Historically speaking, fortifications are among the most enduring of structures because, after all, they are designed to withstand assault and are, by definition, rather sturdy. There are fortifications all over the world that have survived for well over a thousand years. Castles in Europe, for example, are popular tourist attractions long after they were obsolete in their original function.
There are different ways of surviving based on the potential capabilities of adversaries. The strategy may be "hard" or "soft." That is, walls may be constructed to resist assault or to absorb assault. Stone, masonry or even wooden walls could withstand certain technologies up to the point when munitions could batter them down. The "soft" approach is illustrated by Fort Moultrie in Charleston Harbor. In 1776 it was bombarded by a British man-of-war for nine hours. The fort's palmetto log and sand construction acted like pillows to absorb and dissipate the effects of cannon fire. In similar fashion Fort McAllister near Savannah, successfully resisted Union naval bombardment for most of the Civil War because its earthen embankments just absorbed the impact of cannon fire. The fort was eventually defeated by Gen. Sherman who approached from the land side to the rear that was defended only by swamps and rattlesnakes.
Some of our perceptions of fortifications are based on popular culture that has nothing at all to do with reality. You may have probably seem Western movies in which the cavalry is stationed in forts made of wooden palisades. Out in the desert or open plains. With no tree within a hundred miles.
Usually a historic fort survives today because something significant and memorable happened there. Fort McHenry would probably be unknown today if our national anthem had not been inspired by the British "bombs bursting in air" during the assault there. Sometimes the presence of the fortifications caused something significant not to happen there. Si vis pacem, para bellum. (If you want peace, prepare for war.)
Bent's Old Fort
Normally, a fort is a military installation. Bent's Old Fort, though, was a trading post established in 1833 to service travelers on the Santa Fe Trail that ran between Independence, MO and Santa Fe, NM. It was an eight to ten week journey that often resulted in broken or lost equipment and depletion of food stuffs and other supplies. As the only place along the way that could provide wagon repairs, carpentry, blacksmithing, trade goods, and an actual roof overhead, the Old Fort was a welcome sight rising from the plains of Southeastern Colorado. It was situated on the Arkansas River that served after the Louisiana Purchase as the boundary between the US and Mexico.
Charles and William Bent, with their business partner Ceran St. Verain, created a prosperous trading relationship with Mexico as well as mountain men who brought beaver pelts and Indians who brought buffalo robes. In exchange, the Bents provided goods from Europe and Asia as well as the eastern US.
Today, Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site is a precise recreation of the original based on archeology, written accounts, drawings and painting, and the highly accurate measurements taken by Lt. James Abert, a togographical engineer who was there in 1846. The fort had adobe walls 135 ft. x 180 ft. x 15 ft. high and 4 ft. thick. Charles Bent had admired the architecture he saw in Santa Fe and hired Mexican adobe brick makers to build the fort. The bricks were plastered over with more adobe.
Know as "The Castle of the Plains," the Old Fort was at a strategic location during the Mexican War and, later, the US Army offered to buy it. The offer was declined because the bid was significantly below the value of the fort itself and all the trade associated with it.
We enjoyed chatting with Austin, a "trader" when he was in character.
Sometimes hunters needed something basic to their business--
flints for their muzzle loading rifles, for example.
Sometimes they needed to replace or upgrade the rifle itself.
Adobe bricks were plastered over with more adobe.
Though generally weather resistant in the dry climate,
periodic maintenance is required.
Note the cactus growing on the top of the corral wall. It was there
to discourage horse thieves. Early form of barbed wire or razor wire
that protects commercial properties today.
The well equipped carpenter's shop was the only source of wagon
repair between Independence and Santa Fe.
Likewise, the blacksmith shop had everything
required to make or repair metal parts and equipment.
That large, black disk at top is the bellows.
Air was delivered to the forge via that leather tube on the right.
The fort was armed with swivel guns on the walls and cannons
in the patio and outside the gate. As the largest repository of wealth
in the area, it would be a temptation for marauders. But those
guns were never fired in anger, only to signal approaching parties.
That long-handled device was used to compress buffalo hides for more
efficient shipment back East.
Merchants sold fashionable tin dinnerware for
al fresco suppers in the wilderness.
Beaver traps were always best sellers on Bent's Prime.
