Battery Howe-Wagner (1895–1920) was one of seventeen gun batteries developed in the Endicott Board period which formed the Coastal Artillery defenses at Fort Winfield Scott in the

Presidio of San Francisco The Presidio of San Francisco (originally, El Presidio Real de San Francisco or The Royal Fortress of Saint Francis) is a park and former U.S. Army post on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula in San Francisco, California, and is part o ...

. It was charged with the coastal and harbor defenses of the

City of San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

and the

San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay is a large tidal estuary in the U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the big cities of San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland. San Francisco Bay drains water from a ...

History

Originally named Battery Howe, the battery was built to provide both seaward and harbor defenses against enemy warships. Completed in 1895, the battery consisted of four pits, each armed with four 12-inch mortars. The guns had a range of approximately 8 miles. In 1902 the battery was divided—the two eastern pits retained the name Battery Howe and the two western pits were renamed Battery Arthur Wagner. Designed in the shaped of a cross, this type of battery is called an "Abbott Cross" after General Henry Larcom Abbot, Corps of Engineers, who advocated the use of mortars for seacoast defense. By contrast, the four other mortar batteries in the Harbor Defenses of San Francisco are linear in design. This battery had a 360-degree field of fire and could target the beaches in its range in addition to water. The mortars were dismounted in 1920.

Naming

Battery Howe was named in honor of Colonel

Albion P. Howe Albion Parris Howe (March 13, 1818 – January 25, 1897) was an American officer who served as a Union general in the American Civil War. Howe's contentious relationships with superior officers in the Army of the Potomac eventually led to his bei ...

, Fourth Artillery, a veteran of the Mexican–American War and the American Civil War who also served in San Francisco. Battery Wagner was named in honor of Colonel

Arthur L. Wagner Arthur Lockwood Wagner (March 16, 1853 – June 17, 1905) was a United States brigadier general and military instructor. Biography Born in Ottawa, Illinois, Wagner graduated from West Point in 1875 near the bottom of his class with a commiss ...

, military secretary who served in the Spanish–American War.

References

*http://www.nps.gov/prsf/historyculture/fort-scott-batteries.htm *http://www.militarymuseum.org/BtyHoweWagner.html 1895 establishments in California 1920 disestablishments in California Coastal artillery installations of the United States Army History of San Francisco Howe-Wagner {{US-army-stub