Fort Hamilton (1)

Fort Hamilton (1) (1825-Current) - Originally designed as a Third System Coastal Defense fort constructed 1825-1831 to protect the New York Narrows from the Brooklyn side of the river. Named after Alexander Hamilton, first Secretary of the U.S. Treasury.

Fort Hamilton (1) History

Originally established to protect the Narrows entrance to New York Harbor and later part of the Harbor Defense of Southern New York.

Fort Hamilton was built as a small dual purpose fort providing seaward and landward defenses at the New York Narrows, the site of present day Verrazano Narrows Bridge. Construction was started 11 Jun 1825 with the laying of the cornerstone by the French engineer, Simon Bernard. The Fort was completed in 1831 and first garrisoned 1 Nov 1831 by Battery F, 4th U.S. Artillery.

Some distinguished military men served at the Fort including Capt. Robert E. Lee, post engineer from 1841 to 1846 and Capt. Abner Doubleday, post commander in 1861.

U.S. Civil War

Fort Hamilton's garrison expanded during the U.S. Civil War and in 1863 it was called upon to help put down the New York City draft riots.

Endicott Period

Between 1893 and 1905 eleven reinforced concrete Endicott Period gun batteries were built on the Fort Hamilton reservation. In June of 1908 the batteries of Fort Hamilton, Fort Wadsworth, Fort Schuyler and Fort Hancock (2) participated in a mock battle against an invading force that saw most of the gun batteries firing at towed targets with reduced charges. The first day of the exercise saw the batteries firing full charges for calibration of the weapons. The Regular Army Coast Artillery units were paired up with National Guard units to maximize the training experience. In addition to the damage done to on-post and off-post buildings and property caused by concussion, two members of the 9th Coast Artillery were killed by "blowback" from one of the guns of Battery Dix at Fort Wadsworth. The pictures above and those in the gallery below show Fort Hamilton's participation in that event.

**Fort Hamilton Endicott Period Battery** (edit list)
Battery Click on Battery links below	No.	Caliber	Type Mount	Service Years	Notes
Battery Piper	8	12"	Mortar	1901-1942
Battery Harvey Brown	2	12"	Disappearing	1902-19??
Battery Doubleday	2	12"	Disappearing	1900-1943
Battery Neary	2	12"	Barbette	1900-1937
Battery Gillmore	4	10"	Disappearing	1899-1942	Orig 7 Guns, 3 designated as Spear
Battery Spear	3	10"	Disappearing	1898-1917
Battery Burke	4	6"	Pedestal	1903-1917	2 guns to Fort Tilden, Battery Fergusson
Battery Livingston (2)	2	6"	Disappearing	1905-1920?	Guns to West Point
Battery Livingston (2)	2	6"	Pedestal	1905-1948
Battery Johnston	2	6"	Pedestal	1902-1943
Battery Mendenhall	4	6"	Disappearing	1905-1917
Battery Griffin	2	4.7"	Pedestal	1899-1913	British Armstrong Guns
Battery Griffin	2	3"	Masking Parapet	1902-1920
Battery Griffin	2	3"	Pedestal	1903-1946
Source: CDSG

World War I

During World War I Fort Hamilton was a processing center for hundreds of thousands of American troops shipping out to France.

World War II

**Fort Familton (1) World War II Battery** (edit list)
Battery Click on Battery links below	No.	Caliber	Type Mount	Service Years	Notes
Battery AMTB 18 - Norton Point	4	3"	Fixed Pedestal	1943-1943-1943-1946	Norton Point Guns & carriages from Fort Wadsworth, Battery Catlin
Battery AMTB 19 - Norton Point	2 2	90mm 90mm	Fixed Pedestal Mobile	1943-1943-1943-1946	Norton Point
Source: CDSG

During World War II Fort Hamilton served as a processed center for 3 million troops headed for Europe. At the end of the war it processed and discharged the returning veterans. After the war the building of the Verrazano Bridge in 1959 resulted in the destruction of the parade ground and most the brick barracks.

Current Status

Fort Hamilton is an active duty Army post with 5000 full time active duty personnel serving 126 Army Reserve units, 100,000 military retirees and numerous Department of the Defense agencies throughout the greater New York City metropolitan area.

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Location: East side of the Verrazano Narrows at the base of the Verrazano Bridge.

Maps & Images

Lat: 40.6086584 Long: -74.0325308

Multi Maps from ACME
Maps from Bing
Maps from Google
Elevation: 30-40'

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 557
Weaver, John R. II, A Legacy in Brick and Stone: America Coastal Defense Forts of the Third System, Redoubt Press, McLean, 2001, First Printing, ISBN 1-57510-069-X, page 111-113
American Forts Network
North American Forts
Fort Hamilton
New York State Military Museum
Coast Defense Study Group, CDSG Press, CDSG Digital Library