anderson. that's when the most soldiers were in fort anderson during the war. there were about 2300 confederate soldiers, about 4500 confederate across the river, a division of troops that have been sent by generally dutchman general lead to make sure wilmington remained in confederate hands but it had to be safeguarded. remember it wilmington fell, he could not maintain his army. so you've got troops over here, you've got troops directly across the river, but general grant wants to capture not just fort fisher and close the harbor to blockade running, he needs to capture wilmington. y.? well, at the time that the federals were being defeated at fort fisher in the first attack at christmas 1864, the federals gained an important victory 300 miles to the south. general shermans army captured savannah after capturing, occupying and destroying atlanta in the fall of 1864, general sherman marched his 60,000 man army the entire breadth of the state and captured savann

general braxton bragg who was the departmental commander abandoned the forts at the mouth of the river and withdrew them to fort anderson. that's when the most soldiers were in fort anderson during the war. about 2300 confederate soldiers here, about 4500 soldiers across the cape fear river. a division of troops that have been sent by generally from the petersburg line to make sure that wilmington remains in confederate hands. it had to be safeguarded. remember, if wilmington felt he could not maintain his army. you got troops here, troops directly across the cape fear river but general grant wants to capture not just fort fisher and close the harbor to blockade running but he needs to capture wilmington. why? at the time the federals were being defeated at fort fisher in the first attack at christmas 1864 the four the federals gained an important victor re- 300 miles miles is off. sherman captured savanna. after capturing, occupying and destroying atlanta and fall of 86 ford fort general sherman marched his 60000 man army the entire breadth of the state and captured savanna on decembe

braxton bragg has 50,000 men. he is here and what you see in the background. missionary ridge. it is an interesting place topic -- topographically. i got to visit it. as we approached, there is a hurricane. the trays were down and we were not able to visit it. we blame that on you. we are forgiven you now. you can see the mountain which is visible, here he is. who is in the defensive position, who is laying siege to what is happening at the beginning of this? > braxton bragg is probably or the single most competent general. -- most incompetent general of the civil war. he famously is unpopular. he does not look too bad here. everybody said he was ugly. repulsive is it worth it is often used. his demeanor was much the same. you asked how does this man become a commander. what answer is because he got along well with jefferson davis. he was a beleaguered commander. and commander, his subordinates did not like him. he had a plan that was sure to work. he issued those messages through the careers and nothing worked out the way it was supposed to. he was furious, he landed on the ch