Acushnet Fort was a fort that existed from 1776 to around 1820 on Eldridge Point in

New Bedford, Massachusetts New Bedford (Massachusett: ) is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts. It is located on the Acushnet River in what is known as the South Coast region. Up through the 17th century, the area was the territory of the Wampanoag Native American p ...

. It was originally built with

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

resources during the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

in 1776 with ten guns. Rebuilt in 1808 under the federal second system of fortifications, it could accommodate 40 men and had six guns and a magazine. The fort's exact location, especially in the Revolution, is uncertain. The fort appears in the

Secretary of War The secretary of war was a member of the U.S. president's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve the Congress of the ...

's reports for 1808 and 1811; thus it was a federal fort at that time.Wade, pp. 141, 236, 242, 248 In 1808 the entry is: "At the entrance of the inner harbor of New Bedford, two miles below the town, a small enclosed work has been erected of stone, brick, and sod. It commands the entrance into the harbor for a mile and a half in a direct line...". In 1811 the entry is: "At Eldridge Point, which commands the entrance of the harbor; an enclosed work of masonry, mounting six heavy guns...". The "two miles below the town" implies the fort was at or near Clark's Point, later the site of Fort Rodman. Another possibility is the area of Fairhaven known as Poverty Point or Oxford Point, part of which was once owned by the Eldredge family, although this is north of the harbor entrance. Fairhaven was part of New Bedford until 1812. A list of fort commanders shows that the Eldridge Point fort was commanded by Captain James Thomas of the

Dragoons Dragoons were originally a class of mounted infantry, who used horses for mobility, but dismounted to fight on foot. From the early 17th century onward, dragoons were increasingly also employed as conventional cavalry and trained for combat w ...

in 1810–1811, followed by 1st Lt. Henry Whiting, also of the Dragoons, in 1811–1812. By the time Fort Rodman was built in the 1850s, the fort no longer existed.

References

* * History of Massachusetts Acushnet Acushnet New Bedford, Massachusetts Demolished buildings and structures in Massachusetts {{fort-stub

See also

References