A notable blockade runner called the _Virginia_ was bought by the
Confederate Government during the war and renamed the _Cape Fear_. She
was put under the command of Captain Guthrie, a Cape Fear pilot of
recognized ability, who was succeeded by an English gentleman, a fine
sailor, Captain Wise, who cast his lot with our people and ran the
_Cape Fear_ up and down the river for several years as a Confederate
transport. She was destroyed in the river when the Federals captured
Fort Fisher. Captain Wise married a Miss Flora McCaleb, of Wilmington,
and for years after the war conducted a lumberyard here. He was a most
courteous, attractive gentleman, generally respected in the community.
He died here many years ago.