"Lifeguard Station" by U.S. National Park Service , public domain
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Gulf Islands
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National Park Service
U.S. Department of the Interior
Gulf Islands National Seashore
Mississippi District
West Ship Island
Fort Massachusetts
Coastal Protection In December of 1814, 10,000 British soldiers rendezvoused at Ship Island before
attacking New Orleans, Louisiana. That same year many of the same troops had
bombarded the defenses of Baltimore, Maryland, and burned the White House in
Washington, D.C. Caught off guard, military leaders became painfully aware that the
nation was vulnerable to foreign invasion. As a consequence, the U.S. War Department
planned a system of brick fortifications known as Third System Forts. They were all
challenging to construct. Fort Massachusetts, 12 miles off the Mississippi coastline,
was one of the most difficult to build. In fact, it was never completed.
Strategic Importance Ship Island was considered for a fort
because of its deep-water harbor,
location along a major shipping route,
and previous military history.
Debate
really
coast.
argued
surfaced on whether a fort was
necessary off the Mississippi
Some U.S. military officers
that the shipping lanes could
Construction Delays From the onset of construction in 1859,
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was faced
with obstacles. Living conditions,
including isolation on the island, were
difficult for the workers. The first
superintendent died from yellow fever.
Storms destroyed partially completed
sections of the fort. After two years,
only eight feet of the outer fort walls
had been constructed.
be better protected by naval patrols.
Finally, Mississippians, including
Secretary of War Jefferson Davis,
pressured Congress for the fort. The
argument was settled when Congress and
President Franklin Pierce approved the
construction of the last U.S. brick
fortification built on the Gulf Coast.
Building resumed after Union troops
retook control of the fort and the
island. Masons, carpenters, and other
workers had to be hired from northern
states. Bricks and additional
construction materials were shipped from
as far away as New England.
The island was teeming with thousands of
construction workers, as well as Union
sailors and soldiers, including the
African-American Louisiana Native
Guards. Confederate prisoners of war and
Union convicts were held captive as
well. Isolated and far from loved ones,
many became homesick.
The Civil War created even greater
problems. In January of 1861, Mississippi
secessionists seized the unfinished fort
and forced the workers off the island.
The Confederates then built up the fort
with timbers and sandbags. In July, Union
“What a God forsaken place this is--No
sailors aboard the USS Massachusetts
news from home or anywhere else--I fear
maneuvered the steamship within range of
that Gen. Butlers expedition has been
the western end of Ship Island. A brief
abandoned, if so what will become of us
exchange of cannon shots took place
where shall we be sent?”
until Union sailors steared their vessel
to safer waters. Although the Confederates
Union Colonel Edward Jones, January 21,
claimed victory, they vacated the island
1861.
that fall.
Aftermath
Completed in 1866, the fort’s cannon
defenses were never fully installed. In
1873 the two 15-Inch Rodman Cannons were
mounted when the U. S. felt threatened
by the Spanish Navy. This threat never
materialized. The fort’s cannons were
never fired,and the iron was sold as
scrap in 1901.
Despite the end of its use as a military
stronghold, the fort’s splendor and
history have drawn people to Ship Island
for years. In the 1960s, concerned,
local residents formed a “Save the Fort”
committee in the hope of preserving this
structure from further deterioration due
to beach erosion. Those efforts helped
establish Gulf Islands National Seashore
in 1971.
A Tour of Fort Massachusetts
S Step Back in Time
Take a stroll through history to see how Fort Massachusetts was planned to
oppose enemy naval forces. As you wander, be careful of uneven walkways,
dark areas, and slippery places. Ramps allow access into the fort’s guard
rooms on the lower level.
1. Sally Port The fort was
designed with only one entrance,
the sally port. The word sally
means “to rush forth.” A
drawbridge was planned but was
never completed.
2. Observation Area Located to
the west and between West Ship
Island and the distant Cat
Island is Ship Island Pass. It
is one of the few natural
deepwater channels in the
Mississippi Sound. The channel
was part of an important
navigation route to and from New
Orleans.
When Fort Massachussetts was
completed in 1866, the west end
of the island was 500 feet from
the fort. Today, the west tip
is over a mile away. This is
due to the natural movement and
redeposit of sand from the
island’s east end. In 2006
Hurricane Katrina covered the
fort with 30 feet of storm
surge.
7. Stair Tower Because of the
fort’s size spiraling granite
staircases were designed to use
less space and provide
protection against enemy fire.
8. Hot Shot Furnace This coal
fired furnace was built to heat
60 six-to-ten-inch diameter
cannon balls. Red hot
ammunition could damage and set
wooden ships on fire. Special
tools were used to carry hot
cannon balls from the furnance
to the cannons. Although common
to coastal forts, this furnace
was never used here.
3. Parados and Service Magazines
The upper level of the fort was
divided by large earthen
embankments, or parados, which
provided additional protection to
the cannon positions and storage
for powder and ammunition. Four
service magazines are on this
level. The main magazines are on
the lower level.
projectiles fired from rifled
cannon had greater range,
accuracy, and destructive power.
The wwo Parrot rifles on top of
Fort Massachusetts, would
protect the fort’s eastern
flank. The development of rifled
cannon was one of the factors
that eventually made masonry
fortifications obsolete.
4. 15-Inch Rodman Cannon The 15inch Rodmans were among the
largest smoothbore cannons
manufactured with barrels weighing
50,000 pounds. These cannons
could fire a 400-pound cannon ball
three miles. In 1873 men using a
system of block and tackle, slowly
raised two Rodmans over the
outside wall and mounted them into
position.
6. Cannon Debris Although the
fort was designed to hold 37
cannons, only 17 were
permanently mounted during the
crisis involving Spain in the
1870s. The remaining debris was
leftover after an attempt to
dynamite the obsolete cannons.
Some pieces were hauled away as
scrap metal in the early 1900s.
5. 100 Pound Parrot Rifles These
rifled cannons fired bullet shaped
projectiles which would spin on
their axels. Unlike cannon balls,
9. Guardrooms Rooms, one on
either side of the sally port,
were to defend the fort’s only
entrance. The narrow openings in
the wall permitted the guards to
observe enemy fire and protected
the riflemen. These rooms could
house soldiers, but most lived in
tents or wooden barracks outside
the fort.
10. Powder Magazines Next to the
guardrooms, powder magazines
stored the fort’s supply of black
powder. The magazines were lined
with wood to keep the powder dry.
Local folklore often referred to
the power magazines
E X P E R I E N CE Y O U R AM E R I C A
as dungeons, but there is no
evidence supporting that story.
11. Half Bastions The areas
that project out at each end of
the fort's east wall, known as
half bastions, extend the
cannon's field of fire. These
half bastions were designed to
provide cross fire to protect
the entrance.
12. Casemates Thirteen 10-inch
Rodman cannons were mounted in
this level of the fort in 1873.
Each cannon was positioned to
fire through an opening in the
wall,the embrasure, which was
protected by a heavy iron
shutter.