This week I and the opportunity to visit Fort Adams in Newport, which is one of the largest coastal fortifications in the US.
It and a sister Fort guard the main entrance to Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, which is strategically important as the only protected deep water anchorage between Boston and New York. The current fort was constructed to enhance the defences from seaward in the wake of the burning of Washington in the War of 1812.
The fort took over 30 years to complete and incorporated the most advanced fortification designs available on the day. The west wall faces the main channel and has a three tiers of guns, the lightest atop the ramparts to fire chain shot, 24 pounders in the middle firing grape, and massive 42 pounders at the bottom firing heated shot. Nasty stuff.
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| 24 pdr in position |
The fort is built on the end of a peninsula, which restricts the landward approach to one direction only, which incorporates a quarter mile of redoubts - clearly a large landing force would be required from that direction.
Fort Adams saw some periodic updates to its armaments to reflect the shift from wooden ships of the line to ironclads, was home to the US Naval Academy during the Civil War (Maryland being a bit suspect you know...), and Eike stayed here for a few summers while he was President. Lots of great history.
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| The Eisenhower House |
A wonderful spot with very knowledgable tour guides.
High recommended if you are in the area.
http://www.fortadams.org
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