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89-511: Craney Island may refer to: Craney Island (Virginia) Harkers Island, North Carolina , formerly known as Craney Island Craney Island (Maryland) in Charles County, Maryland [REDACTED] Topics referred to by the same term This disambiguation page lists articles about distinct geographical locations with the same name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change

178-588: A national monument . This was the first time that President Obama exercised his authority under the Antiquities Act , a 1906 law to protect sites deemed to have natural, historical or scientific significance. Within the 565 acres of Fort Monroe are 170 historic buildings and nearly 200 acres of natural resources, including 8 miles of waterfront, 3.2 miles of beaches on the Chesapeake Bay , 110 acres of submerged lands and 85 acres of wetlands. It has

267-471: A 332-slip marina and shallow water inlet access to Mill Creek, suitable for small watercraft. The land area where Fort Monroe is became part of Elizabeth Cittie [sic] in 1619, Elizabeth River Shire in 1634, and was included in Elizabeth City County when it was formed in 1643. Over 300 years later, in 1952, Elizabeth City County and the nearby Town of Phoebus agreed to consolidate with

356-591: A British-owned Dutch-flagged privateer , the White Lion , appeared off Old Point Comfort. Its cargo included between 20-30 Africans captured from the slave ship São João Bautista . Traded for work and supplies from the English, they were the first Africans to come ashore on British-occupied land in what would become the United States. The arrival of these Bantu people from Angola is considered to mark

445-426: A French brigadier general of engineers and aide to Napoleon , who had been banished from France after the latter's defeat at Waterloo in 1815, moved to the United States, and later commissioned as a brigadier general in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers . From the beginning of its construction until 1832 the fort's name was "Fortress Monroe", and it was sometimes referred to by that name subsequently. Fort Monroe

534-564: A company-based organization to a regimental organization. The Harbor Defenses of Chesapeake Bay (as renamed in 1925) were garrisoned by the 12th Coast Artillery Regiment of the regular army , with the 246th Coast Artillery Regiment as the Virginia National Guard component. In 1932 the 12th Coast Artillery was effectively redesignated as the 2nd Coast Artillery , continuing as the garrison of Chesapeake Bay. During World War II , Fort Monroe continued as headquarters for

623-563: A favorite spot for bird watching. Craney Island is visible to Interstate 664 traffic crossing Hampton Roads on the Monitor–Merrimac Memorial Bridge–Tunnel , which is west of the island. It may also be viewed from Old Dominion University , which is east of the island across the Elizabeth River. The proposed " Third Crossing " of Hampton Roads would cross Craney Island. Although not a historical name for

712-738: A fleet to Hampton Roads to enforce the blockade. On May 18–19, 1861, Federal gunboats based at Fort Monroe exchanged fire with the Confederate batteries at Sewell's Point. The little-known Battle of Sewell's Point resulted in minor damage to both sides. Several land operations against Confederate forces were mounted from the fort, notably the Battle of Big Bethel in June 1861. On May 27, 1861, Major General Benjamin Butler made his famous " contraband " decision, or " Fort Monroe Doctrine ", determining that

801-613: A list on 13 May 2005 of military installations recommended for closure or realignment, among which was Fort Monroe. The list was approved by President George W. Bush on 15 September 2005 and submitted to Congress . Congress failed to act within 45 legislative days to disapprove the list in its entirety, and the BRAC recommendations subsequently became law. Installations on the BRAC list were required by law to close within six years, and Fort Monroe ceased to be an Army post in 2011. Many of its functions were transferred to nearby Fort Eustis , which

890-696: A plan to bring the states back into the Union: Cut the Confederacy off from the rest of the world instead of attacking its army in Virginia. His Anaconda Plan was to blockade or occupy the Confederacy's coastline to limit the activity of blockade runners , and control the Mississippi River valley with gunboats. In cooperation with the Navy, troops from Fort Monroe extended Union control along

979-522: Is the largest fort by area ever built in the United States. During the initial exploration by a mission headed by Captain Christopher Newport in the early 1600s, the earliest days of the Colony of Virginia , the site was identified as a strategic defensive location. Beginning by 1609, defensive fortifications were built at Old Point Comfort during Virginia's first two centuries. The first

