THE last stronghold of the Southern Confederacy on the Atlantic Coast fell early in 1865. On the twelfth of January operations were agreed upon for the final assault on Fort Fisher and a photograph was taken of the fleet as it lay off the coast. On the morning of the thirteenth the ironclads opened a terrific fire. Fort Fisher was at this time much stronger than at the first attack. Troops had reinforced the garrison. Damages from the first bombardment had been repaired and new defenses added. In describing the downfall of the fort one who participated says: "I believe there had never before been such a storm of shell in any naval engagement. At noon on the fifteenth the attempt was made for the sailors and marines to land. From thirty-five of the sixty ships of the fleet boats were lowered, and with flags flying, pulled toward the beach in line abreast, a most spirited scene. The sailors were armed with cutlasses and pistols. The great land battery, the artillery and a thousand rifles opened fire from Fort Fisher. The daring sailors found themselves packed like sheep in a death pen, under a most galling fire." The army pressed forward under General Terry's command, fighting its way from traverse to traverse, overpowering the garrison, and finally driving the Confederates from their last refuge. Fort Fisher fell on the fifteenth of January. The casualties in the fleet amounted to 309, while Terry's command lost 110 killed and 536 wounded--a total of nearly 1,000 men. With the fall of Fort Fisher and its seventy-five guns, the Confederates abandoned Fort Caswell and all the works on Smith's Island; all those between Caswell and Smithville up to the battery on Reeve's Point on the west side of the river. This photograph of the fleet that took Fort Fisher shows the ships assembling off the coast. The negative was secured under much difficulty. [Illustration: PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN AS GREATEST FLEET CARRYING AMERICAN FLAG WAS PREPARING TO ATTACK FORT FISHER IN 1865] [Illustration: PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN WHILE ADMIRAL PORTER AND STAFF WERE ON FLAGSHIP "MALVERN" IN FORT FISHER EXPEDITION IN 1865]