Fort Armistead was a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

coastal defense fort, active from 1901 to 1920, that defended

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

.Berhow, p. 211

History

Fort Armistead was built from 1897 to 1901 as part of the large-scale Endicott Program. Other forts of this era in the Coast Defenses of Baltimore include Fort Howard, Fort Carroll, and Fort Smallwood. Fort Armistead is in the Hawkins Point section of the city. The fort is named for Major

George Armistead George Armistead (April 10, 1780 – April 25, 1818) was an American military officer who served as the commander of Fort McHenry during the Battle of Baltimore in the War of 1812. Life and career Armistead was born on the Newmarket Plantat ...

(1780-1818, later promoted to Colonel), commander of

Fort McHenry Fort McHenry is a historical American coastal pentagonal bastion fort on Locust Point, now a neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. It is best known for its role in the War of 1812, when it successfully defended Baltimore Harbor from an attack ...

during the

Battle of Baltimore The Battle of Baltimore (September 12–15, 1814) was a sea/land battle fought between British invaders and American defenders in the War of 1812. American forces repulsed sea and land invasions off the busy port city of Baltimore, Maryland ...

with the British

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

attack in September 1814 in the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...

that inspired "

The Star-Spangled Banner "The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem written on September 14, 1814, by 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet Francis Scott Key after witnessing the b ...

" writing of the poem by Francis Scott Key that later set to music became the American

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and Europea ...

in 1931. The battle and bombardment has since been celebrated annually by the city, county, and state as

Defenders Day Defenders Day may refer to one of several public holidays: *Defenders Day (Maryland) * Defenders Day (Ukraine) * Defender of the Fatherland Day (Kazakhstan) * Defender of the Motherland Day (Uzbekistan) *Defender of the Fatherland Day Defender o ...

.Fort Armistead article at FortWiki.com
/ref> Fort Armistead had four gun batteries: Battery Winchester with one 12-inch M1888

disappearing gun A disappearing gun, a gun mounted on a ''disappearing carriage'', is an obsolete type of artillery which enabled a gun to hide from direct fire and observation. The overwhelming majority of carriage designs enabled the gun to rotate back ...

, Battery McFarland with three 8-inch M1888 disappearing guns, Battery Irons with two 4.72-inch 45 caliber Armstrong guns on pedestal mounts, and Battery Mudge with two 3-inch M1898 guns on masking parapet (retractable) mounts. Battery Winchester was named for James Winchester, a Maryland officer in the Revolutionary War and a general in the War of 1812. Battery McFarland was named for Daniel McFarland, an officer killed in the War of 1812. Battery Irons was named for Joseph Irons, killed in the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...

. Battery Mudge was named for Robert R. Mudge, killed in action against the

Seminole The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, ...

s. The fort also included a mine casemate and command station to control a

naval minefield A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, any v ...

in the harbor.Baltimore forts at NorthAmericanForts.com
/ref> Battery Irons had been added to Fort Armistead as part of a series of measures to quickly deploy modern weapons to the East Coast after the outbreak of 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 = (cloc ...

in 1898. The Endicott Program was still years from completion, and it was feared the Spanish fleet would bombard the U.S. Battery Irons was disarmed in 1913 and the guns sent to

Fort Ruger Fort Ruger is a fort on the island of Oahu that served as the first military reservation in the Territory of Hawaii. Named after Civil War General Thomas H. Ruger and built in and around Diamond Head Crater, the fort was established by the Unite ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

. After the

American entry into World War I American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

in April 1917, many guns were removed from coast defenses for potential service on the Western Front. Most of these weapons were not sent overseas or did not see action; however, most of the heavy guns in the Baltimore area were dismounted in 1917–18 and not returned to the forts. Battery McFarland's three 8-inch guns were removed in 1917 for potential use as

railway artillery A railway gun, also called a railroad gun, is a large artillery piece, often surplus naval artillery, mounted on, transported by, and fired from a specially designed railway wagon. Many countries have built railway guns, but the best-known are ...

, while Battery Winchester's 12-inch gun was sent to

Fort Wadsworth Fort Wadsworth is a former United States military installation on Staten Island in New York City, situated on The Narrows which divide New York Bay into Upper and Lower halves, a natural point for defense of the Upper Bay and Manhattan beyon ...

, Staten Island, New York to replace a gun sent to the railway artillery program.Fort Wadsworth article at FortWiki.com
/ref> With the war over, in 1920 Fort Armistead's service came to a close; Battery Mudge's 3-inch guns were scrapped as part of a general withdrawal from service of the 3-inch M1898 gun type. In

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

(1939/41 - 1945), the fort site was briefly reclaimed by the military and used by the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

for ammunition storage. In 1952–54 a four-gun 90 mm anti-aircraft battery was stationed on site.

Present

After

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the fort property was declared surplus and abandoned by the

United States Department of War The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army, ...

and the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

in 1923. Five years later it was turned over to the City of Baltimore's Department of Recreation and Parks (Bureau of Parks). It is now a Baltimore city park. In 1975-1977, the Hawkins Point area was impacted by the construction of the Outer Harbor Crossing carrying the Baltimore Beltway ( Interstate 695) over the Patapsco Harbor, named the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which now towers over the 1890s era seacoast defense site below.

References

* *

External links

List of all US coastal forts and batteries
at the Coast Defense Study Group, Inc. website
FortWiki, lists most CONUS and Canadian forts
{{Coord, 39, 12, 32, N, 76, 32, 02, W , region:US-MD_type:isle , display=title 1901 establishments in Maryland Armistead Government buildings in Baltimore Hawkins Point, Baltimore Parks in Baltimore

History

Present

See also

References

External links