Forts*
Fort Branch, NC*
Type: Earthen
Built: 1862-1863
Decommissioned/Abandoned: April 1865
Notable: The fort was the cornerstone of the Roanoke Valley’s defense and protected the construction site for C.S.S. Albemarle.
Location: Hamilton, Martin, North Carolina, United States
Battle: Plymouth, NC - April 17-20, 1864 C1
Website: Fort Branch
Fort Brooke, FL*
Type: Wood
Built: 1824
Decommissioned/Abandoned: 1883
Notable: Fort Brooke is captured by a Federal landing party from the U.S.S. Adela on May 6, 1864 and abandoned two days later.
Location: Lost Integrity
Battle: Fort Brooke, FL - October 16-18, 1863 D
Website: Ft. Brooke Timeline
Fort Clinch, FL*
Type: Masonry [Third System Fort3]
Built: 1847
Decommissioned/Abandoned:1898
Notable: Fort Clinch was a safe haven for blockade runners during the Civil War. until captured by Federal troops in early 1862 which gave the Union control of the adjacent Georgia and Florida coasts.
Location: Fort Clinch State Park (state park), Fernandina Beach, Florida, United States
Battle: None
Website: Fort Clinch State Park
Fort Davidson, MO*
Type: Earthen
Built:
Decommissioned/Abandoned:
Notable: Maj. Gen. Sterling Price attacked Fort Davidson as part of his goal of capturing St. Louis, but high casualties and delays forced him to abandon plans to take St. Louis.
Location: Fort Davidson State Historic Site, Pilot Knob, Missouri, United States
Battle: Fort Davidson, MO -September 27, 1864 B
Website: Battle of Fort Davidson
Fort Delaware, DE *
Type: Masonry [Third System Fort3]
Built: 1848-1861
Decommissioned/Abandoned: 1947
Notable: The fort was used as a Confederate prison and housed over 30,000 inmates with 12,500 from Vicksburg and Gettysburg in 1863.
Location: Fort Delaware State Park (state park), Delaware, United States
Battle: None
Website: Fort Delaware
Fort De Russy, LA*
Type: Earthen
Built: 1861
Decommissioned/Abandoned: 1864
Notable: Brig. Gen. A. J. Smith’s Union 3rd Division captured Fort DeRussy and opened up the Red River to Alexandria.
Location: Fort de Russy, Avoyelles, Louisiana, United States
Battle: Fort De Russy, LA - March 14, 1864 B
Website: Friends of Fort De Russy
Fort Donelson, TN*
Type: Earthen
Built: 1861
Decommissioned/Abandoned:
Notable: U. S. Grant received a promotion to major general for his victory and attained stature in the Western Theater, earning the nom de guerre “Unconditional Surrender.”
Location: Fort Donelson National Battlefield (national battlefield), Tennessee, United States
Battle: Fort Donelson, TN - February 11-16, 1862 A
Website: Fort Donelson National Battlefield
Fort Duffield, KY*
Type: Earthen
Built: 1862
Decommissioned/Abandoned: 1863
Notable: General Sherman ordered the fort to be built on Pearman Hill to protect West Point, KY which was to be used as a base to supply Union forces in Elizabethtown.
Location: West Point, Hardin, Kentucky, United States
Battle: None
Website: Civil War Fort Duffield
Fort Fisher, NC*
Type: Earthen
Built: 1861
Decommissioned/Abandoned: 1865
Notable: The surrender of the Confederate garrison opened the way for a Federal thrust against Wilmington, the South's last open seaport on the Atlantic coast.
Location: Fort Fisher, New Hanover, North Carolina, United States
Battles: Fort Fisher, NC I - December 7-27, 1864 C and Fort Fisher, NC II - January 13-15, 1865 A
Website: Fort Fisher State Historic Site
Fort Gaines, AL*
Type: Masonry [Third System Fort3]
Built: 1861
Decommissioned/Abandoned: 1926
Notable: Union forces captured the fort during the battle of Mobile Bay.
Location: Fort Gaines Historic Site, Dauphin Island, Alabama, United States
Battle: Mobile Bay, AL - August 2-23, 1864 A
Website: Historic Fort Gaines on Dauphin Island, Alabama
Fort Granger, TN
Type: Earthen
Built: 1862-1863
Decommissioned/Abandoned: 1865
Notable: The fort served as headquarters for Maj. Gen. John M. Schoenfield during the Battle of Franklin, TN on November 30, 1864.
