An outstanding locally published and extremely detailed work on an obscure but important North Carolina coastal campaign in the period of the Civil War. The siege of Fort Macon was one of the successes of the Burnside Expedition on the North Carolina Coast, giving the Federals control of Beaufort Harbor. The conclusion of this siege followed by just two weeks the unprecedented rifled artillery triumph in reducing Fort Pulaski at Savannah, Georgia. Like Fort Pulaski, the siege at Fort Macon was well conceived and executed and once the bombardment began, the inevitable outcome became all too apparent to the defenders.The author provides an excellent discussion of additional actions the defenders might have taken to improve their chances, including: vigorous opposition to the small initial landing of Federal on Bogue Banks, harassing fire while the besiegers were preparing their emplacements, as well as constructing earth/sand traverses to better protect the guns. Early in the war, the green garrison was unaware of the magnitude of the increased threat from rifled siege artillery.The maps provided with this book are some of the best to be found for small coastal actions. Several regional outline maps with progressive detail are given as well as a map showing the location of the main line and the siege batteries on Bogue Banks. A detailed map of the fort shows all of the gun placements and types (a facet often lacking in similar works.) The book is well illustrated with woodcut sketches of all the phases of the siege. Photographs of key participants are also provided.While a full order of battle for the Union is not provided it can be gleaned from the text (along with gun types and placement.) The full company musters of the CSA garrison for the action are provided. All casualties from the actions on both sides are tabulated as well (including names except for the CSA wounded.) Title: The Siege of Fort Macon Author Name: Branch, Paul Location Published: Privately published: 1999 Binding: softcover Book Condition: Poor - has damp staining to top edge and slight dog earring to corners, otherwise a good reading copy Pages: 167 Categories: Fortifications & Field Works, North Carolina Military History, Battles & Campaigns Eastern Theater Seller ID: 1777
