The Harbor Defense Museum, sometimes called The Caponier, located within the grounds of
Fort Hamilton
Fort Hamilton is a United States Army installation in the southwestern corner of the New York City borough of Brooklyn, surrounded by the communities of Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights. It is one of several posts that are part of the region which i ...
in the
Bay Ridge
Bay Ridge is a neighborhood in the southwest corner of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded by Sunset Park to the north, Dyker Heights to the east, the Narrows and the Belt Parkway to the west, and Fort Hamilton Army Base an ...
section of
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
is a 19th-century
fort
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
,
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
's only
military museum and one of only seventy military museums in the United States that is funded and operated by the
Defense Department.
Caponier
A caponier is a type of defensive structure in a fortification. Fire from this point could cover the ditch beyond the curtain wall to deter any attempt to storm the wall. The word originates from the French ', meaning "chicken coop" (a ''capon'' ...
s, the technical name of the structure that now houses the museum, are
outwork
An outwork is a minor fortification built or established outside the principal fortification limits, detached or semidetached. Outworks such as ravelins, lunettes (demilunes), flèches and caponiers to shield bastions and fortification curtain ...
s; in the case of Fort Hamilton its mission was to protect the main fortress from rear attacks. Originally a small fort within the larger fort,
it now serves as the guardian of Fort Hamilton's history.
Robert E. Lee
Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, towards the end of which he was appointed the overall commander of the Confederate States Army. He led the Army of Nor ...
served at Fort Hamilton in the 1840s, when there was only one Army.
Because it was used as a warehouse after it was no longer needed for military purposes, it was better preserved than other parts of the fort.
While the museum and fort were in danger of closing in the mid-1990s due to budget cuts,
it was preserved due to an agreement between the fort and the
United States Army Center of Military History
The United States Army Center of Military History (CMH) is a directorate within the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command. The Institute of Heraldry remains within the Office of the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Ar ...
and preservation efforts of the
Fort Hamilton Historic Society.
The museum continues to serve an educational role in explaining the history of the evolution of New York Harbor.
Fort Hamilton is the "second-oldest continuously garrisoned federal post in the nation",
second only to
West Point
The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...
and its ties to the community are part of the charm of the museum and the fort. Although The Caponier was always prepared for battle, with a 24-pound
cannon
A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...
aimed at
New York Harbor
New York Harbor is at the mouth of the Hudson River where it empties into New York Bay near the East River tidal estuary, and then into the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of the United States. It is one of the largest natural harbors in ...
, the fort never experienced a battle.
The museum houses an array of
artifacts from
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
's
military history
Military history is the study of War, armed conflict in the Human history, history of humanity, and its impact on the societies, cultures and economies thereof, as well as the resulting changes to Politics, local and international relationships.
...
including
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 ...
relics, uniforms from various wars, old maps of the fort, the post's old switchboard, an exhibit on a
secret tunnel that connected Fort Hamilton with another base a half-mile away,
a
Confederate mine and a piece of the net that protected New York Harbor from
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
U-boat
U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare ro ...
s in
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
.
It is also the temporary home of a Bay Ridge
time capsule
A time capsule is a historic cache of goods or information, usually intended as a deliberate method of communication with future people, and to help future archaeologists, anthropologists, or historians. The preservation of holy relics dates ...
that was unearthed prematurely due to construction.
References
External links
Official Facebook pageHarbor Defense Museumwebsite (dead link 30 Nov 2016)
Harbor Defense Museum at NYC Arts.org
{{United States Army history museums
Museums in Brooklyn
Military and war museums in New York (state)
United States Army museums
Museums established in 1980
Bay Ridge, Brooklyn
1980 establishments in New York City