Carolina Beach in New Hanover County, North Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)

Civil War Fortifications

Half Moon Battery

Photographed by Evan Dwyer, January 24, 2025

1. Civil War Fortifications Marker

Inscription.
Just west of the head of Myrtle Sound, Battery Gatlin was constructed. An outward of this battery, Half Moon Battery, was situated just south, running parallel with the sound for one-hundred-and-fifty yards. Half Moon Battery is an open work of traverses, mounting six guns, situated about 9,000 yards from Fort Fisher.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: War, US Civil. A significant historical date for this entry is January 13, 1865.

Location. 34° 2.884′ N, 77° 53.534′ W. Marker is in Carolina Beach, North Carolina, in New Hanover County. It can be reached from Saint Joseph Street east of Lanier Landing Court, on the left when traveling south. Marker is on the left side of the residential loop road circling the interior of the Forest By The Sea Condominium Complex. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 1200 St Joseph Street, Carolina Beach NC 28428, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in North Carolina’s Coastal Plain and on the Cape Fear Coast.

It is also in the American South,

specifically in the Upper South,

in the Tidewater,

and on the

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Eastern Seaboard. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region,

North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the original Thirteen Colonies,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Sugar Loaf Line (approx. 0.2 miles away); For a little while it was a lively and interesting fight (approx. 0.3 miles away); I hope we can hold Wilmington (approx. 0.3 miles away); Joseph Ryder Lewis Jr. Civil War Park (approx. 0.3 miles away); Such parts of the Sugar Loaf line... (approx. 0.3 miles away); Fort Fisher Army Air Base Hutment (approx. 0.3 miles away); Battlefield of Sugar Loaf (approx. 0.3 miles away); We are strongly entrenched here... (approx. 0.3 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Carolina Beach.

More about this marker. The earthen berm next to the marker is what remains of the Half Moon Battery. A staircase leads to a short path atop the earthwork. The development

Civil War Fortifications Marker & Half Moon Battery Western Terminus image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Evan Dwyer, January 24, 2025

2. Civil War Fortifications Marker & Half Moon Battery Western Terminus

The mound that supports the staircase is the remaining trace of Half Moon Battery.

company that built the condominium complex preserved this fragment in the median. Keep in mind that walking on earthworks compacts them, which ultimately speeds erosion. Note the complex is marked private property. Please respect the privacy of homeowners.

Regarding Civil War Fortifications. The Confederate Army constructed earthworks in this location to protect the land approach to Wilmington during the Civil War, using Myrtle Sound as a barrier on the left flank of their defenses. Battery Gatlin, referenced in the marker, was constructed along with this fortification to guard Myrtle Sound and the thin strip of beach to the east of it. Fort Fisher to the south prevented a landing at Federal Point, so any incursion would have to use the sand flats between the Sugar Loaf Line and the two batteries to the north, and Fort Fisher to the south, thus trapping an invader - theoretically. When the US Army and Navy did finally attempt to seize Fort Fisher and march on Wilmington, they failed in their first try but succeeded in their second, and took these fortifications by mid-January.

Earthworks surviving in the Cape Fear region are uncommon

Civil War Fortifications image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Evan Dwyer, January 24, 2025

3. Civil War Fortifications

Opposite (eastern) end of the Half Moon Battery earthwork trace.

due to the soil composition and exposure to wind and water. Much of the earthen fortifications south at Fort Fisher State Historic Site have eroded into the ocean. A trace running through Carolina Beach State Park east of the Sugar Loaf sand dune, a fragment in the Joseph Ryder Lewis, Jr. Civil War Park (opened in 2021), and a fragment of earthworks on Sugarloaf Court in the Carolina Beach Village subdivision across the road from Forest By The Sea are apparently the extent of the Sugar Loaf Line to survive. These works combine with the Half Moon Battery fragment described in this marker as the only Confederate fortifications surviving on Pleasure Island outside the Fort Fisher Historic Site complex (which includes Battery Buchanan next to the Ferry Landing).

Half Moon Battery Exterior Face image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Evan Dwyer, January 24, 2025

4. Half Moon Battery Exterior Face

This is the exterior (enemy-facing) side of the Half Moon Battery trace, facing the parking area to the south.

Half Moon Battery Interior Traverse image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Evan Dwyer, January 24, 2025

5. Half Moon Battery Interior Traverse

This photo is from the pathway on the top of the battery's main parapet. The side facing attackers would be to the left. To the right is the interior where the guns were located. The low, long horizontal leg protruding out of the interior wall at a 90-degree angle is a traverse, which was a type of construction built between gun pits to both protect gunners from gunshots to the side of the battery (enfilading fire, or flanking fire) and from infantry in case part of the battery was captured. Essentially, traverses subdivided the battery into defensible sections and provided flank protection for the gunners. Half Moon Battery had other traverses; this is the only one that survives.

Credits. This page was last revised on June 15, 2025. It was originally submitted on June 13, 2025, by Evan Dwyer of Richmond, Virginia. This page has been viewed 320 times since then and 71 times this year. Last updated on June 15, 2025, by Evan Dwyer of Richmond, Virginia. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on June 13, 2025, by Evan Dwyer of Richmond, Virginia. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.