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1068-1025: Is the world's largest naval station by number of military members supported. During World War I , Fort Monroe and Fort Wool were used to protect Hampton Roads and the important inland military and civilian resources of the Chesapeake Bay area as part of the Coast Defenses of Chesapeake Bay . The fort installed the first anti-submarine net in America in February 1917 stretching to Fort Wool. Although many guns were removed from coast defenses in World War I for potential service as field guns and railway artillery , this did not happen with most weapons at Fort Monroe due to its strategic importance. However, eight mortars were removed from Battery Anderson-Ruggles for potential overseas service and to improve

1157-561: Is unclear where the additional weapons were located. In addition, submarine barriers and underwater mine fields continued to be controlled from Fort Monroe. But by the end of the Second World War, the vast array of armaments guarding the Chesapeake was made largely obsolete due to the development of the long-range bomber and the refinement of naval aviation. Essentially all of the United States' coast defense guns were scrapped by

1246-773: The American Civil War . On December 20, 1860, South Carolina became the first state to secede from the Union . Four months later, on April 12, 1861, troops of that state opened fire on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. Five days later, Virginia's legislature passed (subject to voters' ratification) the Ordinance of Secession of Virginia to withdraw from the Union and join the newly formed Confederate States of America . On 23 May 1861, voters of Virginia ratified

1335-574: The Chamberlin Hotel (built 1896) was in business; this building burned down and was replaced with the current building in 1928. It now serves as a retirement community for those 55 years and older. In 1907 the Coast Artillery School was established along with the U.S. Army Coast Artillery Corps . New buildings were constructed for classrooms and barracks, with the library and school buildings completed in 1909. As part of

1424-626: The Coast Artillery Corps operated the weapons removed from forts along with most other US-manned heavy and railway artillery on the Western Front . In 1918 Camp Eustis (now Fort Eustis) was established near Newport News as a coast artillery replacement center to relieve overcrowding at Fort Monroe. During World War I the authorized strength of the Coast Defenses of Chesapeake Bay was 17 companies, including five from

1513-597: The Confederate States of America , Fort Monroe remained in Union hands throughout the American Civil War (1861–1865). Union General George B. McClellan landed the Army of the Potomac at the fort during Peninsula campaign of 1862 of that conflict. The fort was notable as a historic and symbolic site of early freedom for former slaves under the provisions of contraband policies. For two years following

1602-574: The Harbor Defenses of Chesapeake Bay . However, during the war new 16-inch (406 mm) gun batteries were built at Fort Story and at Fort John Custis on Cape Charles . These rendered Fort Monroe's heavy guns obsolete, and between 1942 and 1944 all of the fort's 10-inch (254 mm) and 12-inch (305 mm) guns and mortars were scrapped. However, the two rapid-fire 6-inch (152 mm) guns of Battery Montgomery remained until 1948. A 16-inch (406 mm) gun battery of two guns (Battery 124)

1691-708: The Journal "rose to high rank among the service papers of the world". The Journal was renamed the Coast Artillery Journal in 1922 and the Antiaircraft Journal in 1948. The Board of Fortifications , chaired by Secretary of War William C. Endicott and often called the Endicott board, met in 1885 to consider the future of U.S. coast defenses. In 1886 the board's report recommended an across-the-board improvement program, often called

1780-524: The Richmond and Danville Railroad to move first to Danville and then North Carolina . However, the cause was lost, and Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered what was left of the Army of Northern Virginia to Grant at Appomattox Court House the following week. After the last Confederate cabinet meeting was held on April 26, 1865, at Charlotte, North Carolina , Jefferson Davis was captured at Irwinville , Georgia , and placed under arrest. Davis

1869-560: The United States Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC). The latter command was headquartered at the fort from 1973 until the fort's decommissioning in 2011. At the turn of the 21st century, Fort Monroe supported a work population of some 3,000, including 1,000 people in uniform. In 1822 the Hygeia Hotel was built to accommodate some of the fort's builders. It eventually expanded to 200 rooms. In 1862 it

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1958-527: The United States Navy is located adjacent. The Norfolk District of the Corps staff has received recognition for the creation, protection, and preservation of a critical habitat for birds such as the piping plover , least terns , brown pelicans , osprey , and other threatened or endangered species that use the island as a large nesting ground. Audubon Society members have turned the island into

