Last updated: September 5, 2024
Place
Fort Warren
BHN Photo/ L. Cook
Quick Facts
Location:
Georges Island
Significance:
Fort during the US Civil War, Spanish-American War, and World Wars I and II
Designation:
National Historic Landmark
MANAGED BY:
Department of Conservation and Recreation
Designed and built from the 1830s to the 1860s, Fort Warren is an extant example of a Third System-era fortification. The Third System was a defense program meant to take the lessons of the War of 1812 and apply them to American coastal defense fortifications. Over the years, Fort Warren played an important role in the Civil War, Spanish-American War, World War I, and World War II. The advancements in military technology and doctrine during those periods have all made impacts on Fort Warren that can be seen today.
In 1820, the US Army Corps of Engineers chose Georges Island as a suitable place for a new fort, due to the island’s strategic position at the entrance to Boston Harbor. The fort they constructed over the next several decades took the form of a pentagonal bastion fort or star fort, with five bastions labeled A through E, one at each angle. The stretch of wall between bastions is known as a curtain, and the entire face including the bastion is known as a front, which are labeled I through V in Roman numerals. The sally port, the Fort’s main entrance, is protected by a demi-lune battery, and the eastern wall is defended by a triangular ravelin. A deep ditch also protects the southwestern and western walls of the fort. The original Fort Warren was constructed largely from Quincy granite. The open space in the center is known as the parade ground. On the east side, protected by a stone wall, is the powder magazine.
The Fort was mostly completed in 1861, just before the outbreak of the Civil War. During the war, the US Army used it as a prisoner of war camp as well as a training ground for the various Massachusetts regiments which passed through on their way to the front. The Fort’s armament during the Civil War years mostly consisted of smoothbore muzzle-loading 15-inch Rodman cannons, capable of firing a 300-pound shell over three miles.
After the Civil War, the Army updated Fort Warren to fulfill the standards set by the Endicott Board. This new round of construction was mostly done with concrete, as opposed to the granite masonry of the original. The engineers commenced building five new concrete gun batteries situated at strategic points to cover the Fort’s every angle, and these were variously completed between the early 1890s and 1902. In the Endicott period, Fort Warren became a hub for mining operations in the nearby waters of the Narrows and Nantasket Roads, and several mine casemates were completed during this period. The Fort’s armaments around the turn of the 20th century consisted of 3-inch, 4-inch, 10-inch, and 12-inch rifled breech-loading guns, some of which were mounted on disappearing carriages, allowing them to be raised and lowered at will.
In the early 1900s, the Taft Board recommended more changes to America’s coastal forts to apply the lessons of the Spanish-American War. The Board placed increased emphasis on mines and electrical power. The wooden mine casemate near the ditch on the southeastern wall (Front IV), which can be seen today, dates from 1906.
During the World Wars, Fort Warren concentrated on the modern threats of submarines and aircraft. To this end, its garrison continued mining operations and made preparations for defending against air attack. The mine casemate received a concrete cover and a concrete tunnel for protected access in case of aerial bombardment, both of which can be seen and accessed today. To shoot down incoming planes, soldiers manned .50 caliber machine guns and 37mm and 40mm anti-aircraft guns, of which a few still stand near the Fort’s entrance.
Deactivated in 1950, Fort Warren fell into disuse before it and the rest of Georges Island was acquired by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1958. In 1970, Fort Warren earned the status of National Historic Landmark, and Georges Island became part of the Boston Harbor Islands State Park. Ever since then, both are open to the public.
From the time of its creation in the wake of the War of 1812 up through the end of World War II, Fort Warren stood as the front line of defense for the city of Boston against an attack from the sea. Though its formidable defenses were never tested in battle, its importance to the United States’s national defense was significant. Many of the soldiers who garrisoned its fortifications went on to serve in combat, and some never returned. Fort Warren represents the history of American defensive military strength across a century, and today it is free for all to visit and learn about its history.
Contributed by: Raphael Pierson-Sante, SCA Historic Preservation Corps Crew Member
Learn More:
Sources:
Stokinger, William A. and Beth Jackendoff, Fort Warren George’s Island Fort Tour Background Package, Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, 2008.
Snow, Edward Rowe, Historic Fort Warren, Boston Printing Company, 1941.