Fort Macon and the Civil War: Setting the stage

Fort Macon was built after the War of 1812 to protect the United States from British invasion. Yet, the uniquely shaped five-sided garrison is most closely associated with the Civil War. 

Local historian Paul Branch, who is a park ranger at Fort Macon State Park, provided insights about the old fort recently during a lunchtime lecture presentation at the History Museum of Carteret County in downtown Morehead City, N.C. 

He explained that Fort Macon, on the eastern tip of Bogue Banks, was one of 38 forts to be authorized for construction by the U.S. government to guard strategic coastal harbors along the eastern and southern shorelines. Credit President James Madison for getting this ball rolling in 1816. Fort Macon was built between 1826-34.

 

Branch said visitors frequently ask about the name. He tells them the fort was named after North Carolina’s eminent statesman of the period, Nathaniel Macon of Warrenton. 

Nathaniel Macon represented North Carolina in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1791-1815. He moved up to serve in the U.S. Senate from 1815-28.

 

Nathaniel Macon

“Everyone wants to know how many bricks are in Fort Macon?” Branch remarked. The correct answer is 9,233,412 bricks. 

Branch said he didn’t go around and count them all, but he has read the construction plan documents. A lot of the bricks aren’t visible. The exterior walls are 4.5-feet thick.

 

Paul Branch

A young U.S. Army engineer was given the assignment of doing a routine inspection of Fort Macon in 1840. He was Capt. Robert E. Lee, son of Revolutionary War Gen. Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee, who became governor of Virginia. 

Capt. Lee found Fort Macon to be in a scrape – beach erosion was threatening the structure. “It was imperative that the erosion be arrested as soon as possible, so that Fort Macon would not wash,” Branch said. 

Capt. Lee studied the dynamics of the wind, the sea and the sea’s currents as they acted upon Bogue Point. Branch said that Lee’s recommendation in 1841 to preserve and protect Fort Macon required “manmade stabilization efforts” – the construction of two permanent stone jetties. 

Branch said: “The recommendations were adopted, and four other jetties were even added to provide additional protection. They stabilized the fort site for years.” 

Other suggestions by Capt. Lee for repairs and alterations to the fort, including ventilation and drainage, were carried out during the 1841-46 period, bringing Fort Macon “to a pinnacle of top military condition and readiness,” Branch said.

Robert E. Lee as a West Point cadet.

 

Yet, nothing much happened at Fort Macon. During the fort’s early years, it was patrolled by just one unarmed man. 

U.S. Army Sgt. William Alexander was assigned to Fort Macon in April 1859 as caretaker. Born in Scotland, he had moved to America as a young man. He enlisted in the Army in 1831 and served in the Mexican-American War (1846-47). 

Sgt. Alexander was 50 years old when he arrived at Fort Macon, according to Branch. Here, Sgt. Alexander married Ann Livesay of Morehead City. They lived a peaceful and quiet life inside the fort. 

“Secession fever,” as Branch referred to it, began heating up all across the South. Sgt. Alexander sent a letter April 2, 1861, to his commanding officer in Washington, D.C., requesting that a revolver be issued to him. 

Sgt. Anderson received notification on April 12 that “there were no revolvers on hand.” 

That very same day, Confederate forces started the Civil War by opening fire on Fort Sumter in Charleston, S.C.

 

Fort Sumter under fire.

Fort Macon would be the next fort to fall…but without a single gunshot.