Forgotten Forts Series Index

To add to the list are the 14 redoubts along the Williamsburg line in the Virginia Peninsula. Considered the third line of defense within the general Magruder's Confederate defensive position to prevent Gen. McClellan from moving toward Richmond. A few of the redoubts saw action during the Battle of Williamsburg in May, 1862 while others were unmanned or unfinished.

http://civilwartalk.com/threads/the-battle-of-williamsburg-virginia.76636/page-2
 
What are the qualifications to be listed as a Forgotten Fort? I may have a couple of candidates for the list.

They don't have to be so much "forgotten" I usually just post forts that are usually not focused on as much as the more notable ones such as Sumter, Monroe, etc. or forts that are somehow tied to the ACW that people may not know about. There are certainly a ton of them, just with school and work I've been slacking a bit.
 
Very interesting thread! A couple of fortifications are mentioned in John S. Salmon's The Official Virginia Civil War Battlefield Guide which you might be interested in case I missed them.
Aquia Landing on Aquia Creek was fortified by Confederates to prevent the Federals from attacking Fredericksburg. Its co-ordinates are 38.389372, -77.315808 at Aquia Landing Park.
Cockpit Point Battery was established at co-ordinates 38.556075, -77.262569 (Possum Nose). It is on private property and not open to the public. It was part of the Confederate blockade of the Potomac River at the start of the war.
Nearby is the Freestone Point Confederate Battery which is accessible in Leesylvania State park. It was also part of the Confederate blockade of the Potomac River. Wikipedia says it's around here: 38.592786, -77.249141

Official VA CW Guide
 
Last edited:
Very interesting thread! A couple of fortifications are mentioned in John S. Salmon's The Official Virginia Civil War Battlefield Guide which you might be interested in case I missed them.
Aquia Landing on Aquia Creek was fortified by Confederates to prevent the Federals from attacking Fredericksburg. Its co-ordinates are 38.389372, -77.315808 at Aquia Landing Park.
Cockpit Point Battery was established at co-ordinates 38.556075, -77.262569 (Possum Nose). It is on private property and not open to the public. It was part of the Confederate blockade of the Potomac River at the start of the war.
Nearby is the Freestone Point Confederate Battery which is accessible in Leesylvania State park. It was also part of the Confederate blockade of the Potomac River. Wikipedia says it's around here: 38.592786, -77.249141

Official VA CW Guide

Dave, I did a write up a year or so ago about the Freestone Pte Battery if you're interested in taking a look. Nothing fancy but a neat place.
http://civilwartalk.com/threads/forgotten-forts-series-freestone-point-battery-va.106488/
 
I am suggesting Fort Abercrombie, D.T., as a Forgotten Fort. It was the first fort in Dakota Territory, and is a
Civil War battleground. It was the site of fighting between the Dakota Indians and a mixed force of about 80 troops from Company D, 5th Minnesota VIR and about 35 civilians "drafted" as armed militia in September 1862. This was part of the Dakota Uprising.

The Fort was under siege from August 30 to September 25 or so, when a relief column of 45o men dispatched from St. Paul arrived. Hard fighting took place between September 3 and September 6, with repeated attacks by the Dakota. Many of the Company had artillery experience because of the Prussian revolution and used three mountain howitzers that were at the Fort.

It is now a North Dakota State Historic Site. I'm posting a photo of the only surviving building at the Fort, the guardhouse. I will post other photos as time allows.
 

Attachments

  • Fort Abercrombie 18-1-2.jpg
    Fort Abercrombie 18-1-2.jpg
    70.5 KB · Views: 186
Next two photos of Fort Abercrombie. The first is the marker placed in 1963 by the ND State Historical Society. It shows the Fort's layout circa 1870. The Fort was open on the east side, which is the Red River of the North. The photo has been manipulated to try and make it easier to enlarge and read. I'll have some more photos later on, I need to work on them some before posting.

The second is the visitor's center, erected in 2008 by the ND Historical Society. What makes this Fort different is that the grounds themselves are open year round; the visitor's center is open and staffed from just before Memorial Day to Labor Day weekend.
Fort Abercrombie 14-1.jpg
Fort Abercrombie 1-2.jpg
 
Last edited:
Fort Abercrombie was rebuilt to it's sort of existing configuration as a WPA project in 1939. The fort, at the time of the 1862 siege, was open-no palisades, no blockhouses. The WPA rebuilt the fort to its post-Dakota Uprising configuration. Two of the photos below show some of the artifacts that were dug up during an archaeological dig; the other is one of the blockhouses. The fort had three blockhouses.

Fort Abercrombie 10-1.jpg Fort Abercrombie 11-1.jpg Fort Abercrombie 52-1.jpg

Now, I say sort of because the state did not do much maintenance over the years and much of the palisade outlining the fort walls has rotted away. An unstable river bank cost the fort one of the three blockhouses. It has been replaced with cannon bastion that replicates what was done during the uprising. More soon!
 
