Fort Adams

“ The “old stone mill,” whose origin and purpose were once a theme of much learned discussion, and which is still asserted by some antiquaries to have been built by the Northmen 500 years before the arrival of Columbus; the ruined Fort Louis, at the entrance of the harbor, and its surrounding rocks, called “the Dumplings;” Fort Adams, one of the most costly and extensive fortifications in the Union; the “Purgatory Rocks” and “Hanging Rocks;” the “Spouting Cave,” and “the Glen,” are the principal objects of interest. The beaches are excellent for bathing, and for promenades at low tide. ”

“ He had time also to go down the harbor to see his brother Charles quartered in Fort Independence before being thrown, with a hundred thousand more, into the furnace of the Army of the Potomac to get educated in a fury of fire. Few things were for the moment so trivial in importance as the solitary private secretary crawling down to the wretched old Cunard steamer Niagara at East Boston to start again for Liverpool. This time the pitcher of education had gone to the fountain once too often; it was fairly broken; and the young man had got to meet a hostile world without defence--or arms. ”

“ It was not long before the French had been made to feel at home and had settled down to a long stay.
General Rochambeau’s defences consisted of a line of earthworks completely enclosing Newport on the north, cutting off access to it by land from any other part of the island. Traces of this line can still be discerned by the inquiring visitor to Newport. Strong temporary fortifications were thrown up at Brenton’s Point on the future site of our Fort Adams, and on all of the islands of the harbor were placed guns. ”

“ The banks are every where woody, and for the most part so low, that from the water-marks on the trees, they must be inundated at high freshes. There were several high bluffs on the left bank, of which those called Loftus Heights, appear to be the most remarkable. There is a small settlement there called Fort Adams, from a fort that formerly stood here. Scattered, but considerable plantations, are situated on the shores. The sugar plantations have ceased, and the cotton fields have taken their place. ”

“ As the British had constructed the fort, it was a small, unfinished work, about one hundred and fifty yards from the Lake-shore, open in the rear, and mounting three guns. The American engineers completed its rear bastions, and constructed an earthwork seven feet high, with a ditch, to the shore, where a small stone-work completed the defence on that side, and brought [71] the lines to the water’s edge. The stone-work was called the Douglass battery, after the lieutenant of engineers who built it. Fort Erie, Battery Douglass, and their connecting breastwork secured the camp on the right. ”

“ The loss of the garrison of Fort Washington, 2,000 of whom were regular troops, was universally regarded as the most severe blow that the American cause had yet sustained, and it had a most depressing effect both in and out of the army, but more particularly in the army, as it tended to develop the growing antagonism between the commander-in-chief and General Lee, who had ineffectually advocated the evacuation of Fort Washington when the army was withdrawn from the island. ”

“ The Indians realized the situation, and, with the arms and ammunition previously supplied to them by the Boston merchants, descended upon the unhappy settlers. The fort at Pemaquid, the great importance of which had always been denied by the colonists because it was urged by Andros, was captured, owing to the carelessness of the small garrison left there, and about twenty houses were destroyed by the savages. At Saco, Oyster River, and other places, houses were burned, and the inhabitants murdered, and all the horrors of Indian warfare once more came thick upon the border. ”

“ No one in the government gave much thought to the military dangers created by the war, yet these dangers seemed evident enough to warrant keen anxiety. The sea-shore was nowhere capable of defence; the Lakes were unguarded; the Indians of the Northwestern Territory were already in arms, and known to be waiting only a word from the Canadian governor-general; while the whole country beyond the Wabash and Maumee rivers stood nearly defenceless. At Detroit one hundred and twenty soldiers garrisoned the old British fort ”

“ SEEING THE SIGHTS IN 'FRISCO
It was a fine, sunny afternoon when the Pacific turned her prow landward, and stood straight on for a break in the rugged coast line, like a hound with its nose to the ground. In an hour she was moving swiftly through the far-famed Golden Gate. A fort loomed up at the right, then a semaphore was seen working on a hilltop. In ten minutes more the last point was rounded, the last gun fired, and the city, sprung like magic from the bleak hillsides of its noble bay, welcomed the weary travelers with open arms. ”

“ The British ships were approaching the city; the sound of their guns was believed to be heard; and the Government had little means of stopping them. Every man prepared for volunteer duty; other work was suspended. About three thousand militia and volunteers, among whom were all the Cabinet and many members of Congress, were mustered, and marched to Fort Washington, which was occupied by some six hundred regular troops, with the Secretary of War at their head ”

“ I next visited the little point of land on which are the ruins of old Fort Frederick. Little difficulty is experienced in retracing the exterior and interior lines of a fortress designed as the strongest bulwark of English power in New England. It was built upon a green slope, above a rocky shore, commanding the approach from the sea; but was itself dominated by the heights of the western shore of John's River, a circumstance that did not escape the notice of D'Iberville in 1696. At the south-east angle of the work is a high rock, [Pg 97] overgrown with a tangle of climbing vines and shrubs. ”

“ They are incessantly pressing for furloughs under every possible pretence. Many are without shoes; all clamorous for pay; many are sick.... While we are thus growing weaker our enemy is growing stronger. They hold a very commanding position on the high ground above Queenstown, and they are daily strengthening themselves in it with men and ordnance. Indeed, [343] they are fortifying almost every prominent point from Fort Erie to Fort George. ”

“ All those men not detailed as tool and sand-bag party can get in dug-outs, ready to come back as soon as I give orders. There will probably be a bit of ‘strafing.’”
“Very good, sir.”
The Lewis-gun team emerged from its dug-out twenty yards behind the Fort, in rather a snail-like fashion. I arranged where the N.C.O. and two men should stand, just at the corner of the Fort, but in the main trench (at B in map) . The rest of the team I sent back to its burrow. Edwards had made all arrangements for the other team. ”

