Garrison life at Fort Fisher was marked by constant work, harsh conditions, disease, and boredom. Soldiers at Confederate Point endured mosquitoes in summer and howling winter winds on what they called "a desolate spit of land," and during the first few years of the war their chief enemies were disease and monotony. Daily routine centered on repeated infantry and artillery drills, with only limited relief in activities such as fishing, church services, a fellow soldier's wedding, dancing at an officer's house during Christmas 1862, and a 1863 picnic to welcome Mrs. William Lamb. Life there also brought sorrow when fellow soldiers died unexpectedly.