Fort Warren (Massachusetts)
Fort Warren is a historic fort on the 28-acre (110,000 m2) Georges Island at the entrance to Boston Harbor. The fort is named for Revolutionary War hero Dr. Joseph Warren, who sent Paul Revere on his famous ride, and was later killed at the Battle of Bunker Hill. The name was transferred in 1833 from the first Fort Warren – built in 1808 – which was renamed Fort Winthrop.[2]
This article is about the fort in Massachusetts. For other locations, see Fort Warren.Location
40 acres (16 ha)
1834–1860
Thayer, Lt. Col. Sylvanus; Army Corps of Engineers
American Civil War prison camps (1861–1865)
Harbor Defenses of Boston (1899–1947)
August 29, 1970
August 29, 1970
Fort Warren is a pentagonal bastion fort, made with stone and granite, and was constructed from 1833 to 1861, completed shortly after the beginning of the American Civil War. Fort Warren defended the harbor in Boston, Massachusetts, from 1861 through the end of World War II, and during the Civil War served as a prison for Confederate officers and government officials, including Confederate Vice President Alexander H. Stephens. The fort remained active through the Spanish–American War and World War I, and was re-activated during World War II. It was permanently decommissioned in 1947, and is now a tourist site. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1970 as a masterpiece of coastal engineering of the pre-Civil War period, and for its role in the Civil War.
Civil War[edit]
During the Civil War, the island fort served as a prison for captured Confederate army and navy personnel,[5] elected civil officials from the state of Maryland, and Northern political prisoners. The fort was commanded by Colonel Justin Dimick from 1861 to 1864. Dimick was noted for his humane and compassionate treatment of the Confederate prisoners held at the fort. Of over 1,000 Confederate prisoners at the fort, only 13 died there, giving Fort Warren a much lower mortality rate than any other prisoner of war camp (Union or Confederate) during the Civil War.
James M. Mason and John Slidell, the Confederate diplomats seized in the Trent affair, were among those held at the fort. Confederate military officers held at Fort Warren included Richard S. Ewell, Isaac R. Trimble, John Gregg, Adam "Stovepipe" Johnson, Simon Bolivar Buckner Sr., and Lloyd Tilghman. High-ranking civilians held at Fort Warren include Confederate Vice President Alexander H. Stephens and Confederate Postmaster General John Henninger Reagan. The prison camp had a reputation for humane treatment of its detainees. When the camp commander's son, Lieutenant Justin E. Dimick, left Fort Warren for active duty in the field with the Second U.S. Artillery, he was given a letter from Confederate officers in the camp urging good care should he be captured. (He was later mortally wounded at Chancellorsville in May, 1863.)
On August 19, 1863, six prisoners of war attempted an escape from the prison. Two were caught while still on the island, two were caught while sailing toward Canada and the prison authorities claimed to believe that the other two drowned, no trace of them after swimming toward shore apparently having been found.[6][7]
The famous Union marching song John Brown's Body was written at the fort using a tune from an old Methodist camp song, and was performed at a flag-raising there on 12 May 1861. The song was carried to the Army of the Potomac by the men of the "Webster Regiment" (12th Massachusetts Infantry), who had mustered in at Fort Warren. Julia Ward Howe heard this song while visiting Washington, DC. At the suggestion of her minister, Howe was encouraged to write new words. The Battle Hymn of the Republic, which was initially published as a poem, was later matched with the melody of the "John Brown" song and became one of the best remembered songs of the Civil War era.
World War I through World War II[edit]
Fort Warren was the headquarters of the Coast Defenses of Boston in World War I.[2] In 1917–1918 the four 10-inch guns of Battery Bartlett were removed for potential service as railway artillery on the Western Front. Contrary to some references, although some 10-inch guns were shipped to France to be mounted as railway guns, none appear to have been used in action in World War I.[10] Different 10-inch M1888 guns, including two from Battery Reilly at Fort Adams in Rhode Island and two from storage, replaced these weapons in 1919.[4]
In 1920, with World War I over, several weapon types were withdrawn from Coast Artillery service. These included the 4-inch Driggs-Schroeder guns of Battery Plunkett and the 3-inch Driggs-Seabury guns of Battery Lowell. None of these were replaced.[4] The 4-inch guns at Fort Warren remained as display pieces at least through 1941.[9]
During World War II, the fort served as a control center for Boston Harbor's south mine field, a precaution taken in anticipation of potential attacks by Kriegsmarine U-boats.[11] At that time, Fort Warren was garrisoned by the 241st Coast Artillery Regiment (Harbor Defense), a Massachusetts National Guard unit that was federalized in September, 1940. As new 16-inch batteries were built, particularly Battery Murphy at the East Point Military Reservation, Fort Warren's remaining guns were scrapped in 1942–1944. Fort Warren was permanently decommissioned after 1950. At some point an emplacement of Battery Bartlett was demolished for an access road.
Map of Georges Island and Fort Warren
Inside the casemated, roofed-over southeast bastion
Two-gun casemate, southeast bastion
One of the large arches that encloses the southeast bastion
A line of arches connecting casemates
Memorial to 13 Confederates who died as prisoners at Fort Warren
Demilune (half-moon) battery defending the sally port
A flank defense
Battery Jack Adams, one 10-inch M1888 disappearing gun. Completed 1899, abandoned 1914 due to low-quality concrete.
A 1945 map of the mine fields protecting Boston Harbor during World War II, showing mine groups controlled from Fort Warren on Georges Island
