“The fall of Wilmington was the severest blow to the Confederate cause which it could receive from the loss of any port. It was far more injurious than the capture of Charleston, and, but for the moral effect, even more hurtful than the evacuation of Richmond. With Wilmington and the Cape Fear River open, the supplies that reached the Confederate armies would have enabled them to have maintained an unequal contest for years, but with the fall of Fort Fisher the constant stream of supplies was effectually cut off and the blockade made truly effective--not by the navy fleet, but by its captures on land.” The other forts about the river soon fell into government hands. The Civil War was already drawing to a close before the assault was made. It was a question only of how many days the able and determined men of the South would struggle against overwhelming numbers. The fall of Fort Fisher was therefore fortunate for both sides. It the sooner brought a hopeless fight to an end. CHAPTER XVIII STORY OF THE NEW NAVY THE FOLLY OF ALLOWING OTHER NATIONS TO EXPERIMENT FOR US--IN SPITE OF WHAT WE LEARNED FROM THEIR MISTAKES, WE WERE UNABLE, WHEN WE FIRST BEGAN FOR OURSELVES, TO BUILD EVEN A FIRST-CLASS CRUISER--THE RESULT OF TEN YEARS OF EARNEST WORK--BATTLE-SHIPS WHOSE POWER IS CONCEDED BY FOREIGN WRITERS--CRUISERS THAT AWAKENED THE PRIDE OF THE NATION--THREE “NEWFANGLED NOTIONS”--A YANKEE ADMIRAL AT RIO JANEIRO AND A YANKEE LIEUTENANT ON THE COAST OF MEXICO--THE ONE IMPORTANT FACT ABOUT THE NEW NAVY.