A Conestoga wagon had to be strong enough to carry about
2,500 lbs. but light enough to not further burden the mules or
oxen that pulled it.
Forts Davis and Stockton
Way out in West Texas are the remains of two forts that were established to protect travelers, settlers, and the US Mail along the San Antonio to El Paso Road from marauding Apaches, Comanches, and Kiowas. Not many Indians lived in the area but they had been traveling through since about 1820 to raid the food supplies and livestock of Mexican villages. One of the stipulations of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo that ended the Mexican War was that the US would help end these raids. Fort Davis and Fort Stockton were part of the effort.
With the onset of the Civil War, the Union abandoned the forts and they were occupied by the Confederates for two years then repossessed by the Union. A consequence of the social changes brought on by the war was the establishment by Congress of the 9th and 10th Cavalry regiments and the 24th and 25th Infantry "composed of colored men." They were stationed at Forts Davis and Stockton. The black troopers were called Buffalo Soldiers by the Indians because their curly hair reminded them of bison fur.
Fort Davis was located at the end of a box canyon where Limpia Creek provided a reliable water supply. It is a scenic location that is now the Fort Davis National Historic Site. There are actually two Fort Davises preserved there. The original Fort Davis, established in 1854, is today an archeological site represented by the stone foundations of wooden buildings with thatched roofs that have long since rotted away. The replacement Fort Davis, built in 1867, is represented by surviving adobe and stone buildings in various stages of decay.
Fort Stockton was established as Camp Stockton in 1858 where it is because of the water supply from Comanche Springs. It was at the intersection of frontier road and trails--including the Comanche War Trail. Like Ft. Davis, it was abandoned at the beginning of the Civil War and little remained of the original army post. In 1867, four companies of the 9th Cavalry Regiment--the Buffalo Soldiers--were assigned to the rebuilt fort. The 35 buildings were of more substantial adobe brick with limestone foundations. Even so, of these buildings only four remain: the guard house and three of the eight officers quarters. Enlisted men's barracks and the kitchen have been reconstructed based on the original blueprints and archeological excavations.
Though the movies tend to focus on dramatic encounters with Indians, the Buffalo Soldiers spent most of their time on more mundane, routine tasks such as surveying and mapping the territory and stringing thousands of miles of telegraph wire. The typical soldier was far more likely to die from disease than warfare.
Fort Davis
Though much sturdier than wood frame buildings, adobe still deteriorates over time.
Behind the officers' quarters are the archaeological remains of the original fort. Adobe bricks in the replacement were plastered over for their protection from the weather and for a more finished appearance.
Still, a wise soldier did everything he could to stay out of one.
When you are tempted to curse the pharmaceutical companies,
consider how you might feel about being administered alum,
carbolic acid, sulphate of copper, and a gargle of sulphurous acid
for your diphtheria. And why is it you never seem to get diphtheria
in the first place?
A less painful visit was paid to the officers' kitchen where this cook
had just removed a skillet of cornbread and was turning a loaf of
wheat bread in the oven of the wood-burning stove.
Fort Stockton
Three of the eight officers' quarters still exist. This one is now
a private residence. Historic Fort Stockton is owned by the City of
Fort Stockton and managed by the Historical Society.
Here and below are the other two officers' residences.
Officers' quarters housed married men and their families as well as
bachelors. If a higher ranking officer arrived, he displaced one of
the residents who had the right to appeal to the commanding officer.
Generally considered not a smart thing to do.
The reconstructed kitchen
The obligatory old wagon.
More soldiers ended up here because of disease than Indian warfare.
Castillo de San Marcos
St. Augustine, Florida, the oldest continuously occupied city in what is now the US, was founded in 1565 by Pedro Menendez de Avila as the northernmost outpost of the Spanish Empire in the New World. Spanish navigators learned that the most efficient route home was to be carried along by the Gulf Stream up the coast of Florida before turning east. For the first hundred years, they sought to protect that route with a series of nine wooden forts in Florida. Indian attacks, pirate raids, and military incursions by the French and British called for something more substantial. Construction of the Castillo de San Marcos began in 1671 with coquina rock quarried on Anastasia Island. In 1702 the fort withstood both sea and land attacks by the British who failed again in 1728 and 1740. In 1763 the British traded the harbor and city of La Habana, Cuba for the fort and held it, under the name Fort St. Mark, until the close of the American Revolution in 1783. Today, the Castillo is a National Monument.