2047-411: The Virginia National Guard . In 1922 Fort Monroe's importance in defending Chesapeake Bay was somewhat reduced with the establishment of a battery of four 16-inch (406 mm) howitzers at Fort Story on Cape Henry , at the entrance to the bay. With the improved weapon location and a range advantage over Fort Monroe's 12-inch guns of 24,500 yards (22,400 m) versus 18,400 yards (16,800 m),

2136-617: The Virginia Peninsula during the spring of 1862, reaching within a few miles of the gates of Richmond about 80 miles to the west by June 1. For the next 30 days, they laid siege to Richmond. Then, during the Seven Days Battles , McClellan fell back to the James River well below Richmond, ending the campaign. Fortunately for McClellan, during this time, Union troops regained control of Norfolk, Hampton Roads, and

2225-492: The continental United States . TRADOC was headquartered at the fort from 1973 until it was moved to Fort Eustis in 2011. Fort Monroe was deactivated September 15, 2011, and many of its functions were transferred to nearby Fort Eustis . Several re-use plans for Fort Monroe are under development in the Hampton community. On November 1, 2011, President Barack Obama signed a proclamation to designate portions of Fort Monroe as

2314-472: The 16-inch weapons could engage attacking warships long before they could come within range of Fort Monroe. In 1920 Battery Irwin's four 3-inch (76 mm) guns were removed as part of a general removal from service of M1898 3-inch guns; they were not replaced until 1946, when the battery became a saluting battery. In 1924 the Coast Artillery Corps' harbor defense garrisons transitioned from

2403-498: The 1950s; a battery of four 90 mm guns 1953–55 (site N-03) and a Nike missile battery headquarters 1955–60 (site N-08). The Continental Army Command (CONARC) headquarters was at Fort Monroe throughout its existence from 1955 to 1973. CONARC was responsible for all active Army units in the continental United States , and in 1973 was split into the United States Army Forces Command (FORSCOM) and

2492-498: The 19th and 20th centuries it housed artillery schools, including the Coast Artillery School (1907–1946). The Continental Army Command (CONARC) (1955–1973) headquarters was at Fort Monroe, succeeded by the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) following a division of CONARC into TRADOC and United States Army Forces Command (FORSCOM) in 1973. CONARC was responsible for all active Army units in

2581-1014: The Army had built the Great Contraband Camp in Hampton to house the families. It was the first of more than 100 that would be established by war's end, and the Roanoke Island Freedmen's Colony (1863–1867), which started as a contraband camp. Many contrabands were employed by the Union Army in support roles such as cooks, wagon drivers, and laborers. Beginning in January 1863, the United States Colored Troops were formed, with many contrabands enlisting; these units were composed primarily of white officers and African-American enlisted men, and eventually numbered nearly 180,000 soldiers. Mary S. Peake

2670-721: The British established batteries on the ruins of Fort George. Shortly afterward, during the Siege of Yorktown , the French West Indian fleet occupied these batteries. Throughout the Colonial period, fortifications were manned at the location from time to time. Following the War of 1812 , the United States realized the need to protect Hampton Roads and the inland waters from attack by sea. A British attack on Norfolk and Portsmouth

2759-495: The Elizabeth River at Portsmouth fell into Confederate hands and the first Confederate ironclad warship CSS Virginia was converted from USS Merrimack there. The Confederates built a 20-gun battery on the island and berthed the Virginia there. This ship fought the first Union ironclad USS Monitor during the famous Battle of Hampton Roads on March 9, 1862, which was inconclusive as neither armored ship could defeat

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2848-443: The Endicott program. This included replacing all existing weapons with modern breech-loading guns and mortars in reinforced concrete batteries with earth cover and providing controlled minefields in ship channels. Fort Monroe was to be one of the largest installations of this program, and in 1896 construction began on new gun batteries there. The fort was the headquarters and main fort of the Coast Defenses of Chesapeake Bay , which

2937-462: The James River below Drewry's Bluff (a strategic point about 8 miles south of Richmond). Beginning in 1862 Fort Monroe was also used as a transfer point for mail exchange. Mail sent from states in the Confederacy addressed to locations in the Union had to be sent by flag-of-truce and could only pass through at Fort Monroe where the mail was opened, inspected, resealed, marked and sent on. Prisoner of war mail from Union soldiers in Confederate prisons

