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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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| In 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 U.S. Infantry]] Regiment, commanded by Colonel [[Truman B. Ransom]] of Vermont. The regiment shipped out for Mexico between May 21st and 28th. The regiment saw action at the battle of Chapultepec, where Colonel Ransom was killed on September 13th. On 19 May 1847 Brigadier General [[Franklin Pierce]] stopped briefly at Fort Adams on his way to Mexico. Pierce departed Fort Adams on the 28th, along with the last detachment of the [[9th U.S. Infantry]], and served with distinction in Mexico. He was elected president of the United States in 1852 and served from 1853 until 1857.
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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 1st Lt. [[Isaac Stevens|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 Stevens]], 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 was manned continously until October 1853 when it was placed in caretaking status until 1857. In 1857 the fort was garrisoned by Company I of the [[1st U.S. Artillery]] under the command of Capt. (Bvt. Lt. Col.) [[John B. Magruder]]. On 11 Sep 1859 Magruder was host to Maj. Gen. [[John E. Wool]], commander of the Army's Department of the East, and former President Millard Fillmore when they inspected Fort Adams.
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| Magruder and his company departed Fort Adams on 31 Oct 1859 and the fort reverted to caretaking status until the [[U.S. 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 War]] and would later serve at [[:Category:Fort Griswold|Fort Griswold]] in Groton Connecticut where he died in 1871.
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| ==U.S. Civil War==
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| 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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| On 11 Jan 1861 Lt. Edson and six ordnance men from Watertown Arsenal arrived to activate the Fort. On 9 May 1861 the frigate U.S.S. Constitution ("Old Ironsides") arrived under tow with about 70 midshipmen of the [[:Category:United States Naval Academy|United States Naval Academy]] on board. The academy was moved from Annapolis, Maryland for fear of Maryland being invaded by the Confederates. This arrangement lasted until 21 Sep 1861 when the academy was moved to Newport.
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| From Oct 1862 until the end of the war, Fort Adams served as the headquarters of the [[15th U.S. Infantry]] Regiment of the Regular Army, under the command of Colonel [[Oliver L. Shepherd]]. Fort Adams was used pimarily as a recruit depot.
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| From Oct 1862 to May 1863 the fort was commanded by Lt. Col. [[John P. Sanderson]] of the [[15th U.S. Infantry]]. He was succeeded by Col. [[Oliver L. Shepherd]]. Colonel Shepherd's command was interupted by the brief tenure of Brigadier General [[Robert Anderson]] in 1863.
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| From Aug 19th to Oct 26th of 1863 Fort Adams was under the command of Brigadier General [[Robert Anderson]]. Anderson was a living legend for his stand at Fort Sumter at the beginning of the war but was in poor health, atributed to the stress he suffered as a result of surrendering Fort Sumter, which prevented him from active service at the front. Anderson was assigned to Fort Adams in hopes that by being in a pleasant and healthy environment he would recover from his ailments. In late October Anderson retired from the Army at his own request. He died in Nice, France in 1871. He is buried in the [[:Category:West Point Cemetery|West Point Cemetery]].
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| ==Post U.S. Civil War==
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| Fort Adams returned to its primary function as a major coastal artillery fort after the [[U.S. Civil War]]. Periodically the garrison would be rotated as the two primary assignments for an artillery unit of the time were garrisoning coastal fortifications and defending the western frontier.
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| ==Eddicott Era==
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| In 1898, shortly after the outbreak of the [[Spanish American War]], Fort Adams had the first modern batteries of breech loading rifles completed. These installations are commonly known as [[Endicott Era|Endicott period]] batteries and are named after Secretary of War Endicott who, in 1885, issued a report calling for revolutionary improvements in nation's coastal defenses.
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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 [[World War II]].
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| [[Image:FortAdamsPlan RI.gif|thumb|250px|right|Fort Adams Plan]]
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| ==World War I==
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| When the United States entered the [[World War I]] in August of 1917 twenty companies of Coast Artillery troops from the Rhode Island National Guard were activated and helped reinforce Regular army troops at Fort Adams and other Rhode Island coastal fortifications. Fort Adams did not see action during the war but it served as a vital headquarters for the coast defenses in Rhode Island as well as a training facility and as a depot for units departing for service in France.
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| On 11 Nov 1918 the armistice ending the [[World War I]] was signed. National Guard units activated for the war were demoblized in December and smaller forts in the area deactivated over the next three years. As of 11 Jan 1919 Fort Adams was garrisoned by five coast artillery companies and entered a period of peacetime complacency which would last until [[World War II]].
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| ==World War II==
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| The Endicott period batteries were obsolete by [[World War II]] and replaced by 16 and 6 inch guns mounted in large bunkers. The only guns remaining at Fort Adams, during the war were three 3-inch anti-aircraft guns. Fort Adams was not attacked during the war.
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| ==Postwar==
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| Fort Adams was closed as a coast defense installation in June of 1950 - the same month of the outbreak of the [[Korean War]].
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| It was turned over to the Navy which used the old fortification as a storage facility and quarters for use by senior officers stationed at the Naval War College. In the late 1950's the Navy built additional officers quarters in the area and the development is now known as Brenton Village.
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| ==Restoration==
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| In May 1965 the fortification complex and the adjacent waterfront property was given by the Navy to the state of Rhode Island for use as a state park. Since that time the fort has been opened for public use and partially restored.
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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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| * [http://www.geocities.com/jmgould39/adamsguns.html Fort Adams Artillery]
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| '''Publications:'''
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| * Theodore L. Gatchel, ''Fort Adams and the Defenses of Narrgansett Bay'', Newport History, Summer 1995; Newport Historical Society, Newport RI, 1995
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| '''Visited:''' No
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