Each corner of the fort has a diamond-shaped bastion projecting
beyond the main walls. Cannons mounted there could provide effective
cross-fire to protect the fort from assault. There is a sentry box at the
tip of each bastion.
One of three original wells inside the fort walls still exists. Fresh
water is found only six or seven feet down.
Note the barrier, called a ravelin, at the outer end of the
drawbridge. It shielded the fort's only entrance from
direct enemy fire.
direct enemy fire.
A system of counter-weights and pulleys made it possible
for only three soldiers to raise and lower the heavy drawbridge.
A mortar is a short, squat cannon used for lobbing
projectiles over intervening obstacles rather than
for firing at distant targets.
There are history lessons in the cannons and mortars themselves. The green ones are bronze instead of iron or steel. In the early days of artillery, bronze was a well understood technology commonly used for centuries for casting statues and church bells. Early iron was a much more brittle metal that required higher temperatures for casting.
Bronze cannons and mortars were individually cast and often engraved, decorated and named. Inscriptions tell, often in Latin, such things as the metal composition ("light refined coppers") and the foundry and date ("Solano fecit Sevilla Ano 1764" or "Solano made it in Seville in the Year 1764"). Some have mottos such as "Violati Fulmina Regis" or "Thunderbolts from the Offended King." Ornate handles were often used for the purely practical task of moving a cannon onto or off its carriage.
Soldiers' quarters. Comfy looking don't you think?
Fort Matanzas
After the Castillo was completed, it still had one major weakness. Matanzas Inlet provided a potentially dangerous access for an enemy attack from the rear. Fort Matanzas was built 14 miles to the south to control the Inlet. It did not need to be large because its five guns and a garrison, never more than 50 men, could deny passage to any shallow draft boats coming up the inlet.
Fort Clatsop
The Lewis & Clark Corps of Discovery spent the winter of 1805-06 near the mouth of the Columbia River. It was named Clatsop for the Indian tribe that suggested hunting was better on the south shore of the river. The original 50-foot square wooden palisade fort was constructed between Dec. 9 and Christmas Day and deteriorated rapidly in the damp climate after the Corps departed. During the 106 days they spent there, it rained all but 12 and was sunny only six. The men spent the winter preserving supplies of elk and deer meat, using the hides to replace footwear and clothing, and making salt on the beach. Their leisure time was evidently spent complaining about the incessant precipitation. The fort was reconstructed in 1955 based on the drawings and dimensions recorded in William Clark's journals and yet again in 2005 for the bicentennial of the Expedition.
Sacagewea, Indian guide for the Corps of Discovery,
and her son Pompey are memorialized at Fort Clatsop.
Park volunteers demonstrate what life was life for members
of the expedition.
On our first visit, we chatted with this fellow, who was
showing how to load and fire muzzle-loading rifles.
When we returned six years later, he was still at it.
Meriwether Lewis's dog Seaman made the entire trip with the Corps.
This is quite a testament to his value. The 33 members of the Corps ate
more than 200 dogs in two years. (Dog was a common food among the
Indians they met along the way.) Owners of Newfoundlands like this
one, bring their dogs to "Seaman Day" at the fort.
Old Fort Niagara
The name refers not to the antiquity of the fort, though it was originally establish in 1679, but to distinguish it from New Fort Niagara that was constructed outside the walls of the Old after the Civil War. As you probably suspect, the fort was built to control the mouth of the Niagara River near the Falls and thus access to the Great Lakes. The original wooden structure was erected by the famous French explorer, Rene-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de LaSalle. After it burned, the fort was replaced in 1687 but only 12 of the 100 stationed there survived the unusually harsh weather and disease that winter. In 1726, the even stronger and more impressive "French Castle" was built and reinforced by massive earth walls and additional buildings.
In 1759, during the French and Indian War, the British took the fort after a 19-day siege. They held it through the American Revolution as a base for Loyalists to the Crown but yielded it to the US by treaty in 1796. Then recaptured it during the War of 1812 only to yield it back again by the Treaty of Ghent that ended that war.