3026-531: The Native American chieftain Black Hawk at Fort Monroe, following the 1832 Black Hawk War. When construction was completed in 1834, Fort Monroe was referred to as the " Gibraltar of Chesapeake Bay." The fort mounted an impressive complement of powerful artillery: 42-pounder cannon with a range of over one mile. In conjunction with Fort Calhoun (later Fort Wool), this was just enough range to cover

3115-455: The Summer of 1861 Harry Jarvis made his way to Fort Monroe and insisted General Butler let him enlist. Butler refused because he believed "it wasn't a black man's war." Jarvis replied, "It would be a black man's war," due to the presence of the incoming of thousands of runaway slaves. This marked a sudden shift in the war. In March 1862 Congress passed a law formalizing this policy . By the fall,

3204-466: The U.S. Army, Robert E. Lee was stationed at the fort from 1831 to 1834 and played a major role in its final construction and its opposite, Fort Calhoun (renamed Fort Wool in 1862). He resided at Quarters 17 . Fort Calhoun was built on a man-made island called the Rip Raps across the navigation channel from Old Point Comfort in the middle of the mouth of Hampton Roads. The Army briefly detained

3293-559: The United States Artillery was founded at Fort Monroe in 1892 by First Lieutenant (later General) John Wilson Ruckman and four other officers of the Artillery School. Ruckman served as the editor of the Journal for four years (July 1892 to January 1896) and published several articles therein afterward. One publication by West Point notes Ruckman's "guidance" and "first-rate quality" work were obvious as

3382-575: The battery was disarmed in 1908. Battery Humphreys was disarmed in 1910; batteries Barber, Gatewood, and the parapet battery were disarmed in 1913–1915. Fire control towers to direct the use of guns and mines were also built at the fort. During the Spanish–American War Fort Monroe also hosted the Camp Josiah Simpson Army General Hospital, including the post hospital and a tent camp on

3471-402: The bay at the time. This led to the building of Fort Monroe beginning in the 1820s, to close the bay to enemy vessels. The fort was abandoned some time after 1820. In 1820, the first U.S. lightship was established at Hampton Roads. It was first placed at Willoughby Spit , on the south side of the harbor. The weather conditions proved to be too harsh on the seventy-ton vessel there and it

3560-522: The beginning of slavery in colonial America . Another fort, known only as "the fort at Old Point Comfort" was constructed in 1632. In 1728, Fort George was built on the site. Its masonry walls were destroyed by a hurricane in 1749, but the wooden buildings in the fort were used by a reduced force from circa 1755 until at least 1775. During the American Revolutionary War , as Patriot and French forces approached Yorktown in 1781,

3649-827: The coasts of the Carolinas as Lincoln ordered a blockade of the southern seaboard from the South Carolina line to the Rio Grande on April 19 and, on April 27, extended it to include the North Carolina and Virginia coasts. On April 20 the Union Navy burned and evacuated the Gosport Navy Yard in Portsmouth , destroying nine ships in the process, keeping Fort Monroe at Old Point Comfort as

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3738-637: The confluence of the Elizabeth , the Nansemond and the James rivers. Until disarmament in 1946, the areas protected by the fort were the entire Chesapeake Bay and Potomac River regions, including the water approaches to the cities of Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, Maryland, along with important shipyards and naval bases in the Hampton Roads area. Surrounded by a moat , the six-sided bastion fort

3827-570: The end of 1948. Since World War II, Fort Monroe has been a major Army training headquarters. However, in 1946 the Coast Artillery School relocated to Fort Winfield Scott in San Francisco, where it was disestablished in 1949; the remnant of the Coast Artillery Corps was also disestablished a year later. Also in 1946 Battery Irwin became a saluting battery with two 3-inch M1902 guns relocated from Fort Wool, which are still in place. The fort also hosted some Cold War antiaircraft defenses in

3916-406: The enemy during the war. However, the British proceeded to burn the nearby city of Hampton, Virginia , which had no forts at the time. The repulse at Craney Island did not deter the British from further operations in Hampton Roads the next year. In 1814, they proceeded up Chesapeake Bay to burn Washington, D.C. , and unsuccessfully attack Baltimore , as there were no forts guarding the mouth of

