Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson State Historic Site

Fort Anderson, an earthen fortification, was constructed in March 1862 as part of the overall Cape Fear defense system. This system protected the Cape Fear River channel to the port of Wilmington, which was a major supply line to the Confederate forces. On February 19, 1865, a month after Fort Fisher's fall, a severe bombardment by the Union navy and an encircling movement by Union land forces caused the abandonment of Fort Anderson by Confederates who fled northward to Wilmington.