The One Weak Point In The 'Malakoff' Was The Gate

The One Weak Point In The 'Malakoff' Was The Gate. Lt. Martin Van Buren Richardson, 4th New Hampshire, Bell's Brigade. Some of the heaviest fighting took place in the area in front of you. The "Bloody Gate," as it was referred to by veterans of Fort Fisher, was the entry point of the Wilmington Road into the fort. According to the fort commander Col. William Lamb, "The enemy were unable to enter by the river road, and some of the most desperate fighting done in the work was in the space between the left bastion and the river shore.", Capt. Kinchen Braddy commanded the 2nd Company C, 36th North Carolina, which had only half its men present at the western salient of the fort at the time of the attack. Braddy complained that he "was in the perfect ignorance of the dispositions of the other forces or the assignments of the commanders of the different parts of the fort." When Company D of the First Battalion, North Carolina Artillery showed up at the river road sally port, Braddy had not seen an officer since being assigned to this position the previous day., Company D, First Battalion North Carolina Artillery, was the company in the extreme left of the fort, occupying the space on both sides of the Napoleon and... successfully repulsed every charge made by Curtis' brigade... There was another piece, however, a Parrott gun just on the edge of the river which we used once or twice very effectively in blowing to atoms a bridge on the main road into the fort... At first charge the boys at the Napoleon made a shot which cleared that road and caused many to take refuge under that bridge... and if successfully defending the most defenseless spot in all Fort Fisher against Curtis' Brigade and only surrendering after being completely surrounded by another brigade, [Pennypacker's] isn't pretty good evidence of true soldiery, I would be glad to see a specimen of it. , Pvt. Zachariah Fulmore describing the Bloody Gate, Proudly sponsored by Jim and Bonnie Carper, (captions) , View of the entrance to the fort showing the "Bloody Gate." Library of Congress, Capt. Kinchen Braddy, National colors of the 97th Pennsylvania. Colonel Pennypacker was wounded in an effort to plant the colors of the 97th Pennsylvania on the traverse. Pennsylvania Capital Preservation Committee