Question of the Week: What is your favorite Civil War fort to visit?
The second battle of Fort Fisher was fought 160 years ago. In that spirit, what is your favorite Civil War era fort to visit?
The second battle of Fort Fisher was fought 160 years ago. In that spirit, what is your favorite Civil War era fort to visit?
Fort Fisher around March, to coincide with Brits Donuts opening for the season.
Fort Barrancas, overlooking Pensacola Bay, Florida. Although not as significant as better-known Fort Pickens (where the Civil War almost began…) Fort Barrancas is better preserved, and a great place to stargaze while lying on the parade ground at night. Lieutenant Adam Slemmer had the presence of mind to abandon Barrancas, sail across the bay and take up residence at Fort Pickens. And Fort Pickens remained in Union hands for the duration of the war.
Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas would have to be my favorite.
Fort Welch at Petersburg. Standing there imagining seeing the 14,000 Sixth Corps soldiers storming forward on April 2, 1865 and breaking through the Confederate earthworks is tough to beat in my opinion.
Fort Warren in the harbor of my hometown of Boston. Famous Confederate residents of the fort/prison were Alexander Stephens, Baldy Ewell, and US Grant’s good friend, Simon Bolivar Buckner. Noteworthy was the prison’s humane treatment of prisoners under Commander Justin Dimick (one of the lowest mortality rates of any prison on either side), Dimick’s son, a Union lieutenant, was killed at Chancellorsville.
Fort Massachusetts on Ship Island in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana and Mississippi. The National Park Service manages the fort which was captured by the US Navy and used by Union General Ben Butler as a staging point for the1862 capture of Confederate New Orleans, thereby closing the Mississippi to Confederates for the rest of the war. The fort did not see major changes to the structure by the post-war army after its Civil War occupation, so visitor can easily imagine how it appeared in the Civil War-era. A POW camp was created to hold CSA troops and people suspected of being disloyal (enemies of Ben Butler) The 13th Maine and Louisiana Native Guards (African American Troops commanded by some African American Creole officers) https://www.nps.gov/guis/planyourvisit/ship-island.htm
Fort Stevens in Washington DC because it is where soldiers healing in DC hospitals and government clerks came out to defend the nation’s capital along side veteran troops Grant sent from Petersburg and prevent a capture of Washington by Jubal Early’s Confederates. Lincoln himself was present during the battle. A whole lot of history there and though I don’t think Early would have held it long, he could have derailed Lincoln’s re-election and wrecked havoc the way British troops did 1814.
Susan, you beat me to it, but I also pick Fort Stevens. I recently visited the site with my daughter. It provided a nice backdrop to tell her about her ancestor, General Lew Wallace, whose forces delayed Early at the Battle of Monocacy, since called “the Battle That Saved Washington.”
Fort Fisher in NC or Fort Duffield in Kentucky (a well-preserved earthworks fort)
Fort Marcy outside of Washington on GW Parkway. My father took me there when I was first interested in the Civil War.
Fort Foote outside of Washington DC is a hidden gem. Also Fort Stevens Oregon. Came under fire by a Japanese sub in WW 11.
Fort Sumter tops my list.
Fort Monroe and Fort Wool remain interesting. As do Fort Pickens and Fort Barrancas in the Pensacola, FL area.
The forts that ring Washington DC, particularly Ft Stevens (most popular, Lincoln shot at on parapet)! Can’t believe that Ft Marcy (west side of ring) and Ft Foote (15” Rodman Gun) were mentioned ! They should check out Ft Ward (Alexandria), it’s one of best preserved! Ft Washington (cause it’s across from Mt Vernon)! Ft Sumter, Ft Point (San Francisco), Ft Monroe(Battle of Hampton Roads) are really special too!
It’s pretty far off the beaten path, but I think I’d go with Fort Craig, in New Mexico, with honorable mentions for Fort Union and Fort Garland:
https://emergingcivilwar.com/2022/11/18/ecw-weekender-fort-garland-a-rare-colorado-civil-war-site/
https://emergingcivilwar.com/2023/11/10/ecw-weekender-fort-union/
https://emergingcivilwar.com/2023/12/08/ecw-weekender-fort-craig/
My vote goes to Fort Harrison, located on the Confederate defensive line covering Richmond. It was attacked and captured by Federal forces in September of 1864. It is quite pristine with portions of the earthen walls originally built by the Confederates and additional walls added on by the Federal Army still there. It also has on display a photo taken by a photographer after the Federal capture showing in the distance the new Rebel entrenchment line and a Confederate soldier standing on top of the new fortified position. A great glimpse into the past!
