 Brigadier General Louis Jagger Hébert then commanded Fort Pender.Facing thousands of Union troops, the Confederate garrisons in the area withdrew to Wilmington, North Carolina, and Union forces seized an undamaged Fort Pender on 17/18 January 1865.Union Naval Lieutenant William B. Cushing led the first contingent of Yankees into Smithville, North Carolina, took the 44 sick or wounded occupants of the Confederate hospital at Fort Pender as prisoners, met with a committee of citizens, demanded the surrender of all private arms, and raised the Flag of the United States.