Fort Johnston (North Carolina) army and naval forces with weapons, munitions, and supplies imported from Europe, Canada, Bermuda, Cuba, and eventually other Caribbean territories. Railroads carried goods from Wilmington, North Carolina, to Richmond, Virginia, providing critical supplies to Confederate General Robert E. Lee and his Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. The Confederacy in late 1862 renamed Fort Johnston as Fort Branch in honor of Confederate Brigadier General Lawrence O'Bryan Branch, a local who died in Battle of Antietam. In 1863, the Confederate Army renamed Fort Branch as Fort Pender in honor of Confederate Major General William Dorsey Pender, who died of wounds sustained at
First Corps, Army of Northern Virginia months, Longstreet would serve as head of the Department of Southern Virginia and North Carolina. Starting on April 11, Longstreet used his two divisions to lay siege to Suffolk, in order to better collect supplies in the area near the city. After three weeks he was ordered to abandon the siege and return to Lee's main army but the Battle of Chancellorsville ended before Longstreet arrived. Note: see Gettysburg order of battle for the command structure of the Army of Northern Virginia at this time. Following the death of Jackson in May, the Army of Northern Virginia was reorganized into