It didn’t have much of a role to play in the Civil War, but the most fun fort to visit is massive Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas. Getting there is most of the fun, as one must take a tour boat from Key West. When you get there, the fort is wide open for exploration. And they even bring along snorkel supplies for everyone to go swimming in the warm waters. It is supposedly the largest fort in America, and was considered obsolete before it was even completed! But because it is so large, this fort will probably sit there until global warming covers it (and most of Florida) a few decades from now.
Fort Desperate at Port Hudson. A well preserved earthen fort along the Confederate line.
Fort Macon. Wonderful NC state site that was a focus of the early months of the war. History
of fortifications thur WW II well told. Site is beautiful at Beaufort Inlet and the Atlantic Ocean.
Forts Gaines and Morgan at the mouth of Mobile Bay … their sight-lines are unspoiled by post-war development and one can look toward the water and imagine Farragut damning the torpedoes from his flagship, USS Hartford … and while you there, Pensacola is a short drive east where Forts Barrancas and Pickens guard the approaches to Pensacola Bay … finally, Fort Barrancas is a stone’s throw from the Naval Aviation Museum (both on Naval Air Station Pensacola) … that’s five good reasons to visit the Gulf Coast … the food ain’t bad either.
My cousin used to live in Mobile and I had some of the best shrimp and grits there, ever.
Fort Blakeley in Baldwin County, Alabama. The climax of the assault on a three-mile-long earthwork known as Fort Blakeley after a weeks long campaign resulted in the capture of Mobile. Preserved are several miles of breastworks and fortifications. There are also several trails and monuments and a great place to explore and visualize troop movements. It is all a part of Historic Blakeley State Park. A true gem!
Do any remain? Hasn’t Biden renamed them all so they no longer carry Civil War names? In any event, how about fortifications? I still have vivid memories of the camping trip my parents took the family on when I was 5 – we drove through Pennsylvania and Maryland, and up the length of the Shenandoah Valley, stopping at various points for a week, including a visit with a comrade of his from the navy, whose great-grandfather had been an officer in the Army of Northern Virginia – the man’s sword hung on the wall. We went to Appomattox, where my Dad bought me the wonderful Time-Life History of the Civil War book, on to Richmond and then the Peninsula, etc. We visited Williamsburg, William & Mary and Yorktown, and I was thrilled to see the fortifications that were used in both the Revolution and the Civil War.
I am not aware of ANY actual Civil War fort that Biden renamed. Please give me a list of the specific ones.
Or are you so confused you think after Civil War Army bases with “fort” in their name are the same thing?
Fort Bragg for instance, named after a traitor who fought for slavery and was a shitty general to boot. So they changed it. Boo hoo!
Douglas Miller. Please confine your posts to facts and refrain from personal attack.
Civility, as well as fact, is lost on such folks, Michael. But, well said.
It is a joy to Man ‘splain you with fact. Hopefully it will pierce your bubble of Fantasy and bring you back to Reality. In FACT – something you lack – many of the “forts” and “bases” of today have passed through many iterations, having been built upon the remains of many previous forts, or near them, or in the same area. Thus these were present during not just the Civil War, but the Revolution, and even the French & Indian War. Thus, having been named for Confederate officers, and having had that demented organized crime family boss strip them of their names and honor in order to gratify organized terror groups within the United States who wish to see the entire country destroyed, well, yes, ALL qualify under my statement. Incidentally, bases are forts…and forts are bases. This is a military thing – something you know nothing about. As for Braxton Bragg, his father was a self-made man, a carpenter, and there is no record of anyone in the Bragg family having ever owned slaves…just like the other 93% of people in the 11 states that seceded, so it is doubtful he fought for slavery. Then again, there were those 6 states that remained in the Union that practiced slavery through most if not all the war – with some refusing to surrender their slaves until December 1865. I am happy to report that a staggering majority of our servicemen on these bases and forts are furious that their old, honored names were changed due to Communist-driven policy, they are demanding the names be reinstated, and the minute President Trump begins saving the country on Monday this will begin to happen. Oh – Mount Denali will soon be McKinley again, and there will be Indians playing baseball in Cleveland and Redskins playing football in Washington. Your kind are simply going to lose. Seeing as, however, you hate America so much and are constantly frothing with Communist propaganda, I would be happy to help ensure that you are escorted to one of the remaining Communist states in the world and left there. I have even lived in some of them, and recognize the behavior well. You will fit right in – as long as they find you useful, that is.