N.C.'s Fort Hampton-- Part 9: Facing a New Threat

By 1820, Fort Hampton had been completely abandoned by the federal government and now faced an even greater threat, the advance of the ocean.  The sea was eroding Bogue Point.

By 1820-1821 engineers found that the hide tide mark was at the base of the parapet.  But, Fort Hampton was ignored as the government was in the process of building its more permanent forts of the Third System.  One was scheduled to be built at Bogue Point to replace Fort Hampton.  That would be Fort Macon which still stands.

--Brock-Perry

N.C.'s Fort Hampton-- Part 7: Militia Replaced

The militia remained at the fort for the remainder of 1813.  Meanwhile, the fort's armament was increased by two 6-pdrs. and a 4-pdr..

In 1814, the enlistments of the N.C. militia was expiring and other militia from the state replaced them.

The State of North Carolina protested the federal government's lack of protection and the militia was replaced by elements of the 43rd U.S. Infantry who remained at the fort until the end of the war.

--Brock-Perry

North Carolina's Fort Hampton-- Part 5: A Description of the Fort

At the rear of the fort, the walls of the two prongs of the horseshoe were 18-inches thick at the top and loop-holed for rifle fire.  Connecting the two prongs was a two-story barracks about 82-feet long by 30-feet wide.  Each story had five 13-by-16-foot rooms, 3 for enlisted men and two for officers.  These barracks could accommodate one company of 50 men.

Beside the right hand prong was a 15-by-16-foot magazine.

From the rear wall (barracks) to the front of the fort was 90 feet.  The fort was 123-feet wide and had a perimeter of about 440 feet.

During the next several years Fort Hampton was garrisoned by small detachments.

--Brock-Perry

North Carolina's Fort Hampton-- Part 4: A Tabby Fort

In November 1807, North Carolina's General Assembly took steps to encourage the federal government to protect Beaufort.  A tract of land at the point was purchased by the state and ceded to the U.S. government for this fort.

In early 1808, the Army's Engineer Department authorized a small fort and work began the following year. Captain Charles Gratiot supervised construction at a cost of $8,863.62 and it was named for N.C. Revolutionary War hero Col. Andrew Hampton ((1713-1805).

It was the smallest Second System fort built at the time, but typical of their design, consisting of a horse-shaped parapet seven feet high and made of an oyster shell cement called tabby, or tapia.

The walls were 14-feet thick at the base and tapered to 8-feet at the top..  The gun platform was 23-feet wide on which there were to be mounted five 18-pdr. cannons capable of throwing an 18 pound cannon ball a mile.

--Brock-Perry

North Carolina's Fort Hampton-- Part 3: Protecting Beaufort, N.C.

From the NC1812 site "A History of Fort Hampton" by Paul Branch.  A lot of research went into this piece as there is not a lot of information about the fort available over the internet.  It was not a major player in the war or its history and has been completely erased by nature.

People know about Fort Macon, N.C., but not its predecessor, Fort Hampton which once stood near it.  Like Fort Macon, it was built to defend Beaufort harbor.  Beaufort, N.C., was captured twice before Fort Hampton and the residents of the state put pressure on the U.S. government to defend it.

The first capture took place in 1756, after which the colonists got the construction of a battery named Fort Dobbs, but it was never completed.  Beaufort remained defenseless during the American Revolution. (I am not sure about what happened in 1756 or the second capture of Beaufort.)

The second attempt to defend the town began in 1807 with possible war with Britain looming.  A chain of coastal forts were built to protect the nation's shore.  These forts are referred to as the Second System.

--Brock-Perry

North Carolina's Fort Hampton-- Part 2: Replaced By Fort Macon

Fort Hampton was built between 1808 and 1809 and guarded Beaufort Inlet during the War of 1812.  There was no action that took place as the British elected not to attack Beaufort, the port which the fort protected.  It was garrisoned off and on until 1821.

Shore erosion and the Hurricane of 1825 swept the fort into Beaufort Inlet by 1826.

Today's Fort Macon replaced Fort Hampton.  Work on it began near Fort Hampton's site in 1821 and it was garrisoned by 1834.  Fort Macon and Hampton both protected the port of Beaufort, N.C., the state's only deep water port.

Robert E. Lee engineered a system of erosion control for Fort Macon in the 1840s.

The More You Know.  --Brock-Perry