4005-562: The enslaved men who reached Union lines would be considered "contraband of war" (captured enemy property) and not be returned to bondage. Prior to this, the Union had generally enforced the Fugitive Slave Act , returning escaped slaves to their owners. The order resulted in thousands of slaves fleeing to Union lines around Fort Monroe, which was Butler's headquarters in Virginia. Fort Monroe became called "Freedom's Fortress", as any self-emancipating person reaching it would be free. In

4094-418: The fort, mainly on the southwestern and southern fronts. No positions for casemated flank howitzers exist on the northern and northwestern fronts (except two alongside the north sally port ); this partial tier is unusual in the third system. The main channel the fort protected was to the southeast; a casemated external battery (also called a "casemated coverface" or "water battery") of forty 42-pounder cannon

4183-474: The last bastion of the United States in Tidewater Virginia . The Confederacy's occupation of Norfolk gave it a major shipyard and thousands of heavy guns, but they held it for only one year. Confederate Brigadier General Walter Gwynn , who commanded the Confederate defenses around Norfolk, erected batteries at Sewell's Point , to protect Norfolk and to control Hampton Roads. The Union dispatched

4272-414: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Craney_Island&oldid=707036154 " Category : Place name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Craney Island (Virginia) The name "Craney Island"

4361-556: The main shipping channel into the area. (Decommissioned after World War II , the former Fort Wool on Rip Raps is now adjacent to the southern man-made island of the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel , first completed in 1957.) From 1824 to 1946 Fort Monroe was the site of a series of schools of artillery. The first was the Artillery School of Practice . The school was closed in 1834 but was revived during

4450-485: The moat was eight feet deep. The initial design provided for up to 380 guns and was later expanded to 412 guns, intended for a garrison of 600 troops in peacetime and up to 2,625 troops in wartime. However, the fort was never fully armed. The site of Fort Monroe was first garrisoned in June 1823 by Battery G of the 3rd U.S. Artillery Regiment commanded by Captain Mann P. Lomax . As a young first lieutenant and engineer in

4539-469: The navigational channel of the Elizabeth River, Craney Island proved to be of strategic significance during the War of 1812 and the American Civil War . During the War of 1812 , the federal government built the Craney Island Fort as part of the second system of US fortifications . It was completed in early 1813. The fort had a mile-long earthwork connecting the main seven-gun battery in

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4628-573: The old fort's parade ground. The Jamestown Exposition , held in 1907 at Hampton Roads , featured an extensive naval review , including the Great White Fleet . Beginning in 1917, the former exposition site at Sewell's Point became a major base of the United States Navy . Currently, Naval Station Norfolk is the base supporting naval forces operating in the Atlantic Ocean , Mediterranean Sea , and Indian Ocean . As of 2018, it

4717-455: The old fort. Battery Humphreys was immediately northeast of the old fort and oriented southeast. Batteries Irwin and Parrott were in front of the old fort's southern side. The remaining batteries were on the isthmus extending north from the old fort in this order: Eustis, De Russy, Montgomery, Church, Anderson/Ruggles. Batteries Anderson and Ruggles were a line of four open-back mortar pits, originally with four mortars in each pit. Battery Anderson

4806-457: The other. Only two months later, as recapture of Norfolk and Portsmouth by Union forces was imminent, on the morning of May 11, 1862, the Virginia was deliberately run aground near Craney Island and burned by the crew to avoid capture. In modern times, Craney Island is an industrial area and has been used as a location for placement of dredged materials since 1957. It is operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers . A major fueling depot for

4895-428: The period 1858–61. It was succeeded by the Artillery School of the U.S. Army , which existed from 1867 until its redesignation in 1907 as the Coast Artillery School . Fort Monroe also hosted the Old Point Comfort Proving Ground for testing artillery and ammunition from the 1830s to 1861; after the Civil War this function relocated to the Sandy Hook Proving Ground in New Jersey. Fort Monroe played an important role in

4984-459: The prototype 15-inch Rodman gun was delivered to Fort Monroe and was subsequently fired 350 times in testing. This weapon (Fort Pitt Foundry No. 1 of 1861) is displayed at the fort as of 2018; a plaque states that it was test fired for President Lincoln and was nicknamed the "Lincoln gun". This type of weapon was deployed for coastal defense during the war (an 1862 map shows an external battery of them at Fort Monroe) and more widely deployed following