Location: Franklin, Tennessee, United States
Battle: Franklin, TN II - November 30, 1864 A
Website: The Carter House Museum
Fort Hamilton, NY
Type: Masonry
Built: 1825-1831
Decommissioned/Abandoned: Parts of the fort remain in use
Notable: The fort provided troops to help put down the New York Draft Riots of 1863.
Location: Fort Hamilton (military base), New York, New York, United States
Battle: None
Website: Fort Hamilton
Fort Harker, AL*
Type: Earthen
Built: 1862
Decommissioned/Abandoned: 1865
Notable: The fort was built by soldiers and freed slaves of the Union Army of the Cumberland to secure strategic railroad lines for the movement of troops and supplies in southeastern Tennessee and northeastern Alabama.
Location: Stevenson, Jackson, Alabama, United States
Battle:
Website: Fort Harker
Fort Harrison, VA*
Type: Earthen
Built: ?
Decommissioned/Abandoned: ?
Notable: On September 29, 1864, 2,500 Union soldiers from Maj. Gen. Benjamin Butler's Army of the James overran Major Richard Cornelius Taylor's 200-man Confederate garrison and captured the fort in the Battle of Chaffin's Farm. Brig. Gen. Hiram Burnham, a native of Maine, was killed in the assault, and the Union-held fort was renamed Fort Burnham in his honor.
Location:
Battles: Chaffin's Farm/New Market Heights, VA - September 29-30, 1864 B
Website: Fort Harrison
Fort Henry, TN*
Type: Earthen
Built: 1861-1862
Decommissioned/Abandoned:
Notable: The Union capture of Fort Henry opened the Tennessee River to Union gunboats and shipping as far south as Muscle Shoals, Alabama.
Location: Lost Integrity
Battle: Fort Henry, TN - February 6, 1862 B
Website: Fort Henry
Forts Jackson & St. Philip, LA*
Type: Masonry
Built: 1822-1832
Decommissioned/Abandoned: 1962
Notable: The two forts guarded the Confederate port of New Orleans, but when Flag-Officer David G. Farragut ships passed the forts the largest city in the Confederacy fell to the Union.
Locations: Fort Jackson, Plaquemines, Louisiana, United StatesFort St. Phillip, Plaquemines, Louisiana, United States
Battle: Forts Jackson & St. Phillip, LA - April 16-28, 1862 A
Website: Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip
Fort Jefferson, FL*
Type: Masonry [Third System Fort3]
Built: 1846-1861
Decommissioned/Abandoned:
Notable: The federal government decided to use the facility as a prison for criminals from Union armies.
Location: Fort Jefferson (fort), Florida, United States
Battle: None
Website: Fort Jefferson - Civil War Prison
Fort Knox, ME*
Type: Masonry [Third System Fort3]
Built: 1844-1869
Decommissioned/Abandoned: 1923
Notable: The fort was manned during by volunteers from Maine.
Location: Fort Knox State Historic Site, Maine, United States
Battle: None
Website: Fort Knox
Fort Lafayette, NY*
Type: Masonry
Built: 1818
Decommissioned/Abandoned: 1945
Notable: The fort was used to house Confederate prisoners of war and politicians opposed to Abraham Lincoln's administration policies
Location: Fort Hamilton (military base), New York, New York, United States
Battle: None
Website: Fort Lafayette
Fort Macon, NC*
Type: Masonry [Third System Fort3]
Built: 1808-1809, 1826-1834
Decommissioned/Abandoned: 1923
Notable: The fall of Fort Macon demonstrated the inadequacy of masonry forts against large-bore, rifled artillery.
Location: Fort Macon State Park (state park), North Carolina, United States
Battle: Fort Macon, NC - March 23-April 26, 1862 C
Website: Fort Macon State Park
Fort Massachusetts, MS*
Type: Masonry [Third System Fort3]
Built: 1859-1861
Decommissioned/Abandoned: 1903
Notable: The fort on Ship Island was used as the staging area for the Union Forces' successful capture of New Orleans in the spring of 1862. The 1st Louisiana Native Guard, one of the first black regiments in the United States Army, were recruited in Louisiana and stationed on Ship Island for almost three years.
