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for Greenville Times / Pitt's Past Vol. Issue , Jun 23-Jul 6 2004
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Record #:
23453
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Taylor Harris was born in Chicod Township in Pitt County in 1834. With the beginning of the Civil War, Harris joined the Confederate Army and was stationed at Fort Fisher. In December of 1864, Union forces laid siege to the fort in the hopes of capturing Wilmington and cutting off the efforts of Confederate blockade - runners. During the siege, a steamer carrying medicine for North Carolina soldiers tried to break through the Union blockade. Coming under attack by Union warships, the steamer was run aground and the crew rescued. Wishing to destroy the ship and its cargo, Union sailors quickly boarded the vessel and prepared to blow it up. Inside Fort Fisher, Colonel Lamb called for volunteers to save the ship and its vital cargo. Taylor Harris was one of the volunteers and just happened to be the first man to reach the ship. Realizing that the fuse was close to igniting the waiting gunpowder, Harris acted quickly, seized the burning fuse and threw it overboard. O. L. Joyner recorded this story in 1904, after having heard it from Harris himself.
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