5073-440: The quarters where President Abraham Lincoln was a guest in May 1862. Most of the other historic officers' quarters and other buildings are also preserved. A uniform of the renowned American writer Edgar Allan Poe , who was stationed there in 1828 serving as an artillery regimental command sergeant major, is also on display. Several historic weapons were preserved at the fort as of 2005. The 15-inch Rodman prototype "Lincoln gun"

5162-426: The rate of fire of the remaining weapons; five of the removed mortars became railway artillery in France; it is unclear if they were used in action. Battery Montgomery's pair of pedestal-mounted 6-inch (152 mm) guns were relocated to a temporary battery at Cape Henry in 1917; they were replaced with weapons of the same type in February 1919. Fort Monroe was also important as a mobilization and training center;

5251-417: The safeguard for Chesapeake Bay and the largest fort by area ever built in the United States. It was intended as the headquarters for the third system of forts. Among the original buildings is Quarters 1 , designed as a residence and headquarters for Fort Monroe's commanding officer. Work continued for nearly 25 years. The fort was designed by brevet Brigadier General of engineers Simon Bernard , formerly

5340-414: The school's responsibility the Journal of the United States Artillery (renamed Coast Artillery Journal in 1922) was published under the supervision of the commandant. The school operated until 1946 when most of the coast artillery was disbanded, and the school was moved to Fort Winfield Scott in San Francisco. The 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission of the Department of Defense released

5429-458: The ship or station, a lightship named Portsmouth commemorates the first lightship at Craney Island at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Museum in Portsmouth, Virginia . Virginia Historical Marker K-258 (The Battle of Craney Island) (at the entrance to Hoffler Creek Wildlife Preserve on Twin Pines Road) commemorates the battle. Fort Monroe Fort Monroe is a former military installation in Hampton, Virginia , at Old Point Comfort ,

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5518-476: The site at Old Point Comfort for purposes of coastal defense. They initially built Fort Algernourne (1609–1622) at the location of the present Fort Monroe. It was renamed the Point Comfort Fort in 1612. It is assumed to have been a triangular stockade, based on the fort at Jamestown. Other small forts known as Fort Henry and Fort Charles were built nearby in 1610 to protect the Kecoughtan settlement. Fort Algernourne fell into disuse after 1622. In August 1619

5607-415: The smaller independent city of Hampton , which became one of the larger cities of Hampton Roads . Arriving with three ships under Captain Christopher Newport , Captain John Smith and the colonists of the Virginia Company established the settlement of Jamestown and the British Colony of Virginia on the James River in 1607. On their initial exploration, they recognized the strategic importance of

5696-415: The south; it founded more than 500 local schools and 11 colleges for freedmen and their children. During the Civil War Fort Monroe was the site of a military balloon camp under the flight direction of aeronaut John LaMountain . The Union Army Balloon Corps was being developed at Fort Corcoran near Arlington under the presidentially appointed Prof. Thaddeus S. C. Lowe . At the same time, LaMountain, who

5785-704: The southeast with an outer battery and blockhouse in the northwest. A small redoubt was in the fort's center. By June 1813 the fort was armed with two 24-pounder cannon , along with one 18-pounder and four 6-pounders. On June 22, 1813, the Battle of Craney Island took place. During the battle, the fort was manned by 580 Regulars and militia in addition to 150 sailors and marines from the USS Constellation , all under Brigadier General Robert B. Taylor . 81 British troops were killed, wounded or captured of their 2,500-man force in total, with no American losses of their 730-man force. The victory at Craney Island saved Norfolk and Portsmouth from being captured and pillaged by

5874-412: The southern tip of the Virginia Peninsula , United States. It is currently managed by partnership between the Fort Monroe Authority for the Commonwealth of Virginia, the National Park Service, and the city of Hampton as the Fort Monroe National Monument . Along with Fort Wool , Fort Monroe originally guarded the navigation channel between the Chesapeake Bay and Hampton Roads —the natural roadstead at

5963-404: The state's secession from the union. President Abraham Lincoln had Fort Monroe quickly reinforced so that it would not fall to Confederate forces. It was held by Union forces throughout the Civil War, which launched several sea and land expeditions from there. A few weeks after the Battle of Fort Sumter in 1861, U.S. Army General-in-Chief Winfield Scott proposed to President Abraham Lincoln

