Fort Hamilton

(Did you mean a different Fort Hamilton)

Fort Hamilton (1825-Current) - Originally designed as a Third System Coastal Defense fort constructed 1825-1831 to protect the New York Narrows from the Brooklyn side of the river in Kings County, New York. Named after Alexander Hamilton, first Secretary of the U.S. Treasury. Active military post.

Loading 10" Gun, 1908	Rear of 10" Battery, 1908
Fort Hamilton 1924 Aerial View

History

Part of the Harbor Defense of Southern New York. Originally established to protect the Narrows entrance to New York Harbor.

Fort Hamilton was built as a small dual-purpose fort providing seaward and landward defenses at the New York Narrows, the site of present-day Verrazano Narrows Bridge. Construction was started on 11 Jun 1825 with the laying of the cornerstone by the French engineer, Simon Bernard. The Fort was completed in 1831 and first garrisoned on 1 Nov 1831 by Battery F, 4th U.S. Artillery.

Some distinguished military men served at the Fort including Captain Robert E. Lee, post engineer from 1841 to 1846, and Captain Abner Doubleday, post commander in 1861.

U.S. Civil War (1861-1865)

Fort Hamilton's garrison expanded during the U.S. Civil War and in 1863 it was called upon to help put down the New York City draft riots.

Endicott Period (1890-1910)

Between 1893 and 1905 eleven reinforced concrete Endicott Period gun batteries were built on the Fort Hamilton reservation. In June of 1908 the batteries of Fort Hamilton, Fort Wadsworth, Fort Schuyler (1) and Fort Hancock (2) participated in a mock battle against an invading force that saw most of the gun batteries firing at towed targets with reduced charges. The first day of the exercise saw the batteries firing full charges for calibration of the weapons. The Regular Army Coast Artillery units were paired up with National Guard units to maximize the training experience. In addition to the damage done to on-post and off-post buildings and property caused by concussion, two members of the 9th Coast Artillery were killed by "blowback" from one of the guns of Battery Dix at Fort Wadsworth. The pictures above and those in the gallery below show Fort Hamilton's participation in that event.

Fort Hamilton Endicott Period Battery (edit list)

Battery

No.

Caliber

Type Mount

Service Years

Notes

Battery Piper

8

12"

Mortar

1901-1942

Battery Harvey Brown

2

12"

Disappearing

1902-19??

Battery Doubleday

2

12"

Disappearing

1900-1943

Battery Neary

2

12"

Barbette

1900-1937

Battery Gillmore

4

10"

Disappearing

1899-1942

Orig 7 Guns, 3 designated as Spear

Battery Spear

3

10"

Disappearing

1898-1917

Battery Burke

4

6"

Pedestal

1903-1917

2 guns to Fort Tilden, Battery Fergusson

Battery Livingston (2)

2

6"

Disappearing

1905-1920?

Guns to West Point

Battery Livingston (2)

2

6"

Pedestal

1905-1948

Battery Johnston

2

6"

Pedestal

1902-1943

Battery Mendenhall

4

6"

Disappearing

1905-1917

Battery Griffin

2

4.7"

Pedestal

1899-1913

British Armstrong Guns

Battery Griffin

2

3"

Masking Parapet

1902-1920

Battery Griffin

2

3"

Pedestal

1903-1946

Source: CDSG

World War I (1917-1918)

During World War I Fort Hamilton was a processing center for hundreds of thousands of American troops shipping out to France.

World War II (1941-1945)

Fort Familton (1) World War II Battery (edit list)

Battery

No.

Caliber

Type Mount

Service Years

Notes

Battery AMTB 18 - Norton Point

4

3"

Fixed Pedestal

1943-1943-1943-1946

Norton Point
Guns & carriages from
Fort Wadsworth, Battery Catlin

Battery AMTB 19 - Norton Point

2
2

90mm
90mm

Fixed Pedestal
Mobile

1943-1943-1943-1946

Norton Point

Source: CDSG

During World War II Fort Hamilton served as a processed center for 3 million troops headed for Europe. At the end of the war, it processed and discharged the returning veterans. After the war, the building of the Verrazano Bridge in 1959 resulted in the destruction of the parade ground and most of the brick barracks.

Current Status

Fort Hamilton is an active duty Army post with 5000 full-time active duty personnel serving 126 Army Reserve units, 100,000 military retirees, and numerous Department of Defense agencies throughout the greater New York City metropolitan area. A part of the U.S. Army Military District of Washington.

<googlemap version="0.9" lat="40.6086584" lon="-74.0325308" zoom="17" width="-500" height="-500" scale="yes" overview="yes" controls="large" icons="http://www.fortwiki.com/mapicons/icon{label}.png"> (F) 40.60866, -74.03253, Fort Hamilton (1825-Current) (B) 40.57467, -74.01038, Battery AMTB 18 - Norton Point (1942-1946) (B) 40.57396, -74.007667, Battery AMTB 19 - Norton Point (1943-1946) </googlemap>

Location: East side of the Verrazano Narrows at the base of the Verrazano Bridge, Kings County, New York.

Lat: 40.6086584 Long: -74.0325308 Elevation: {{{3}}} ACME, Bing, Google

Elevation: 30-40'

Sources:

Roberts, Robert B., Encyclopedia of Historic Forts: The Military, Pioneer, and Trading Posts of the United States, Macmillan, New York, 1988, 10th printing, ISBN 0-02-926880-X, page 557
Weaver, John R. II, A Legacy in Brick and Stone: America Coastal Defense Forts of the Third System, Redoubt Press, McLean, 2001, First Printing, ISBN 1-57510-069-X, page 111-113

Links: