Fort Nonsense is an historical park in

Mathews County Mathews County is a county located in the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 8,533. Its county seat is Mathews. Located on the Middle Peninsula, Mathews County is included in the Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, United States. Fort Nonsense is located at the junction of Virginia Route 3 and

Virginia Route 14 State Route 14 (SR 14) is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of Virginia. The state highway runs from U.S. Route 360 (US 360) in St. Stephens Church east to a cul-de-sac in Bayside. SR 14 is the primary highway of King and Queen ...

, around northeast of

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

Historical marker A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, or in other places referred to as a historical marker, historic marker, or historic plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, bearing text or an image in relief, or both, ...

s on site say it was built using slave labor by Confederate forces during the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

to help protect Richmond from the threat of Union forces landing from ships. However, Union forces that kept control of

Gloucester, Virginia Gloucester Courthouse ( ) is a census-designated place (CDP) in and the county seat of Gloucester County, Virginia, United States. The population was 2,951 at the 2010 census. History The Gloucester County Courthouse Square Historic District, ...

which is located north''west'' of the fort (so ''between'' Richmond and the fort), were the only troops to threaten the fort's area. Since Gloucester-based Union troops could attack the fort's rear and since the fort's defenses pointed in the wrong direction, the site came to be called locally "Fort Nonsense." The local historical society, the county, and the state's department of transportation share responsibility for the park —which has trails among traces of earthworks and some interpretive signage.

References

Unincorporated communities in Mathews County, Virginia Unincorporated communities in Virginia {{MathewsCountyVA-geo-stub