6052-422: The time it was built, the only land access to the fort's location was via a long, narrow isthmus to the north. A redoubt with a secondary moat was built northeast of the fort to guard against attack from this direction; the redoubt no longer exists, but the water gate for the secondary moat remains. The fort has a continuous barbette tier of cannon emplacements on the roof, but only a partial casemated tier in

6141-435: The war, the former Confederate President, Jefferson Davis , was imprisoned at the fort. His first months of confinement were spent in a cell of the casemated fort walls that is now part of its Casemate Museum . Around the turn of the 20th century, numerous gun batteries were added in and near Fort Monroe under the Endicott program ; it became the largest fort and headquarters of the Harbor Defenses of Chesapeake Bay . In

6230-568: The war. In March 1862, the naval Battle of Hampton Roads took place off Sewell's Point between two early ironclad warships , CSS Virginia and USS Monitor . While the outcome was inconclusive, the battle marked a change in naval warfare and the end to wooden fighting ships. Later that spring, the continuing presence of the Union Navy based at Fort Monroe enabled federal water transports from Washington, D.C., to land unmolested to support Major General George B. McClellan 's Peninsula Campaign . Formed at Fort Monroe, McClellan's troops moved up

6319-422: Was a wooden stockade named Fort Algernourne, followed by other small forts. However, the much more substantial facility of stone that became known as Fort Monroe (and adjacent Fort Wool on an artificial island across the channel) were completed in 1834, as part of the third system of U.S. fortifications . The principal fort was named in honor of U.S. President James Monroe . Although Virginia became part of

6408-418: Was built just outside the moat in this area. This increased the number of cannon in this direction compared with casemated guns in the curtain wall from 28 to 40; it was accessed from the main fort via a bridge. As of 2018, only a small part of the external battery's north end remains, along with a salient place-of-arms just north of it with three gun positions. The fort's walls were up to ten feet thick and

6497-528: Was confined for two years at Fort Monroe, beginning on May 22, 1865. For a few days he was confined in irons; newspaper accounts of this beginning on May 27 aroused sympathy for him, even in the North, and Union secretary of war Edwin M. Stanton soon ordered the irons removed. At the fort, Union surgeon John J. Craven had already recommended this, and continued to recommend better quarters, access to tobacco, and freedom of movement for Davis. In poor health, Davis

6586-538: Was derived from the fact that the early English settlers on the Elizabeth River in the 17th century were impressed with the great number of what they mistakenly believed to be cranes that inhabited it. Hence the name "Crayne" or "Craney Point." The birds the settlers thought were cranes were actually white and blue herons , still fairly common birds in the Hampton Roads region. Near the entrance to

6675-533: Was feared that the Spanish fleet might bombard U.S. east coast ports. Modern quick-firing guns were acquired from the United Kingdom and installed in new batteries. Battery Gatewood had four 4.72-inch/50 caliber guns while the parapet battery had four platforms for 8-inch M1888 guns with only two guns mounted. The northeast bastion battery was built to test an experimental 10-inch M1896 "depressing gun";

6764-427: Was moved to Craney Island where it served until 1859. It was replaced by a lighthouse , which was replaced in 1884 by a hexagonal screwpile lighthouse . The 1884 Craney Island Light served until 1936, when it was replaced by an automated light on the old foundation. In the 1970s this was replaced by a buoy. Early in the American Civil War (1861–1865), the important Gosport Shipyard upstream from Craney Island on

6853-504: Was named for Fort Monroe's first commander, General Abraham Eustis , a noted artillery expert. Fort Monroe has become a popular historical site. The Casemate Museum, opened in 1951, depicts the history of Fort Monroe and Old Point Comfort, with special emphasis on the Civil War period. It offers a view of Confederate President Jefferson Davis ' prison cell. Also shown are the quarters occupied by 1st Lt. Robert E. Lee in 1831–34, and

6942-409: Was on the parade. A 90 mm gun on a dual-purpose coast defense mount remained at Battery Parrott, and two 3-inch M1902 seacoast guns remained at Battery Irwin as of 2015. A 75 mm gun (nicknamed a "French 75" and used by the field artillery in World War I through early World War II) was at the new officers' club in the northern part of the reservation in 2005. The fort's last fire control tower

