Southwest Battery/Castle Clinton 1807-1823

View of the Battery Looking North from the Churn

The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Print Collection, The New York Public Library. "View of the Battery looking north from the Churn" New York Public Library Digital Collections.

Built in anticipation for the War of 1812, Castle Clinton was the last in a series of forts erected to protect New York Harbor and Lower Manhattan from foreign invasion. The Dutch were the first to recognize the strategic location at the tip of Manhattan Island as an ideal place for a fortification. They constructed Fort Amsterdam in 1626, a log blockhouse enclosed by wooden palisades and walls made of packed earth. After successive changes of control and remodeling with stone bastions, the fort was ultimately known as Fort George, which was garrisoned by the British during the Revolutionary War. After the war, Fort George was seen as a grisly reminder of a difficult British occupation of the city, and was completely demolished between 1788 and 1790, only 17 years before the construction of Castle Clinton. The need for a fortification in lower Manhattan during the early 19th century was amassed given the city’s past experience with British invasion, rapid economic growth through imports and exports, and post revolutionary tensions.

 

Representation of the Terrible Fire at New York

The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Print Collection, The New York Public Library. "Representation du Feu terrible a Nouvelle Yorck" New York Public Library Digital Collections.

During the revolution, while Fort George was controlled by the British, New York City and the harbor endured the turmoil of military occupation. The already densely populated area, which at the time was principally the southern end of Manhattan, was bombarded by the station of two armies and the influx of loyalist refugees and prisoners of war, who together converted the city into a chaotic military encampment. In addition to imposed wartime regulations, these conditions brought about disease, crime, and devastating events such as the great fires of New York, which destroyed 10 to 25 percent of the city’s buildings in 1776 and 1778.

 

With the end of the Revolutionary War, the newly independent American states looked forward to their hard-earned freedom from Great Britain. Although, despite the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1783 and the evacuation of British forces from American territory, unresolved tensions would only allow peace to last for so long. Critical issues would arise in the coming years, including increasing British interference with American trade through blockades of American exports, as well as a flood of British imports at posts they still illegally maintained in the American Northwestern Territory. Adding to that, the British policy of physical abduction and imprisonment of American sailors into the Royal Navy for its war against Revolutionary France caused a major rift in relations between the two countries. With the United States attempting to maintain neutral trading rights with both Britain and France during the Napoleonic wars, the imminent threat of war would only worsen.

 

The Bay of New York from Castle Clinton, New York City.

New-York Historical Society

Americans were outraged and rallied for war against what they perceived as unjust violations of American neutrality on trading, commerce, and maritime rights, such as the well known Chesapeake affair. Accordingly, President Jefferson renewed fortification programs, leading to the establishment of a new system of American coastal defenses initiated to protect major harbors. In New York Harbor, the expanding trading economy made New York City a predominant source of the nation’s revenue, which would be required to fund the impending warfare. This made it a key point of interest in the war, emphasizing its need for protection against invasion. If the British were able to capture and occupy New York City, they would in all likelihood win by attrition of U.S. resources. If that wasn’t reason enough, the fear of reoccupation, given the disastrous conditions of the revolution, was cause for additional defenses in the harbor. Collectively, these concerns resulted in the construction of Castle Clinton, or as it was initially called, Southwest Battery.

 

City of New York and Island of Manhattan, 1811.

Library of Congress

Southwest Battery was one of four fortifications constructed in the Upper Bay of New York Harbor between 1807 and 1811, including Fort Gibson on Oyster Island (Ellis Island), Fort Wood on Bedloe’s Island (Liberty Island), and Castle Williams on Governor’s Island. These additional fortifications joined already existing defenses in the harbor including Fort Jay on Governors Island, which was reconstructed and enlarged in 1806. As a unit, these batteries formed the last line of defense against the British approaching at sea if they were able to successfully move past the fortifications of the Lower Bay and the Narrows, where the Verrazano-Narrows bridge is today.

 

Jonathan Williams

The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Print Collection, The New York Public Library.

In order to implement what would be known as the second system of American coastal defenses in New York Harbor, Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Williams, Chief Engineer of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and former Superintendent of West Point, along with Vice President George Clinton, and Secretary of War Henry Dearborn, was commissioned to survey the harbor. Williams would continue on to design and lead construction on various forts, including Castle Clinton.