Location: Ship Island (island(s)), Mississippi, United States
Battle: New Orleans, LA - April 25–May 1, 1862 B
Website: Fort Massachusetts
Fort McAllister, GA*
Type: Earthen
Built: 1861
Decommissioned/Abandoned: 1865
Notable: Sherman's capture of Fort McAllister allowed his troops to be resupplied for the siege and capture of Savannah.
Location: Fort McAllister, Bryan, Georgia, United States
Battles: Fort McAllister, GA I - March 3, 1863 C1 and Fort McAllister, GA II - December 13, 1864 B
Website: Fort McAllister State Historic Park
Fort Monroe, VA*
Type: Masonry [Third System Fort3]
Built: 1819-1834
Decommissioned/Abandoned: Since 1973 Fort Monroe has been home to the Training And Doctrine Command, which combines the training of soldiers with the development of operational doctrine and the development and procurement of new weapons systems.
Notable: Fort Monroe is the place at which Major General Benjamin Butler made his famous "contraband" decision, by which escaping slaves reaching Union lines would not be returned to bondage. Former Confederate President, Jefferson Davis, was a prisoner here for two years.
Location: Fort Monroe, Hampton, Virginia, United States
Battle: None
Website: Fort Monroe's Casemate Museum
Fort Morgan, AL*
Type: Masonry [Third System Fort3]
Built: 1834
Decommissioned/Abandoned:
Notable: During the Battle of Mobile Bay, Union land forces besieged the fort forcing General Richard L. Page, commander of the fort, to surrender.
Location: Fort Morgan, Baldwin, Alabama, United States
Battle: Mobile Bay, AL - August 2-23, 1864 A
Website: Fort Morgan and the Battle of Mobile Bay
Fort Moultrie, SC*
Type: Masonry
Built: 1798 and 1809
Decommissioned/Abandoned:
Notable: The fort's Union garrison retreated to the stronger Fort Sumter when South Carolina seceded from the Union in December 1860.
Location: Fort Moultrie (fort), Sullivans Island, South Carolina, United States
Battles: Fort Sumter, SC I - April 12-14, 1861 A and Fort Sumter, SC II - August 17-December 31, 1863 D
Website: Fort Moultrie
Fort Pickens, FL*
Type: Masonry [Third System Fort3]
Built: 1829-1834
Decommissioned/Abandoned: 1947
Notable: Despite repeated Confederate military threats to it, Fort Pickens remained in Union hands throughout the Civil War.
Location: Fort Pickens, Escambia, Florida, United States
Battle: None
Website: Fort Pickens
Fort Pillow, TN*
Type: Earthen
Built: 1862
Decommissioned/Abandoned:
Notable: General Nathan Bedford Forrest overwhelmed the 600-man Union garrison including 300 U.S.C.T. and allowed the massacre of surrendering Union soldiers.
Location: Fort Pillow, Lauderdale, Tennessee, United States
Battle: Fort Pillow, TN - April 12, 1864 B
Website: Battle of Fort Pillow
Fort Pocahontas, VA*
Type: Earthen
Built: 1864
Decommissioned/Abandoned: June 1865
Notable: On May 24, 1864 about 2,500 Confederate cavalry led by Major General Fitzhugh Lee attacked Wilson's Wharf but were repulsed by a force of about 1,400 U.S.C.T. under the command of Brigadier General Edward Augustus Wild.
Location: Sherwood Forest, Charles City, Virginia, United States
Battle: Wilson's Wharf, VA - May 24, 1864 D1
Website: Fort Pocahontas
Fort Point, CA*
Type: Masonry [Third System Fort3]
Built: 1853-1861
Decommissioned/Abandoned: 1945
Notable: The fort was built to protect San Francisco from foreign attack.
Location: Fort Point (museum), San Francisco, California, United States
Battle: None
Website: Fort Point
Fort Pulaski, GA*
Type: Masonry [Third System Fort3]
Built: 1831-1848
Decommissioned/Abandoned: Fort was used as a prison during and after the war, most significantly for a group of captured Confederate officers known as "The Immortal Six Hundred." Thirteen of these men would die at the Fort of enforced ill treatment.
