Southport and the War over Watermelons
Southport and the War over Watermelons
Liz Fuller, VP Southport Historical Society
One of the differences between a soldier and an officer, is that an officer needs to learn to choose his battles carefully. Otherwise, it’s possible to win the battle but lose the war. Such a story happened at Fort Caswell in 1911 when Captain Howard L. Landers decided to go to battle with a local Southport farmer over the price of watermelons.
It seems that this farmer, 26-year-old Wallace Moore, was in the habit of selling watermelons to the men stationed at the fort. He would load up a boat with the melons and row them out to Caswell. Once there, he charged a little bit more than what he would sell them for in Southport — a convenience fee, if you will.
On one hot July day, Captain Landers, Acting Commander of Fort Caswell, decided to put an end to what he perceived as price gouging. He told Moore that he would only permit him to sell his melons at the fort if he charged 25 cents apiece. Since Moore had already gone to all the trouble of rowing his crop to the fort, the farmer decided he might as well go along with that plan.
A little while later, Capt. Landers was informed that Moore was selling the melons for 40 cents rather than 25 cents. Incensed at this insolence, Landers ordered that Moore be detained until he could speak to him. Later, Landers would testify that his men had gotten a little over-zealous in carrying out his order. He hadn’t actually meant for Moore to be thrown into the brig. And Moore would testify that he had never over-charged for the melons. He had simply tacked on a delivery fee for toting the melons from the boat to the officers’ quarters.
Unfortunately, by that afternoon when Moore was finally released from the brig, neither man was in a conciliatory mood. Furiously, Moore rowed back to Southport and headed straight to the office of one of the town’s lawyers.
And just like that, a letter was sent to Senator Lee Overman in Washington, D.C. From there, Sen. Overman lodged a complaint with the military. And in less time than it took to slice a watermelon, Capt. Landers was served with a court-martial.
The trial took place in Wilmington and lasted three days. Nine military officers heard the case. The juicy story was picked up by papers from NY to Boston and from DC to San Francisco. Sides were quickly drawn. It seems everyone had an opinion on the watermelon war.
In the end, Landers was acquitted of the charges. But the trial left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth. Both the captain’s reputation and the military’s relationship with the town had been damaged.
A few weeks after the trial ended, Captain Landers, no longer the acting commander of the fort, had business in Southport. As Landers was walking up the courthouse steps, he had the misfortune of running into the father of Wallace Moore. The old man was still enraged over the insult that had been done to his family. In his fury, he took a swing at the much younger captain.
Luckily for both, Southport’s Mayor, Price Furpless, was standing nearby. The mayor jumped into the fray, quickly pulling the farmer away, causing his punch to miss its mark. It was then that Captain Landers proved that he had finally learned to choose his battles wisely – he beat a quick retreat.
This hard-won wisdom would continue to serve Landers well throughout his military career. Already a veteran of the Spanish-American war, Landers continued to serve in the army, including fighting overseas in World War One. He ultimately retired from service, with the rank of colonel. He passed away in 1966, having lived to the ripe old age of 92. Even in his later years, it’s likely Landers never forgot his first command at Fort Caswell, and his unfortunate decision to wage a war over watermelons.
Southport farmer, Wallace Moore, also lived to the age of 92, passing away in 1978. Moore was both a grandfather and a great-grandfather. It’s likely that every time his family sat down to enjoy a slice of watermelon, Grandpa would take the opportunity to regale them with the story of how he’d once taken on the powerful United States Army. While it was true he’d lost the battle, by standing up for his dignity, he had most certainly won the war.