Alongside the contributions of the architect John McComb, Jr., Williams oversaw the construction of Southwest Battery as a single tiered, casemated battery made of brownstone walls 8 feet thick. It was built offshore from Manhattan on a rocky outcrop that was connected to the island by a 200 foot wood causeway and drawbridge. At the end of the bridge, was an 11 foot tall sally port, or entrance, door leading to the open parade grounds of the fort. The structure was almost completely circular, with a singular flat edge facing Manhattan. The stone walls were lined with 28 embrasures, or gun ports, to direct 28 cannons capable of firing 32-pound balls as far as 1.5 miles toward enemy ships in the harbor. Magazine powders lay at each corner of the flat edge alongside rooms that would serve as quarters for officers stationed on site. At the center, a hotshot furnace was added to heat the 32-pound balls for firing. Originally, Williams had intended the structure to be multitiered, like Castle Williams, to house barracks for the soldiers, a garrison, and additional guns, but due to the excessive costs of building the fort foundation, the forces would have to be stationed elsewhere. For additional reinforcements during the war, the land adjacent to Southwest Battery on Manhattan was fortified by breastworks and military operations.

 

Foundations Laid

A popular story from the time goes that while the foundations were being settled, a patriotic woman wheeled a barrel of soil almost half a mile down Broadway, from Trinity Churchyard down to the Battery. Allegedly, she took the soil from the graves of Revolutionary War soldiers in order to integrate the past spirit of the revolution into the new defenses of the nation.

 

With the war on the horizon, Southwest Battery was completed, and starting on June 2, 1812 the fort was garrisoned with Captain Campbell’s Company of Light Artillery, and later by men from the New York State Artillery, having been assessed to require at least 120 artillerymen and 40 infantrymen for optimal operations. On June 12, 1812 the U.S. declared war on Great Britain.

During the War of 1812, Southwest Battery never witnessed any action against the enemy, only ever firing to celebrate anniversaries and for target practice. Given the strong defense system in the harbor, it is presumed that the British were wary of challenging the fortifications. Instead, from May 26, 1813 to March 6, 1815 the British imposed a blockade on New York Harbor and Long Island Sound, greatly weakening the U.S. economy, blocking important correspondences, and preventing many warships from joining the U.S. fleets. The British also targeted Washington D.C., which was not as strongly defended, in the infamous Battle of Bladensburg on August 24, 1814. The attack left the capitol open to invasion, resulting in the burning of public buildings and even the White House. The war would continue on until the Treaty of Ghent, signed by both the U.S. and Britain in order to end the war, was placed in effect on February 15, 1815. While both sides faced many casualties, the war brought the U.S. onto the international stage as a strong and united nation.

In 1815, General Alexander McComb, who was in command of the third military district, would establish his headquarters at Southwest Battery. He officially renamed it Castle Clinton, after the popular retired Mayor and future Governor of New York, DeWitt Clinton. By 1821, General Winfield Scott would move the military headquarters from Castle Clinton to Governor’s Island and by 1822 Castle Clinton was deemed no longer necessary for defense of the harbor. While the fortification was no longer needed to serve its intended purpose, Castle Clinton had become integrated into the larger scenery of the historic Battery Park and would be tested against the exponential growth of New York City.

Even before Castle Clinton, the southern tip of Manhattan was the epitome of wealth and leisure within the city through its role as a park and promenade. It was also a popular assembly destination for marches and events, marking the beginning of funeral processions for General Washington and Alexander Hamilton. It witnessed early innovations in entertainment including the menagerie, or collection of wild animals, owned by Gardiner Baker, a shoemaker and director of the American Museum, advertising the show of captive wolves and bald eagles. Battery visitors could also enjoy live entertainment organized by Joseph Corré, a french businessman, who offered concerts, ice-cream, and refreshments at fifty cents a ticket in Columbia Garden, which lay alongside the Battery. With the war over, the high class citizens who had frequented the Battery prior, were adamant to have the Battery cleared of military operations and livestock so that it could return to its pristine role as a public park for their enjoyment. Likewise, this sentiment would be reflected in the succeeding role of the new fortification in the Battery, Castle Clinton, which by June of 1823 was fully demilitarized and officially transferred from the federal government to the city of New York.