The Erie Canal lessened the strategic significance of the river and the fort. Still, it underwent renovations during the Civil War because of concerns that Britain might establish an alliance with the Confederate States of America and use Canada as a staging ground. They had burned Washington in the War of 1812 so Union planners were justifiably cautious.
If you are going to Niagara Falls, you might consider visiting the Old Fort Niagara State Historic Site in Youngstown, NY. There are scheduled living history demonstrations featuring costumed re-enactors. Even if you are one of the half billion Americans who hate history, you will probably enjoy the experience for the beauty of the setting and the pageantry of the programs.
Fort Pickens
Several barrier islands comprise the Gulf Islands National Seashore that stretches 160 miles from Cat Island Mississippi to Fort Walton Beach, Florida. Over 80% of the Seashore is better described as "under seashore" because the islands are submerged. (Don't ask me how they can be islands if they are under water. We are talking the language of Federal bureaucrats here.) The primary natural function of barrier island is to protect the mainland from ocean waves and violent storms. They are basically narrow piles of sand barely held in place by scrub trees, sea oats and other grasses. The National Seashore also includes four parcels on the mainland.
Just offshore of Pensacola, reached by the Pensacola Bay Bridge, is Santa Rosa Island, home of Fort Pickens. For many, the primary attraction of the island is its powdery white sand beach. Resort condos and attractions occupy the eastern half of the island. The National Seashore takes up the western half. Because the island is just barely above sea level, storms or even a stiff breeze can push water over the island and/or blow sand that closes the only road. In places, the road down the middle of the island is only a few yards from the Gulf to the south and Pensacola Bay to the north. With sufficient warning, the Park Service shuts down access when foul weather threatens so visitors are not trapped there. More than once we have had reservations at Fort Pickens Campground canceled at the last minute because of potential and actual weather issues. We have also enjoyed the sight of what Ohioans would call snow plows clearing the road. Except, in the absence of snow drifts, the plows clear sand drifts. Which. by the way, look remarkably like snow.
The fort dates from 1829 when it was one of four forts built to protect Pensacola Bay and the navy yard located there. Somewhat ironically, the only action seen at the fort was when the nation was at war with itself rather than a foreign invader. It remained in Union hands through the Civil War and continued in use until 1947. During WWII it provided coastal lookout for German submarine activity that sank ships in the Gulf. Modern reinforced concrete artillery batteries were installed at the fort for defense of the Pensacola naval base. Today, the Naval Air Station across the Bay from the fort is home to the Blue Angels when they are not on tour.
For more than 2,000 years, the strength of the Roman arch has been
appreciated by engineers. That strength is especially important at
fortifications whose walls must support the heavy weight of cannons
on top while providing space for additional cannons below. Masonry
walls thus made it possible for these forts to house twice as many
cannons as comparable sized earth or log forts.
Besides they are photogenic.
One of the functions of Fort Pickens was as the prison
for Apache leader Geronimo and his band after their
surrender in 1886 ending the Indian wars in the West. They were
held at Fort Pickens until 1888. This is the simple monument
at his surrender site along what is now Rt. 80, south of Portal, AZ
Fort Pickens became obsolete with the advent of more sophisticated
weaponry. Battery Worth, with eight 12-inch guns that could fire 700
pound projectiles seven to nine miles, was the replacement until the
end of WWI. Half of the guns were scrapped then but four remained
as Harbor Defense Command Post for the Pensacola area in WWII.
We choose to camp at Fort Pickens for this reason.
Others prefer the resort condos at the other end of the island
Fort Pulaski
One of the lessons President James Madison learned from the burning of Washington, DC and the Battle of New Orleans during the War of 1812 was that our young country had thousands of miles of unprotected coastline. An invader could land unopposed at any number of critical points. So Madison proposed a system of coastal defenses. The system ultimately included more than 30 forts, nearly all of which still exist stretching along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts from Maine to Louisiana.
An impressive example of the system is Fort Pulaski, named for Count Casimir Pulaski, the Polish hero who lost his life defending Savannah, GA during the Revolution. The fort protects the approaches to Savannah, which was and remains a major seaport. In the early 19th century, Fort Pulaski was state of the art and considered "as strong as the Rocky Mountains." Smooth-bore cannons were ineffective beyond about 700 yards and the closest solid ground (not marsh) where cannons could be mounted against it was about a mile away. But advances in artillery science (rifled cannons of heavy caliber) rendered the fort vulnerable. During the Civil War, Union batteries on Tybee Island, a mile away, included Parrott guns with an effective range of more than 8,500 yards. Shots from these guns penetrated the walls and threatened to explode the Confederate ammunition supply even though it had been thought to be invulnerable. The fort was surrendered in only 30 hours. The wall facing the Union bombardment still has shell holes and actual cannon balls imbedded in it.
