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| {{Stub}}
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| [[Category:All]]
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| [[Category:Must See]]
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| [[Category:Rhode Island Forts]]
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| [[Category:Restored]]
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| [[Category:Preserved]]
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| [[Category:State Park]]
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| [[Image:FortAdamsModern RI.jpg|thumb|400px|left|Fort Adams, RI]]
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| '''Fort Adams (1793-1946)''' - Fort Adams was built on the site of an early Patriot and French fort from 1780. Rebuilt in 1798 with 17 guns by Major [[Louis Tousard]], it was named for President [[John Adams]] and opened on 4 Jul 1799. The first commanding officer of Fort Adams was Capt. [[John Henry]] of the [[2nd U.S. Regiment of Artillerists and Engineers]]. From 1 Apr 1802 to Jul 1814 the fort was unmanned.
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| ==The War of 1812==
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| The War of 1812 made it necessary to garrison with three companies of Rhode Island militia who were released from duty Feb 1815. After the war the fort was usually garrisoned by a company of regular artillerymen and operated as a subpost of Fort Wolcott until 1821 when the garrison was removed.
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| ==Expansion==
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| The current structure was built beginning in 1824 under the supervision of Lt. [[Andrew Talcott]] and, starting 22 Feb 1825, Lt. Col. [[Joseph Totten]], it took over 30 years to complete.
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| Throughout Totten's tenure as superintendent of construction he was assisted by a number of lieutenants in the engineer corps who had recently graduated from West Point. These included [[John G. Barnard]], who commanded the defenses of Washington during the Civil War, [[George W. Cullum]], who would become the superintendent of West Point and [[Pierre G. T. Beauregard]] who would become a general in the Confederate Army and commanded the attack on Fort Sumter at the begining of the Civil War.
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| The Outer Redoubt was built in 1825. The Fort is a massive work with structural walls constructed of local shale and Maine granite. Alexander McGregor, a Scots mason and Newport resident, oversaw the stonework, which is still relatively intact.
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| Features of Fort Adams that are uncommon or unique in United States military architecture include galleries under the ditches, counterscarp galleries, underground listening galleries tunneled under the glacis, and extensive outer defenses including the redoubt and tenailles, massive earth-filled, masonry cribs designed to protect the outer face of the fort's crown work from battering by a besieger's artillery.
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| Fort Adams was mostly complete by 25 Aug 1841 when it was garrisoned by two companies (F and I) of the [[2nd U.S. Artillery]] Regiment. The Fort was placed under the command of Major [[Matthew M. Payne]].
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| ==Mexican War==
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| n April of 1847 Fort Adams was designated a "rendezvous and recieving depot for all troops raised in the Eastern States". In realitity the fort was used in this capacity only by the 9th Infantry Regiment, commanded by Colonel Truman B. Ransom of Vermont.
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| The first troops of the 9th Infantry to arrive at Fort Adams were a company raised in Rhode Island commanded by Captain Pitman. They arrived on March 11th and departed for duty in Mexico on March 26th. Colonel Ransom attempted to delay their movement on the grounds that he had not given his ascent to the order but was unsuccessful.
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| Other units of the 9th Infantry began to arrive on April 26th and continued to arrive until May 12th. The regiment shipped out for Mexico between May 21st and 28th. The regiment would see action at the battle of Chapultepec, where Colonel Ransom was killed on September 13th. (Ironically, a captain in the 9th Infantry named John S. Slocum would become colonel of the 2nd Rhode Island regiment at the beginning of the Civil War. He, too, would die at the head of his regiment at the Battle of Bull Run on July 21st, 1861.)
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| Franklin Pierce
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| Circa 1847
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| On May 19th, 1847 Brigadier General Franklin Pierce stopped briefly at Fort Adams on his way to Mexico. While at the fort the bulk of the 9th Infantry regiment was there awaiting transport to serve in Mexico. Pierce departed Fort Adams on the 28th, along with the last detachment of the 9th Infantry, and would serve with distinction in Mexico. He was elected president of the United States in 1852 and served from 1853 until 1857. (Newport Mercury, May 29th, 1847.)
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| At 10PM on Monday, July 5th, 1847 Fort Adams saluted president James K. Polk as his ship stopped at Long Wharf in Newport while he was returning from Boston to Washington. (Newport Mercury July 10th, 1847.)
