Kammala wannan jumla: "Alpha" sabis mafi ban sha'awa ya faru a ƙarshen Janairu 1865, lokacin da yawancin manyan jiragen ruwa na Union suka janye daga James don shiga cikin wani
sun kai hari kan Fort Fisher, North Carolina, wanda ke kare Wilmington, North Carolina, tashar jiragen ruwa ta karshe ta Kudu. Rundunar Sojan Ruwa ta Tarayya a kan wannan kogin ta kasance tsakanin Richmond, Virginia, da kuma layin shinge a fadin James, suna jiran damar da za su yi hulɗa da takwarorinsu na Union a kan yanayi mai kyau.