7031-463: Was organized circa 1896 as an artillery district and redesignated in 1913. By 1906 the following batteries were completed: Battery Gatewood and the northeast bastion battery were built on the roof of the old fort's southeastern front and bastion; the parapet battery was on the roof of the eastern half of the old fort's southern side. The parapet battery had four emplacements, but only two of these had guns. Batteries Bomford and Barber were north of

7120-403: Was proposed for Fort Monroe but not built. A new Anti-Motor Torpedo Boat (AMTB) battery (AMTB 23) was built in 1943, with two fixed, dual-purpose (anti-surface and anti-aircraft) 90 mm guns at the old Battery Parrott, which was partly rebuilt to accommodate them. This type of battery was usually authorized two fixed and two mobile 90 mm guns and two 37 mm or 40 mm guns, but it

7209-466: Was released in May, 1867, on bail, which was posted by prominent citizens of both Northern and Southern states, including Horace Greeley and Cornelius Vanderbilt , who had become convinced he was being treated unfairly. The federal government proceeded no further in its prosecution due to the constitutional concerns of U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase . Davis died in 1889. The Journal of

7298-407: Was repulsed, but they then bypassed the existing fortifications and went on to burn Washington, D.C. , and unsuccessfully attack Baltimore . In March 1819, President James Monroe 's War Department came up with a plan of building a network of coastal defenses, later called the third system of U.S. fortifications . In 1822 construction began in earnest on the stone-and-brick fort which would become

7387-534: Was required to be passed through this point for inspection. In 1864, the Union Army of the James under Major General Benjamin Butler was formed at Fort Monroe. The 2nd Regiment, United States Colored Cavalry , mustered in at Fort Monroe on December 22, 1864, and the 1st Regiment, United States Colored Cavalry mustered in the same day at nearby Camp Hamilton. The Siege of Petersburg during 1864 and 1865

7476-503: Was supported on the James River from a base at City Point (now Hopewell, Virginia ). Maintaining the control of Hampton Roads at Fort Monroe and Fort Wool was crucial to the naval support Grant required for the successful Union campaign to take Petersburg, which was the key to the fall of the Confederate capital at Richmond. As Petersburg fell, Richmond was evacuated in 1865 on the night of April 2–3. That night, Confederate President Jefferson Davis and his cabinet escaped Richmond, taking

7565-631: Was teaching the children of freedmen to read and write near Fort Monroe. She was the first black teacher hired by the American Missionary Association (AMA), a northern missionary group led by black and white ministers from the Congregational , Presbyterian and Methodist denominations, who strongly supported education of freedmen. Soon she was teaching children during the day and adults at night. The AMA sponsored hundreds of northern teachers and hired local teachers in

7654-401: Was the first of the third system forts to begin construction, and was intended as a headquarters for the system as well as a fort. It is a bastion fort with an irregular hexagon shape and seven bastions. The southern and longest front is divided in two fronts by a bastion in the middle; the other bastions are at the corners. The fort is surrounded by a moat and covers 63 acres (25 ha). At

7743-496: Was the southern pair of pits and Battery Ruggles was the northern pair. Originally all four pits were named Anderson, but they were divided into two batteries in 1906. Battery Gatewood and the parapet battery were among a number of batteries begun after the outbreak of the Spanish–American War in 1898. Most of the Endicott batteries were years from completion, and most existing defenses still had muzzle-loading weapons. It

7832-469: Was torn down by orders of the Secretary of War to limit civilian access to the post in wartime. It was replaced with a hotel of the same name after the war, and in 1874 became managed by Harrison Phoebus , for whom the city of Phoebus was named following his death in 1886. The second Hygeia Hotel was torn down in 1902 to make room for the fort's expansion under a new fortifications program . By this time

7921-490: Was vying for position as Chief Aeronaut, had gained the confidence of Butler in using his balloon Atlantic for aerial observations. LaMountain is credited with having made the first successful report from an aerial station that was of practical military intelligence . LaMountain was later reassigned to Lowe's balloon corps, but after a period of in-fighting with Lowe, he was released from military service. Lowe eventually assigned regular military balloons to Fort Monroe. In 1861

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