Fort Lee is a historic
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
fort in
Salem, Massachusetts
Salem ( ) is a historic coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, located on the North Shore of Greater Boston. Continuous settlement by Europeans began in 1626 with English colonists. Salem would become one of the most significant seaports tr ...
. The site, located at a high point next to Fort Avenue on Salem Neck, is a relatively rare fortification from that period whose remains are relatively unaltered. It is an irregular 5-pointed
star fort
A bastion fort or ''trace italienne'' (a phrase derived from non-standard French, literally meaning ''Italian outline'') is a fortification in a style that evolved during the early modern period of gunpowder when the cannon came to domin ...
.
[Roberts, p. 405] Although there is some documentary evidence that the Neck was fortified as early as the 17th century, the earthworks built in 1776 are the first clear evidence of the site's military use. Reportedly, the fort had a garrison of 3 officers and 100 artillerymen with 16 guns.
The site, of which only overgrown earthworks and a stone magazine
A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...
survive, was repaired in the 1790s,[ and rebuilt for the ]American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
. A state cultural resource document states that the fort has not been much modified since the Revolution, and has not been built over. It was garrisoned by the Massachusetts militia
This is a list of militia units of the Colony and later Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
*Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts (1638)
*Cogswell's Regiment of Militia (April 19, 1775)
*Woodbridge's Regiment of Militia (April 20, ...
in the War of 1812
The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...
, abandoned afterwards,[ and rebuilt with four 8-inch ]columbiad
The columbiad was a large-caliber, smoothbore, muzzle-loading cannon able to fire heavy projectiles at both high and low trajectory, trajectories. This feature enabled the columbiad to fire solid Round shot, shot or Shell (projectile), shell to ...
s in the Civil War. An Army engineer drawing dated 1872 depicts the fort's five-pointed trace and the four Civil War gun positions.[Manuel, p. 37] It was also garrisoned during the Spanish–American War
, partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence
, image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg
, image_size = 300px
, caption = (clock ...
.[
The property was federalized in 1867, and transferred to the City of Salem in 1922. The site was briefly rehabilitated at the time of the ]United States bicentennial
The United States Bicentennial was a series of celebrations and observances during the mid-1970s that paid tribute to historical events leading up to the creation of the United States of America as an independent republic. It was a central event ...
in 1976, with trails and interpretive signs, but these were later removed, and the site has again become overgrown.[ Earthworks and a stone magazine remain.][ The fort site was listed on the ]National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1994.
See also
*Fort Pickering
Fort Pickering is a 17th-century historic fort site on Winter Island in Salem, Massachusetts. Fort Pickering operated as a strategic coastal defense and military barracks for Salem Harbor during a variety of periods, serving as a fortification f ...
*
*
* List of military installations in Massachusetts
This is a list of current and former military installations in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Current military installations in Massachusetts Joint facilities
;Bases
* Joint Base Cape Cod (state designation, not federally recognized)
References
*
*
External links
Salem Web guide to Salem Willows including aerial photo of Fort Lee
{{coord, 42, 31, 55, N, 70, 52, 28, W, region:US, display=title
Lee
Buildings and structures in Salem, Massachusetts
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National Register of Historic Places in Salem, Massachusetts
American Revolution on the National Register of Historic Places