Fort Jay

More information at Warlike and Wikipedia Fort Jay (1794-1966) - First established in 1794 as a First System Fort. Named after John Jay, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice, U.S. Secretary of Foreign Affairs and New York Governor. Rebuilt and renamed in 1806 as Fort Columbus, renamed back to Fort Jay in 1904. The U.S. Army left Governors Island and turned the fort over to the U.S. Coast Guard in 1966. Fort Jay Commanding Officer Quarters Fort Jay Bastion and Moat Fort Jay 1830s Star Fort Barracks First System (1794-1808) The first Fort Jay was a First System earthen star fort with two detached batteries. This first fort was modified, then completely rebuilt in 1798-1801, and then demolished in 1806 in favor of a completely new fort. Second System (1808-1816) Fort Jay South Battery Entrance The new Second System fort was completed in 1808 and named Fort Columbus, it was a large masonry pentagon with four bastions and ravelin. The new fort was designed to hold up to 100 guns. In the 1830s four brick barracks were built on the quadrangle inside the fort walls. U.S. Civil War (1861-1865) Fort Jay 10" Mounted Rodman Cannon M1861 During the U.S. Civil War fifty 10" and 15" Rodman cannons were emplaced to protect the harbor. The north barracks were used to hold Confederate officer POWs in transit to other Union POW camps. The old fort and the new surrounding post was renamed back to Fort Jay in 1904 by Secretary of War, Elihu Root who also ordered the expansion of Governors Island using fill from the construction of the New York subway system. World War II (1941-1945) During WWII the post was the headquarters of the Eastern Defense Command. The first major scrap drive of World War II claimed most of the remaining U.S. Civil War Rodman cannons. Three 10" and one 15" Rodman cannons were retained at the fort for historic display. Fort Jay Partial Commanders List (edit list) Assumed Relieved Rank Name Cullum Notes 1864-09-04 1865-02-14  “Lt. Col. Bomford, James V. 695 1865-02-07 1865-06-10  Maj. Cogswell, Milton 1417 1873-02-19 1874-10  Maj. Roy, James P. 1444 1877-10-24 1877-10-11  Maj. Mendenhall, John 1513 1888-06-04 1888-12-07  Maj. Miller, Marcus P. 1805 1889-02-19 1890-05-17  Maj. McCrea, Tully 1980 1898-04 1898-06  Capt. Lomia, Luigi 2175 1898-06-11 1898-07-13  Col. Barber, Thomas H. 2178 1900-01 1900-06  Maj. Cornish, George A. 2490 1901-04-09 1901-08-22  Maj. Hills, Elbridge R. 2141 1906 1908-07-01  Col. Allen, Leven C. 2443 1911-09-03 1912-09-08  Col. Cecil, George R. 2526 1912-09 1915-03-16  Col. Mallory, John Skinner 2815 1922-09-02 1923-05-08  Col. Gerhardt, Charles 3221 Dates are formatted in yyyy-mm-dd to sort correctly. The Cullum Number is the graduation order from the United States Military Academy by year and class rank and links to a page for the officer on the website version of the Cullum Register. Listings without a Cullum Number indicate that the person was not a graduate of the United States Military Academy. Current Status Governors Island National Monument, Governors Island, New York County, New York. Mounted period cannons. Must see! {"selectable":false,"height":"-500","width":"-500"} Location: Governors Island, New York County, New York. Maps & Images Lat: 40.691389 Long: -74.016111 Multi Maps from ACME Maps from Bing Maps from Google Elevation: 39' Sources: Roberts, Robert B., Encyclopedia of Historic Forts: The Military, Pioneer, and Trading Posts of the United States, Macmillan, New York, 1988, 10th printing, ISBN 0-02-926880-X, page 555-556 Speer, Lonnie R., Portals to Hell:Military Prisons of the Civil War, Stackpole Books, 1997, Mechanicsburg, PA, ISBN 0-8117-0334-7, 410 pages, page 325. Links: Wikipedia - Fort Jay North American Forts - Fort Jay Visited: 15 Aug 2010