Fort Fisher was a Confederate fort during the American Civil War. It protected the vital trading routes of the port at Wilmington, North Carolina, from 1861 until its capture by the Union in 1865. The fort was located on one of Cape Fear River's two outlets to the Atlantic Ocean on what was then known as Federal Point or Confederate Point and today is known as Pleasure Island. The strength of Fort Fisher led to its being called the Southern Gibraltar and the "Malakoff Tower of the South". The battle of Fort Fisher was the most decisive battle of the Civil War fought in North Carolina.

Wilmington is a port city in and the county seat of New Hanover County in coastal southeastern North Carolina, United States. With a population of 115,451 in the 2020 census, it is the eighth-most populous city in the state. Wilmington is the principal city of the Wilmington, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes New Hanover, Brunswick, and Pender counties. Its metropolitan statistical area had an estimated population of 467,337 in 2023.