Last edited:
I was like to enter if not too late a forgotten Fort named FORT BUTLER. It is located at Donaldsonville, Louisiana but if any remains today I known not as I have never been there. I plan to go some day if anything of note is there. Perhaps some local or specialist could advise! It had one excellent and very violent battle there where the CSA Command of General Green assaulted it but was repulsed. It involved at least two gunboats Federal providing assistance.
 
If I may I would like to enter a second Fort named FORT BEAUREGARD located in Harrisonburg, Louisiana. I have visited this place twice and it has a wonderful bluff view of the Black River. This Fort had at least two major Federal Navy forces assault it. The first was a Federal Naval raid that was beaten back. The second a combination of Naval force and a Infantry force marched overland from Natchez, MS I think. The latter was successful and the Fort dismantled. It remains with its worn down rampart dirt walls. Note in recent history one of the shells at the open front entrance (there for many years) as a visitor display was discovered to be a live shell explosive. They had it removed and lawfully exploded by state authorities if memory serves me.
 
For my third entered forgotten Fort for Louisiana is FORT BUTTE-A-LA-ROSA located on the lower Atchafalaya River in French Cajun Country. This Fort believe it or not was vital to maintain control of river traffic that funneled salt and other supplies to Vicksburg garrison and the rest of the Confederacy. The huge salt domes were just to the south. It had a small battery of 32 pounder smooth bore guns set in a low level swamp. It is the only Fort I had read about where the garrison complained about gators sunning and sleeping on the outside slop of the Fort's entrenchments. Gators were shot for sport by some. A Federal Naval raid overwhelmed and captured the Fort easily. It was rumored the garrison was happy to be liberated from the vermin and gators of this very unhealthy huge swamp.
 
As someone who has planned family vacations around coastal fortifications, as well as gone out of my way to see them, this may be one of my favorite forums on the site.

I’ll have to search through some of the old pics and see if I can find anything good.
 
To add to the list are the 14 redoubts along the Williamsburg line in the Virginia Peninsula. Considered the third line of defense within the general Magruder's Confederate defensive position to prevent Gen. McClellan from moving toward Richmond. A few of the redoubts saw action during the Battle of Williamsburg in May, 1862 while others were unmanned or unfinished.

http://civilwartalk.com/threads/the-battle-of-williamsburg-virginia.76636/page-2
I believe and I stand corrected if I am wrong. But is not Fort Magruder on Mulberry Island on present day Fort Eustis in Newport News Virginia. Back in the late 80s early 90s I was stationed at Fort Eustis. And there was a location claiming to be a part of Margruder's defensive line along Newport News called Fort Magruder. There was no historical marker, no protective area nothing. It was on an island on the James River called Mulberry Island near the end of it called Mulberry Point near the site of the Naval Reaerve Fleet sitting out on the middle of the James River. I would like some clarification or update on this. Thanks . love the subject.
 
I believe and I stand corrected if I am wrong. But is not Fort Magruder on Mulberry Island on present day Fort Eustis in Newport News Virginia. Back in the late 80s early 90s I was stationed at Fort Eustis. And there was a location claiming to be a part of Margruder's defensive line along Newport News called Fort Magruder. There was no historical marker, no protective area nothing. It was on an island on the James River called Mulberry Island near the end of it called Mulberry Point near the site of the Naval Reaerve Fleet sitting out on the middle of the James River. I would like some clarification or update on this. Thanks . love the subject.
Mulberry Island is further down the Peninsula, as part of the Confederate 12 mile Warwick Line, extending from Yorktown to that location. Several of the previously mentioned redoubts attached to Fort Magruder sit along the current Colonial Parkway. The following is a photograph from the “Official Military Atlas of the Civil War.”

CE5C086F-302C-4F4F-81D2-F1D1A8529563.jpeg


I also remember seeing the Confederate trenches in Ft. Eustis while training in the late 90’s.
 
(Fort Gibson is located just over an hour from my home on Grand Lake O'er the Cherokees). Fort Gibson served a pivotal role in the political, social, and economic upheaval that marked the westward expansion of the United States. Built at the critical crossroads of the Three Forks where the Arkansas, Verdigris, and Grand Rivers converge south of the Ozark Plateau, Fort Gibson was key to river navigation. It also served as an outpost on the Texas Road connecting settled Missouri with the new country of Mexico after independence from Spain in 1820. Fort Gibson was established in 1824 to keep the peace between the Osages and Cherokees. It figured prominently in the Indian removals and was home to many of our nation's leaders during the 1840s and 1850s. Fort Gibson served as a starting point for several military expeditions that explored the West. It was occupied through most of the Indian removal period, but then abandoned in 1857. The post was reactivated during the Civil War. It was renamed Fort Blunt and served as the Union headquarters in Indian Territory. The army stayed through the Reconstruction and Indian Wars periods, combating the problem of outlaws and squatters. Abandoned in 1890, the fort was later the headquarters of the Dawes Commission for their work enrolling members of the Five Tribes. (Text
Fort Gibson.jpg
and image from okhistory.org)
 
Back
Top