A Brief History of the Seacoast Defenses
of the Outer Banks
(1861 - 1865, 1942)
CIVIL WAR
FORT OREGON (1861-1865) was a Confederate earthwork at Oregon Inlet, on the northern
tip of Pea Island. It was abandoned before Union seizure in September 1861. The exact site has
washed away. The Coast Guard is now located near the location.
FORT HATTERAS (1861-1865) was a Confederate earthwork captured in August 1861 by combined
Union Army-Navy forces. It was a 12-gun fort larger than Fort Clark, once located on the
Pamlico Sound side of Hatteras Inlet, 0.75 miles west of Fort Clark. There are no remains
today, but it was built of sand walls six feet high and 25 feet thick, covered by sod and
wooden planks. Originally located here may have been a colonial battery in 1759.
FORT CLARK (1861-1865) was a Confederate 7-gun redoubt captured by the Union in August 1861.
The site of the fort is on the Atlantic side of Hatteras Inlet, two miles southwest of the Hatteras-Ocracoke
ferry docks.
FORT OCRACOKE (1861-1865) was a Confederate 9-gun redoubt located at Ocracoke Inlet.
It was abandoned before Union seizure in September 1861. It was destroyed and the Union then built the 12-gun
Fort Morgan, used also as a prison stockade and hospital. Originally located here was Fort
Granville (1749-1764), a small wooden fort to protect the area from the Spanish. It was later
used again during the American Revolution and the War of 1812. The actual site of the fort was on Beacon Island,
now washed away. Underwater excavations began in 1998.
ROANOKE ISLAND DEFENSES (1861-1865): The Confederates fortified Roanoke Island with several redoubts and batteries. Fort Huger (12 guns) was on Weir Point (the rear wall remains) just south of the bridge. Renamed Fort Reno by the Union in 1862. Fort Blanchard (four guns) was about 300 yards south (no remains). Renamed Fort Parke by the Union in 1862. Fort Bartow (nine guns) was on Pork Point (no remains) at the end of Burnside Road. Renamed Fort Foster by the Union in 1862. Ballast Point Battery (two guns) protected the Shallowbag Bay entrance into the town of Manteo. Referred to as Fort Ellis (1) by the Union, it was rebuilt and renamed Fort Monteil after its capture in 1862. Fort Russell (three guns) (aka Fort Defiance (2)) was located in the center of the island guarding the road junction to Ashbee Harbor. This small redoubt still exists. Fort Sullivan, location undetermined. The Union captured the island in February 1862. In addition to reusing the Confederate works, Fort Burnside was built on the northern end of the island near old Fort Raleigh.
PLANNED TEMPORARY HARBOR DEFENSES of HATTERAS INLET
BATTERY CAPE HATTERAS was planned at the site of Fort Clark in 1942. The Navy
had established a mine-protected safe harbor for merchant ships off Cape Hatteras. But
because suitable high ground could not be located for the four 155mm guns and their
Panama-type mounts, the anchorage and minefield were discontinued later that same year.
However, the Navy maintained a small base at Ocracoke during the war.
*
Official Link to Cape Hatteras National Seashore *
* SIDCO Underwater Archaeology of Beacon Island *