Notable: The result of this bombardment of Fort Pulaski showed the vulnerability of masonry fortifications to "heavy calibre" rifled artillery and made the masonry fort an antique.
Location: Fort Pulaski N.M. [Fort Pulaski National Monument] (national monument), Georgia, United States
Battle: Fort Pulaski, GA - April 10-11, 1862 B
Website: Fort Pulaski National Monument
Fort Ridgely, MN*
Type: Wood and Stone
Built: 1851
Decommissioned/Abandoned: 1867
Notable: In August 1862, the Santee Sioux killed approximately 1,000 settlers and soldiers, but were repulsed in two attacks on the fort .
Location: Fort Ridgely State Park (state park), Minnesota, United States
Battle: Fort Ridgely, MN - August 20-22, 1862 C1
Website: Fort Ridgely State Park and Fort Ridgely Historic Site
Fortress Rosecrans, TN*
Type: Earthen
Built: 1863
Decommissioned/Abandoned: ?
Notable: Fortress Rosecrans covered 200 acres and served as a critical forward supply base for the Federals during their campaigns to seize and hold the vital rail junction town of Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Location: Stones River National Battlefield, Tennessee, United States
Battles: Chattanooga, TN I - June 7-8, 1862 D1, Chattanooga, TN II - August 21, 1863 D1 and Chattanooga, TN III - November 23-25, 1863 A
Website: Fortress Rosecrans
Fort Sanders, TN*
Type: Earthen
Built: 1863
Decommissioned/Abandoned: ?
Notable: Lt. Gen. Longstreet failure to take Fort Sanders was the decisive battle of the Knoxville Campaign.
Location: Lost Integrity
Battle: Fort Sanders, TN - November 29, 1863 B
Website: Battle of Fort Sanders
Fort Stedman, VA*
Type: Earthen
Built: ?
Decommissioned/Abandoned: ?
Notable: Gen. Robert E. Lee attempt to break through Grant’s Petersburg defenses fails and leads to fall of Petersburg
Location:
Battle: Fort Stedman, VA - March 25, 1865 A
Website: Battle of Fort Stedman and Fort Stedman
Fort Stevens, DC*
Type: Earthen (later concrete batteries)
Built: 1861, modified 1897
Decommissioned/Abandoned: 1947
Notable: Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early’s forces didn’t take Washington, but scared Abe Lincoln like Hell.
Location: Lost Integrity
Battle: Fort Stevens, DC - July 11-12, 1864 B
Website: The Civil War Defenses of Washington, D.C.
Fort Sumter, SC*
Type: Masonry [Third System Fort3]
Built: 1828-1860
Decommissioned/Abandoned: 1948
Notable: The bombardment of Fort Sumter was the opening engagement of the American Civil War.
Location: Fort Sumter National Monument, Sullivans Island, South Carolina, United States
Battles: Fort Sumter, SC I - April 12-14, 1861 A and Fort Sumter, SC II - August 17-December 31, 1863 D
Website: Fort Sumter National Monument
Fort Trumbull, CT*
Type: Masonry [Third System Fort3]
Built: 1839-1852
Decommissioned/Abandoned: 1863
Notable: The Revenue Cutter Service Academy at Fort Trumbull became the first U.S. Coast Guard Academy
Location: Fort Trumbull, New London, Connecticut, United States
Battle: None
Website: Fort Trumbull
Fort Wagner, SC*
Type: Earthen
Built:
Decommissioned/Abandoned: 1863
Notable: Colonel Robert Gould Shaw led the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, one of the first major American military units made up of black soldiers, in an attack on July 18, 1863.
Location: Lost Integrity
Battles: Fort Wagner, SC - July 10-11, 1863 D1 and Fort Wagner, Morris Is, SC - July 18-September 7, 1863 B
Website: The Battle of Fort Wagner/Morris Island
Fort Zachary Taylor, FL*
Type: Masonry [Third System Fort3]
Built: 1845
Decommissioned/Abandoned: 1947
Notable: During an excavation in 1968 volunteers discovered the nation's largest collection of Civil War cannons.
Location: Fort Zachary Taylor (fort), Key West, Florida, United States
Battles: None
Website: Fort Zachary Taylor
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