Talking About Old Fort Jackson-- Part 2: Getting a First-Hand Experience with the Past

Old Fort Jackson is considered to be the oldest standing brick fortification.  It even dates back to when it was earthen works in 1808.  President Thomas Jefferson developed his second line of defense, which was really needed during the War of 1812.

The fort has not one, but three on-site educators:  Ethan Baker,  Walter Reeves and Aaron Bradford.  Bradford is the head site interpreter.  Each was dressed in miserably  hot wool and homespun Union Army uniforms from the Republican Blues.  (When I visited the fort several years ago, I had a good talk with the interpreter at ten time who was portraying a USCT soldier.)

They were very knowledgeable about the fort's history when it had been occupied by both Confederate and Union forces during the "Great Unpleasantness" of the 1860s.  Today, they were busy leading a group of school children, maybe 6th or 7th graders,  through an interactive program called "Life  as a Member of the Militia.'  Among the things they were learning  was how to assemble for a charge with the  shortest people in the front line, how to fire a musket and how to march in unison.

--Brock-Perry

Fort Nelson-- Part 3: Built, Rebuilt and Torn Down

Built by Benedict Arnold for a 150-man garrison.  Some entrenchments built in 1774.  In 1779 it was nearly surrounded both land and sea by British forces and evacuated.  The British destroyed it.

When the First System Fort was built, it was named for Virginia Governor Thomas Nelson and built in 1794 and rebuilt in 1804.

Rebuilt as a Second System Fort in 1808 and mounted 37 guns.  Its garrison was moved to Fort Monroe in 1823 and the fort torn down to make way for the Naval Hospital.  Some of Fort Nelson's bricks were reused in the construction of the hospital.

--Brock-Perry

Fort Norfolk, Virginia-- Part 1: First and Second System Fort

From the History of Fort Norfolk.

In the last posts, I wrote about Fort Nelson, built to defend Norfolk, Virginia.  It was built opposite Fort Norfolk.  Some more on that fort.

There was an earlier fortification at the site dating 1776-1779.  It was a First System Fort built 1794, mainly an earthwork.  It was later rebuilt into a masonry fort of the second System in 1808 and designed for 30 guns, but only ten were ever mounted.

It never saw action in the War of 1812 because the British were repulsed by the fort on Craney Island.

--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