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| Construction of the fort continued during this period. The most significant improvement was the completion of the redoubt about 1/4 mile south of the main fort. The constuction of the redoubt was mostly completed under the supervision of First Lieutenant Isaac Ingalls Stevens who would rise to the rank of Brigadier General in the Civil War and be killed in the battle of Chantilly, Virginia. His son, Hazard, who was born during his father's posting to Newport, would earn the Medal of Honor and be breveted to Brigadier General. The redoubt qualifies as a fort in its own right and has a number of sophiticated features including an outer ditch, and inner ditch, reverse fire galleries, inteconnceting tunnels and an unique dual spiral granite staircase.
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| The fort would be manned continously until October 1853 when it was placed in caretaking status until 1857 when the fort was garrisoned by Company I of the 1st Artillery under the command of Captain (Brevet Lieutenant Colonel) John B. Magruder (1807 - 1871).
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| On September 11th, 1859 Magruder was host to Major General Wool, commander of the Army's Department of the East, and former President Millard Fillmore when they inspected Fort Adams. The dignitaries, as well as many onlookers from the general public, would be treated to a fine demonstration of light artillery drill by Colonel Magruder's battery. The only mishap was when a caisson carrying four soldiers hit a rock and was overturned. One soldier suffered a broken thigh bone but was expected to make a full recovery. (Mercury, September 17th, 1859.)
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| Magruder is reputed to have used Fort Dumpling in Jamestown for target practice for the fort's guns. (See Cullum's Historical Sketch of the Fortifications of Narragansett Bay.) However, the bulk of the old fort remained until it was demolished in November of 1898 to make room for Fort Wetherill. When the Civil War broke out, Magruder resigned from the Army to take a commission with the Confederate Army. In serving the Condederacy he rose to the rank of major general and commanded the Department of Texas. After the war he was commissioned to the same rank in the Mexican Army under Emperor Maximilian.
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| Magruder and his company departed Fort Adams on October 31st, 1859 and the fort reverted to caretaking status until the Civil War.
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| The caretaking detachment was commanded by Ordnance Sergeant Mark W. Smith. Ordnance Sergeant Smith was a veteran of both the Seminole and Mexican Wars and would later serve at Fort Griswold in Groton Connecticut where he died in 1871. In October of 1863 he was offered a commission as a captain in the 14th Rhode Island Heavy Artillery but he had to decline the offer on account of injuries suffered in the Mexican War. Ordnance Sergeant Smith had five sons, one of whom was killed during the war.
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| ==U.S. Civil War==
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| The Fort was used by the U.S. Naval Academy during the [[U.S. Civil War]], reverting back to the Army when the Naval Academy moved to Newport. During the [[U.S. Civil War]] Fort Adams was rearmed, with new Rodman guns, 10-inch pieces in the casemates and 15-inch guns in open batteries atop the southwest bastion of the crown work. Later, the army constructed permanent batteries for 10- and 15-inch Rodman guns on the island.
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| ==Eddicott Era==
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| [[Endicott Era]]
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| The high ground at Fort Adams adjacent to the redoubt provided room for four gun batteries, including Battery Reilly with two 10-inch disappearing guns. Two batteries of 12-inch mortars were also located at Fort Adams.
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| Endicott era batteries on the west side include
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| * Battery Belton (1907-1925)
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| * Battery Bankhead (1907-1913)
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| * Battery Reilly (1899-1917)
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| * Battery Talbot (1899-1917)
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| * Battery Edgerton (1898-1943)
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| * Battery Greene (1898-1943), which was renamed Battery Gilmore in 1940
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| * Unnamed battery from 1898 near Battery Bankhead
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| * Mobile 90mm guns were also here in WWII.
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| [[Image:FortAdamsPlan RI.gif|thumb|250px|right|Fort Adams Plan]]
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| ----
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| '''Location:'''
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| {{Mapit-US-cityscale|41.48106|-71.33555}}
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| '''Links:'''
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| * [http://www.riparks.com/fortadamshistory.htm History]
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| * [http://www.fortadams.org/ Site]
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| * [http://www.galenfrysinger.com/newport_fort_adams.htm Photos]
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| '''Publications:'''
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| '''Visited:''' No
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