The moat is 32 to 48 feet wide and seven feet deep. Water is supplied by
a canal from the Savannah River and controlled by tide gates.
Access to the fort was controlled by the drawbridge set in granite
and defended by a number of rifle slits on either side.
The Confederate crew working this gun must have gotten a little
nervous after a few really close calls.
Fort Churchill
East of Carson City, Nevada are the remains of an adobe fort built in 1860 to protect pioneers, serve as a Pony Express way station and as a Union supply depot during the Civil War. It is now a Nevada State Historic Park "preserved in a state of arrested decay." That's bureaucrateze for "we ain't fixing it but we ain't letting it continue to fall down either." To help prevent further decay, there is a perimeter fence to keep visitors from getting too close. (Experience shows that some people buy spray paint by the case.) Shirley and I were there mostly for the small, very quiet campground tucked back in some cottonwoods along the Carson River. The fort was adobe because, despite the very few cottonwoods, this is still Nevada desert. We were crossing the state on Rt. 50, "The Loneliest Road in America" and, frankly, the fort was less important to us at the time than the shady campground.
The cool shade of cottonwoods was appreciated in Nevada.
You can probably guess why Rt. 50 is called "The Loneliest Road
in America." It was not originally intended as a compliment but
Nevada turned the phrase into a tourism marketing tool. The huge
increase in tourist traffic shows how effective the marketing has been.
Oh, wait. Never mind.
Fort Laramie
The fort in southeastern Wyoming was founded as a relatively small fur trading post in 1834. An 80 ft. x 100ft. space was protected by cottonwood palisades that were later replaced by adobe walls. In the 1840s it became a stop-over for pioneers headed to Oregon, California, or the Salt Lake Valley. In 1849, something happened at Sutter's Mill that dramatically increased westward traffic. The Fort was sold to the army as a base from which to protect 49ers and other emigrants from the plains Indians who fiercely defended their homelands. By 1890, though, it was clear that the fort no longer was needed and the site was sold at auction. In 1938, it was acquired by the National Park Service.
The first thing you notice about Fort Laramie is that it doesn't look
anything like what they movies have taught us to expect. This is the
officers' quarters.
The sutler sold everything a soldier could possibly need.
Every thing he didn't need was provided by the US Cavalry.
Well, he might need refreshment on occasion but that came out of his pay.
Evidently the Park Service decided that tourists need some token
acknowledgement of our notions about Western pioneer life.
Enlisted men's barracks.
Remnants of the adobe walls.
Fort McAllister
During the Civil War, the fort near Savannah, Georgia held out against attacks from the sea by Union gun boats including the ironclad USS Montauk. The monitor was equipped with a 15-inch Dahlgren cannon, the largest used during the war. Shells dug huge craters in the earthworks but created no Confederate casualties and the damage was quickly repaired.
In December, 1864 Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman completed his famous March to the Sea by taking Fort McAllister in only 15 minutes of brisk fighting. Sherman's troops stormed the back, relatively undefended side of the fort. The surrender caused Confederate Gen. William Hardee to withdraw his 10,000 men from Savannah, which Sherman then presented to Lincoln as a "Christmas gift" in his action report telegram.
Shirley and I also think Savannah makes a wonderful gift. In our case, it is more likely to be the destination we give each other for our October wedding anniversary or a much-anticipated stop on a winter return from Florida. Typically we stay at the campgrounds of either Fort McAllister or Skidaway Island, just across Moon River. You may be old enough to remember Andy Williams' rendition of the song by that name. It was written by Savannah's academy award winning favorite son, Johnny Mercer.
The fort commander and officers occupied a plantation style house.
Mattresses were stuffed with straw.
Underground "bombproof" shelters served as hospitals, storage rooms
for munitions, and shelters during naval bombardments.
The live oaks draped with Spanish moss make it a beautiful place
regardless of its original function.
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