Eastern Point Fort was a fort that was garrisoned or maintained from 1863 to 1867 on Eastern Point in

Gloucester, Massachusetts Gloucester () is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. It sits on Cape Ann and is a part of Massachusetts's North Shore. The population was 29,729 at the 2020 U.S. Census. An important center of the fishing industry and ...

, built for the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by state ...

. References indicate the name has also been used to refer to the much-older

Stage Fort Stage Fort was a fort that existed from 1635 to 1898 on Stage Head in what is now Stage Fort Park in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Stage Head was named for a fishing "stage" dating back to the original settlement by the Dorchester Adventurers Co ...

across the harbor.Fort Gloucester at FortWiki.com
/ref>Roberts, p. 400 In June 1863, Confederate

commerce raiders Commerce raiding (french: guerre de course, "war of the chase"; german: Handelskrieg, "trade war") is a form of naval warfare used to destroy or disrupt logistics of the enemy on the open sea by attacking its merchant shipping, rather than eng ...

attacked Gloucester-based fishing vessels at

Georges Bank Georges Bank (formerly known as St. Georges Bank) is a large elevated area of the sea floor between Cape Cod, Massachusetts (United States), and Cape Sable Island, Nova Scotia (Canada). It separates the Gulf of Maine from the Atlantic Ocean. T ...

, a rich

fishing ground Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life; or more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place (a.k.a. fishing ground). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farms, both ...

east of

Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of mainland Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer mon ...

.Manuel, pp. 32–37 Also that year,

US Army engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

realized that attacking vessels could be well inside Gloucester's harbor before being engaged by the existing forts,

and Fort Defiance. The Eastern Point fort, never formally named, was sited to be able to engage any enemy approaching from seaward. It was built near the end of the peninsula forming the eastern side of Gloucester's harbor, on the "high land of the farm of Thomas Niles". Construction was supervised by Major Charles E. Blunt. Eastern Point was the only Civil War fort on the

north shore North Shore or Northshore may refer to: Geographic features Australia *North Shore (Sydney), a suburban region of Sydney **Electoral district of North Shore **North Shore railway line, Sydney *Noosa North Shore, Queensland * North Shore, New So ...

of Massachusetts Bay not on the site of a previous fortification. The fort was an earthwork that could accommodate seven guns, with three

magazines A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combina ...

and a bombproof shelter, along with a barracks and hospital outside the fort. However, an armament report dated January 31, 1865 shows ten guns were on hand, including three 32-pounder rifled guns, four 32-pounder

smoothbore A smoothbore weapon is one that has a barrel without rifling. Smoothbores range from handheld firearms to powerful tank guns and large artillery mortars. History Early firearms had smoothly bored barrels that fired projectiles without s ...

guns, and three 24-pounder rifled guns. An author has examined a period photograph and determined that the 24-pounders could have been in the bombproof, which was sited for landward defense with

embrasure An embrasure (or crenel or crenelle; sometimes called gunhole in the domain of gunpowder-era architecture) is the opening in a battlement between two raised solid portions ( merlons). Alternatively, an embrasure can be a space hollowed ou ...

s suitable for

cannon A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder duri ...

. Eastern Point was garrisoned by the 2nd and 11th Unattached Companies of Massachusetts militia in 1864.Higginson, pp. 318, 321 The fort was abandoned in 1867 and the buildings demolished at some point, though the earthworks remain. In the 1920s a resort hotel or manor house named the "Ramparts" was built inside the fort, featuring two stone towers. The main building was razed in 1950, though the towers remain. Today, a private residence exists within the former earthworks of the fort, incorporating one of the towers.

References

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External links

Big guns over Gloucester in the Civil War
(dead link 12 June 2020) {{FmrMAForts Forts in Massachusetts American Civil War forts Buildings and structures in Gloucester, Massachusetts 1863 establishments in Massachusetts 1867 disestablishments in Massachusetts

See also

References

External links