to Weitzel—gave Grant an excuse to relieve Butler, replacing him in command of the Army of the James by Major General Edward Ord. President Abraham Lincoln, recently reelected, no longer needed to keep the prominent Democrat in the Army and he was relieved on January 8, 1865. To Butler's further embarrassment, Fort Fisher fell one week later when Major General Alfred H. Terry led a second assault against the Confederate stronghold; while defending his decision to break off the attack before the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, Butler had deemed the fort impregnable. Confederate losses amounted to five killed and mortally wounded, fifty-six wounded, and six hundred captured, while the damage caused by the bombardment was quickly repaired. Blockade runners continued using the port, the next ships to arrive did so the very night the Union fleet withdrew. Although Whiting and Lamb were convinced that the Union force would shortly return, Bragg withdrew Hoke's Division back to Wilmington and started making plans to recapture New Bern. See also Second Battle of Fort Fisher Wilmington, North Carolina, in the Civil War Bibliography of early American naval history Notes References Eicher, David J., The Longest Night: A Military History of the Civil War, Simon & Schuster, 2001, . Fonvielle Jr., Chris E. Last Rays of Departing Hope:The Wilmington Campaign. Campbell, CA.: Savas Publishing Company, 1997. Foote, Shelby, The Civil War: A Narrative, Vol. 3: Red River to Appomattox, Random House, 1974, . Gragg, Rod, Confederate Goliath: The Battle of Fort Fisher. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1994. Martin, Samuel J. General Braxton Bragg, C.S.A.. McFarland: First edition, 2011. . . McPherson, James M., Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era (Oxford History of the United States), Oxford University Press, 1988, . Pelzer, John D. "Ben Butler's Powder Boat Scheme." in America's Civil War, Vol. 7, No. 6 (January 1996). CWSAC Report Update External links National Park Service battle description Wilmington campaigns Battles of the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War Confederate victories of the American Civil War Naval battles of the American Civil War Battles of the American Civil War in North Carolina New Hanover County, North Carolina Sieges of the American Civil War Conflicts in 1864 1864 in North Carolina December 1864 events