Ayden in Pitt County, North Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)

Fort Fisher Hero

Christopher Columbus Bland

Photographed by Don Morfe, September 26, 2013

1. Fort Fisher Hero Marker

Inscription. A hero of the fight for Fort Fisher is buried here in the churchyard. Pvt. Christopher C. “Kit” Bland, Battery K, 2nd North Carolina Artillery, was serving at the fort, the “Gibraltar of the Confederacy,” when Federal forces began their bombardment on December 24, 1864. The Union fleet concentrated its fire on the garrison flag flying over Battery Pulpit, headquarters of Col. William Lamb, the fort’s commander. Lamb, hoping to refocus the bombardment to a point less essential to the post’s defense, ordered Mound Battery, at the southern end of the fort, to raise the flag. When Capt. Daniel Munn, commanding there, asked for a volunteer, Bland stepped forward. He climbed the bare flagpole amid the shelling and tied the flag to the top. As Lamb had hoped, much of the Federal fire shifted to Mound Battery, eventually tearing the flag loose. Once again, to the admiration of all who saw it, Bland climbed the pole and secured the flag using his neckerchief. On his way down, a shell passed so close to him that it brushed his hair.

Bland survived the day unscathed but suffered a wound in the ankle from

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shell fragment during the second major Union attack on Fort Fisher on January 13, 1865. He was captured five days later. His ankle, badly cut and broken, became infected while he was confined, and his leg was amputated below the knee. Again, he had survived and became the pastor here in his later years. In January 1995, Sons of Confederate Veterans awarded Bland the “Confederate Medal of Honor.”

The funding for this project was provided by the North Carolina Department of Transportation through the Transportation Enhancement Program of the Federal Transportation Efficiency Act for the 21st Century.

(captions)
(upper left) Christopher C. Bland Courtesy Bill Bland
(upper right) Mound Battery, Fort Fisher, with flagpole - Courtesy Library of Congress

Erected by North Carolina Civil War Trails.

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Cemeteries & Burial Sites • War, US Civil. In addition, it is included in the North Carolina Civil War Trails, and the Sons of Confederate Veterans/United Confederate Veterans series lists. A significant historical month for this entry is January 1812.

Location. 35° 29.088′ N,

Photographed by Don Morfe, September 26, 2013

2. Fort Fisher Hero Marker

77° 22.531′ W. Marker is in Ayden, North Carolina, in Pitt County. It is on Ayden Golf Club Road north of Hines Drive Extension, on the left when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Ayden NC 28513, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in North Carolina’s Coastal Plain. It is also in the American South,

specifically in the Upper South,

and on the 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 8 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Haddocks Crossroads (approx. 1.3 miles away); Former Colleges (approx. 2½ miles away); Washington's Southern Tour (approx. 2.6 miles away); Veteran's Memorial (approx. 2.9 miles away); Red Banks Church (approx. 6.3 miles away); a different marker

Hancock's Primitive Baptist Church image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Don Morfe, September 26, 2013

3. Hancock's Primitive Baptist Church

The Fort Fisher Hero marker is located on the grounds of this church.

also named Scuffleton Bridge (approx. 6½ miles away); Little Creek Original Free Will Baptist Church (approx. 6.7 miles away); Blount Hall (approx. 7.2 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Ayden.

Other markers no longer nearby. Red Banks Church (was approx. 6.3 miles away but has been replaced with another marker now near it); Scuffleton Bridge (was approx. 6½ miles away but has been replaced with another marker now near it).

Credits. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016. It was originally submitted on November 27, 2013, by Don Morfe of Baltimore, Maryland. This page has been viewed 1,348 times since then and 68 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on November 27, 2013, by Don Morfe of Baltimore, Maryland. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.