“ In his next despatch, dated September 14, [128] he said that the rain had been incessant, and “as the whole of the troops are without tents, and the huts in which they [85] are placed are wholly incapable of affording shelter against such severe weather, their situation is most distressing.” The roads were impassable; the nearest depot of supplies was Fort George, and Drummond had not cattle enough to move a third of his heavy ordnance if a sudden movement should be necessary. The enemy seemed about to cross the river in his rear, and the Ninety-seventh regiment had not yet arrived ”

“ After the capture of Washington the citizens toiled still more earnestly at their task, until a formidable line of redoubts protected the town, and, though not wholly finished, gave cover to the militia. The batteries were manned by sailors, commanded by officers of the navy. The harbor was protected by Fort McHenry, small but capable of defence, and occupied by a strong force of regular troops, sailors, and volunteer artillerists numbering about one thousand, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Armistead of the Artillery. ”

“ As early as October 4, Armstrong authorized McClure to warn the inhabitants of Newark that their town might suffer destruction in case the defence of Fort George should render such a measure proper.283 No other orders were given, but Wilkinson repeatedly advised that Fort George should be evacuated,284202 and Armstrong did nothing to protect it, further than to issue a requisition from Albany, November 25, upon the Governor of New York for one thousand militia.285
The British, though not rapid in their movements, were not so slow as the Americans. ”

“ Commodore Hazelwood with his galleys and Lieutenant-colonel Smith in the garrison of Fort Mifflin have behaved in a manner the most gallant and glorious. They have defended the river and the fort with a firmness and perseverance which does honor to human nature. If the news from the northward is true, Mr. Howe will scarcely venture upon winter-quarters in Philadelphia. We are waiting for news from Rhode [321] Island.
I am wearied with the life I lead, and long for the joys of my family. God grant I may enjoy it in peace. Peace is my dear delight. War has no charms for me. ”

“ By this success the Americans got possession of an important fort, as well as of many stores and more than two hundred cannon.
146. Fortification of Bunker Hill.—As soon as the news of Lexington and Concord spread through the colonies, troops poured in to the vicinity of Boston from Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, and Pennsylvania. Before the middle of June, Boston, on the land side, was thoroughly invested. The British had seventeen battalions of infantry and five companies of artillery, and before June their army was joined by three major generals—Howe, Clinton, and Burgoyne. ”

“ The italics are not in the original document, of course, but they are inserted to make plain the way in which Adams ignored the Confederate118 work of preparing to capture Fort Pickens by increasing the effectiveness of Fort McRae and Fort Barrancas. To land a man in Fort Pickens would be “viewed as a hostile act,” and would “bring on, by precipitation, a collision.” To improve the Confederate Fort McRae was not to be considered! Certainly the contempt which the Southern people of that day felt for men of the North was not without some justification. ”

“ Regarding Fort Lee as no longer serving any important purpose, perhaps foreseeing that it would soon be attacked, Washington was getting ready to evacuate it, when on the night of November 19 [2] Lord Cornwallis made a sudden dash across to the New Jersey side, passing Fort Lee unperceived, landed a little above the fort at a place that had strangely been left unguarded, climbed the heights unmolested, and was only prevented from making prisoners of the46 whole garrison by its hurried retreat across the Hackensack. ”

“ The number of effectives varied slightly from week to week, as men joined or left their regiments; but the entire force never exceeded thirty-five hundred men, exclusive of Indians.
According to the weekly return of June 22, 1814, Major-General Riall, who commanded the right division of the British army, had a force of four thousand rank-and-file present for duty; but of this number the larger part were in garrison at York, Burlington Heights, and Fort Niagara. His headquarters were at Fort George, where he had nine hundred and twenty-seven rank-and-file present for duty. ”

“ Nothing could be said on the American side in defence or excuse of this disgrace. From Armstrong at the War Department to Captain Leonard who commanded the fort, every one concerned in the transaction deserved whatever punishment the law or army regulations could inflict. The unfortunate people of Niagara and Buffalo were victims to official misconduct. The British, thinking themselves released204 from ordinary rules of war by the burning of Newark and Queenston, showed unusual ferocity. ”

“ Land between Point Abino and Erie in the night; assail the Fort by land and water; push forward a corps to seize the bridge at Chippawa; and be governed by circumstances in either stopping there or going farther. Boats may follow and feed you. If the enemy concentrates his whole force on this line, as I think he will, it will not exceed two thousand men.”
Brown had left Sackett’s Harbor, and was at Buffalo when these orders reached him. He took immediate measures to carry them out. Besides his regular [34] force, he called for volunteers to be commanded by Peter B. Porter ”

“ But is this conquering America?
From the northward we learn that Arnold has marched with about two thousand men to the relief of Fort Schuyler. Our people have given Sir John Johnson, and his regulars, Tories, and Indians, a very fine [295] drubbing. The Indians scarcely ever had such a mauling. The devils are so frightened that they are all run away to howl and mourn. The papers inclosed with this will give you more particular information. Can nothing be done at Rhode Island at this critical time? Opprobrium Novangliæ! What is become of all the Massachusetts Continental troops? ”

“ Soon after the war began, the Unionists took Cairo, at the mouth of the Ohio, and the Confederates constructed Forts Henry and Donelson, on the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers, at points not far from the Ohio, where the rivers were so near each other that either fort could easily reënforce the other. In this way each side hoped to gain command of the rivers for purposes of transportation. The Mississippi also was strongly fortified by the Confederates at Memphis, at Island Number 10, at Vicksburg, and at other points of less importance. ”