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The Casemate Museum is housed in the casemates - fortified chambers within the walls - of Fort Monroe, the largest stone fort in the United States. The fort was built to protect the important navigation channel between the Chesapeake Bay and Hampton Roads known as "Hampton Roads." Construction began in 1819 and was complete in 1834. Throughout the Civil War, Fort Monroe remained in Union hands and it was an active U.S. Army post until decommissioned September 15, 2011. Operated by the Commonwealth of Virginia through the Fort Monroe Authority, the Casemate Museum, is open to the public.
Exhibits at the "Casemate Museum" chronicle over 400 years of history associated with the site. There's plenty of artillery.
I liked this 8" British siege mortar.
Unfortunately, its pretty dark in there so my picture didnt turn out very good. I can't remember what this inscription says? "Captured at Fort ____ May 27, 1813"
But my favorite artillery piece was this one. It was found buried, muzzle up, on the grounds of the fort. Its muzzle was covered with about 6 inches of dirt. No records have been found regarding this gun, so nobody really knows why it was buried there like that.
There was an explosion, probably during a training exercise, and the breech exploded on the cannon. Amazingly, a round still remains inside the muzzle of the gun. Typically, an explosion will force the round out, so its possible that this gun was loaded with the wrong ammunition. Another possibility is that the round was put in after the gun was recovered for display purposes. Either way its a fascinating mystery.
Edgar Allan Poe spent a few months at Fort Monroe in 1828/1829 - December 15, 1828 to April 14, 1829 to be exact.
He was enlisted May 26, 1827 and was discharged April 14, 1829, by furnishing a substitute. Samuel Graves, the substitute, never received the promised payment from Poe.
ADMISSION & HOURS OF OPERATION:
Admission is free and the facility is wheelchair accessible.
Open Monday-Sunday 10:30am – 4:30pm Memorial Day to Labor Day; Tuesday-Sunday the remainder of the year.
Closed Easter, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve, and New Year’s Day.
For more information about Fort Monroe, parking, accessing the Fort, and getting around the area, see this previous thread:
https://civilwartalk.com/threads/fort-monroe-old-point-comfort-lighthouse-and-fort-wool-hampton-virginia.157713