Fort Wadsworth (1): Difference between revisions

Revision as of 16:12, 11 June 2009

Fort Wadsworth (1) (1865-1994) - A New York Coastal Fort first established as Fort Richmond after the War of 1812 and renamed 7 Nov 1865 after Bvt. Brig. Gen. James Wadsworth who was killed in May of 1864 at the Battle of the Wilderness. Deactivated in 1994.

Fort Wadsworth (1) History

Established in 1865 by renaming Fort Richmond. The Fort was expanded during the Endicott Period with the addition of several coastal batteries and the consolidation, in 1902, of all Staten Island military fortifications including Fort Tompkins into Fort Wadsworth.

Was a part of the Harbor Defense of Southern New York.

War of 1812 and Aftermath

In 1808 there were four forts guarding the narrows on Staten Island, Fort Tompkins at the top of the hill, Fort Morton and Fort Hudson on the slopes, and Fort Richmond at water level. None of these forts were considered complete or adequate. In May 1814 Fort Tompkins and Fort Richmond were completed using red sandstone construction. At the end of the war, in December 1814, the combined fortifications boasted some 900 artillery pieces.

After the war, the forts on Staten Island fell into disuse and by 1835 they were declared "unfit for use". In 1836 the U.S. Government authorized purchase of 47.5 acres including the forts but did not complete the transaction until 1847. When the land purchase was completed the red sandstone forts were torn down and Fort Richmond/Battery Weed and Fort Tompkins were rebuilt in their current form. They were completed in August 1861, just after the start of the U.S. Civil War. By this time Fort Hudson had become Battery Hudson and Fort Morton had become Battery Hudson.

U.S. Civil War

Both Fort Richmond and Fort Tompkins expanded during the U.S. Civil War and the troop population peaked in 1864 at over 1900 troops. On 7 Nov 1865 Fort Richmond was designated Fort Wadsworth by War Department General Order #161.

Post U.S. Civil War

The U.S. Civil War brought the realization that all Third System Forts were obsolete because rifled naval guns could destroy them without ever coming into range of their smooth bore weapons. This fundamental shift in technology stalled the construction of new coastal forts and eventually brought it to a halt in the mid 1870s when congress refused to fund any construction. Fort Wadsworth was no exception to this and the armament in place gradually deteriorated until 1890 when not a single one of Fort Wadsworth's batteries was complete, in good condition and fully armed.

Endicott Period

Between 1895 and 1904 six new Endicott Period batteries were built and several of the existing batteries were upgrade to Endicott Period standards and many of them were renamed in the process.

**Fort Wadsworth Endicott Period Battery** (edit list)
Battery Click on Battery links below	No.	Caliber	Type Mount	Service Years	Battery Cost	Notes
Battery Ayres	2	12"	Disappearing	1900-1901-1901-1942	$ 87,000	Part buried
Battery Dix	2	12"	Disappearing	1900-1902-1904-1944	$ 100,000
Battery Hudson	2	12"	Disappearing	1898-1899-1899-1942	$ 99,463	Part buried
Battery Richmond	2	12"	Disappearing	1898-1899-1899-1942	$ 96,992	Part buried
Battery Barry	2	10"	Disappearing	1897-1899-1899-1918	$ 61,499
Battery Upton	2	10"	Disappearing	189?-1895-1897-1942	$ 61,499	Part buried
Battery Duane	5	8"	Disappearing	1895-1897-1897-1915	$ 267,513	Magazines removed One emplacement removed
Battery Mills (2)	2	6"	Disappearing	1899-1900-1900-1943	$ 52,700	Both emplacements part buried One gun to Sandy Hook Proving Ground 1918
Battery Barbour	2 2	6" 4.7"	Armstrong Armstrong	1898-1898-1898-1920 1898-1898-1898-1920	$ 9,165	One emplacement buried One emplacement buried One emplacement part buried
Battery Turnbull	6	3"	Pedestal	1902-1903-1903-1944	$ 30,000
Battery Bacon	2	3"	Masking Parapet	1899-1899-1899-1918	$ 4,000
Battery Catlin	6	3"	Pedestal	1902-1904-1904-1942	$ 37,509
Source: CDSG

World War I

Post World War I

World War II

**Fort Wadsworth World War II Battery** (edit list)
Battery Click on Battery links below	No.	Caliber	Type Mount	Service Years	Battery Cost	Notes
Battery 115	2	16"	Casemated Barbette	Not built	$ ?
Battery 218	2	6"	SBC	1942-1943-1944-1958	$ 203,277	Not Armed
Battery New Turnbull	4	3"	Pedestal	1942-1946	$ ?	Covered
Battery AMTB 11 - Miller Field	2 2	90 mm 90 mm	Fixed Pedestal Mobile	1943-1946	$ ?
Battery AMTB 12 - Swinburne Island	2	90 mm	Fixed Pedestal	1943-1946	$ ?
Source: CDSG

Post World War II

Current Status

Now a part of part of Gateway National Recreation Area. No period guns or carriages in place.

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Location: 210 New York Ave., Staten Island, New York.

Maps & Images

Lat: 40.605506 Long: -74.054163

Multi Maps from ACME
Maps from Bing
Maps from Google
Elevation: '

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 587-589
Wikipedia - Fort Wadsworth
NorthAmericanForts.com
Coast Defense Study Group, CDSG Press, CDSG Digital Library

Visited: No

Fort Wadsworth (1) Picture Gallery

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@@ Line 15: / Line 15: @@
 == [[U.S. Civil War]] ==
-Both [[Fort Richmond]] and [[Fort Tompkins]] were expanded during the [[U.S. Civil War]] but [[Fort Tompkins]] was not completed until 1875.
+Both [[Fort Richmond]] and [[Fort Tompkins]] expanded during the [[U.S. Civil War]] and the troop population peaked in 1864 at over 1900 troops. On 7 Nov 1865 [[Fort Richmond]] was designated Fort Wadsworth by War Department General Order #161.
 == Post U.S. Civil War ==
+The [[U.S. Civil War]] brought the realization that all [[Third System Forts]] were obsolete because rifled naval guns could destroy them without ever coming into range of their smooth bore weapons. This fundamental shift in technology stalled the construction of new coastal forts and eventually brought it to a halt in the mid 1870s when congress refused to fund any construction. Fort Wadsworth was no exception to this and the armament in place gradually deteriorated until 1890 when not a single one of Fort Wadsworth's batteries was complete, in good condition and fully armed.
 == [[Endicott Period]] ==
 Between 1895 and 1904 six new [[Endicott Period]] batteries were built and several of the existing batteries were upgrade to [[Endicott Period]] standards and many of them were renamed in the process.