The Peninsula Fort Monroe

[MikeyB]

Why wasn't fort Monroe captured by confederate forces or Virginia militia in the early days of the war like Fort Sumter or the other federal installations in southern territory? Was there a strong naval presence defending it? Given size of regular army at the time, can't imagine it had a large garrison, so no matter how strong the engineering was, I would think va forces could have stormed it?

Mime

 

[WScott]

Good question. I wonder if Virginias late action to join the other southern states had an impact.

April 15th South Carolina attacked Fort Sumpter.
April 15th Lincoln calls for Volunteers
April 17th Virginia Secedes from the Union
Because of Fort Monroes proximity to Washington DC I think the Lincoln Administration would have diligently purse the strengthening / re-enforcing Fort Monroe.

 

[Irishtom29]

I assume because it was an exceedingly strong fort with outworks that no longer exist on the only practical approach. An assault wasn't practical nor was investment because the fort could be supplied by sea. Taking the fort by approaches would be difficult because siege works on the neck which was the only approach could be flanked by Federal warships.

A very tough nut to crack.

 

[MikeyB]

this thing had 371 guns?? Or was that the # of emplacements, only which some were filled?

Had the Confederates somehow captured this, could they have kept the Union out of the James River?

 

[jackt62]

assume because it was an exceedingly strong fort with outworks that no longer exist on the only practical approach. An assault wasn't practical nor was investment because the fort could be supplied by sea. Taking the fort by approaches would be difficult because siege works on the neck which was the only approach could be flanked by Federal warships.

Excellent reasons why seizing Monroe would not have been easy. In contrast to Sumpter's weaknesses, Monroe was a larger, more fortified, established and garrisoned fortress with sufficient food, supplies, and ammunition. Sumpter was not even finished by the war's outbreak and had only recently been manned when Major Anderson led his small force from Fort Moultrie.

 

[R. Porter]

Well, it's my understanding that my uncle took Ft. Monroe single handedly!

The story goes something like this… After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor there was a rush to volunteer for the military. I don't know if my uncle rushed or took his time but at length he found himself working in a unit called the OSS. All of his friends in the unit had foreign language skills but he did not. Consequently his friends were trained in covert operations and dropped by parachute behind enemy lines in occupied France. It was only a matter of time before these brave men were discovered by the Germans and shot as spies. Meanwhile, back home in the U.S. my uncle's superiors looked for something my uncle could do to support the war effort. It was decided that my uncle could test the defenses of various military installations To do this he would sneak into the fort, place sacks of flour attached to a small explosive device on cannons and anything else he found of interest. Then he would go to the commander of the fort and tell him that his fort had been compromised. If he timed it right, the explosions would add the necessary weight to my uncle's message to let them know they were going to be in trouble with their own superiors. On this occasion the explosions did not disappoint; and that's how my uncle single handedly too Fort Monroe during wartime.

I got this story second or third hand so I'm sure I got some things wrong; but for the most part this is what happened.