During the 18th and 19th centuries,
the east coast of the United States was highly subject to attack from the
sea. After the War of 1812, the U. S. Government started construction of
38 forts along the country’s coasts for national defense. Fort Macon,
in North Carolina, was part of this defense plan. Its purpose was
to guard Beaufort Inlet.
Fort Macon was built by the U. S. Army Corps of
Engineers during 1826 to 1834. It was named after Nathaniel Macon,
an important North Carolina statesman. There were 9,303,667 bricks
in the construction. Most of the bricks were bought from local contractors
such as Otway Burns of Beaufort, the famous privateer in the War of 1812.
The mortar and plaster were made from burned and crushed oyster shells.
The fort was first occupied in December 1834,
but no guns were installed until a year later. From 1834 until the
beginning of the Civil War, the fort was used by different troops and engineer
detachments making repairs and improvements. Robert E. Lee. a captain
of Army Engineers, made a major inspection of the fort in 1840.
At the start of the Civil War, in 1861, the fort
was taken by a local group of Confederate soldiers. The Confederates
mounted a total of 54 guns including 8 and 10 inch Columbiads and 24 and
32 pounder cannons. This was the most guns the fort ever had.
At the time of the Federal attack on the Fort
in April 1862 it had 450 men, all from North Carolina. The fort commander
was from Mississippi. Included among the soldiers was my great great
great grandfather, Raymond L. Paul. He was the last surviving
Confederate soldier to have served in the fort during the Civil War.
Major General Ambrose Burnside led the Federal
troops into North Carolina in early 1862, capturing New Bern in February.
Gen. Burnside sent Brigadier General John G. Parke to capture Fort Macon.
Gen. Parke managed to set up three large batteries of siege guns on Bogue
Banks within range of the fort.
On April 25, 1862 Federal guns opened fire on
the fort using their new rifled cannons. By late in the afternoon,
two of the fort’s powder magazines were in danger of being hit and exploded
by Federal shells. One of the magazines being targeted had 10,000
pounds of black powder stored there. Rather than being blown up by
their own gun powder, the fort was forced to surrender. The formal
surrender was on April 26, 1862 with it’s Confederate garrison paroled
as prisoners of war, but allowed to return home.
A Congressional act of June 24, 1924 gave the
fort and surrounding area to the state of North Carolina to be used as
a public park. Today over one million visitors pass through each
year, making Fort Macon one of the most visited parks in the state.
The history of Fort Macon is of particular interest
to me because my great great great grandfather was stationed at the fort
during the Civil War.
After the war Raymond L. Paul settled in the small
fishing village of Davis Shore, North Carolina, where he became a master
carpenter and blacksmith. Raymond was best known as the boss carpenter
of the famous Davis Island Hunting Club, built around 1890, and the Carteret
Gun and Rod Club built around 1902 on Core Banks across the sound from
Davis. Raymond Paul died in 1930 at the age of 87, and was buried in the
family cemetery in Davis.
The author was a student in the fifth grade at
St. Egbert’s School, in Morehead City, when she prepared this paper as
part of a history contest sponsored by the Carteret County chapter of the
Daughters of The American Revolution in 1997. Ami was provided with some
guidance to research materials by the Park Rangers at Fort Macon.
The following letter was written by Ami Paul’s great great great grandfather, Raymond Paul, when he was stationed at Fort Macon as a Confederate soldier.
July The 7th, 1861
Fort Macon