Fort Mansfield was a coastal artillery

Coastal artillery

Coastal artillery is the branch of armed forces concerned with operating anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications....

 installation located at the end of Napatree Point

Napatree Point

Napatree Point, often referred to simply as "Napatree", is a long sandy spit created by a geologic process called longshore drift. Up until the Hurricane of 1938, Napatree was sickle-shaped and included a 1.5-mile long northern extension called Sandy Point...

, a long barrier beach in the village of Watch Hill

Watch Hill

Watch Hill is an affluent coastal village in the southwestern section of the town of Westerly, the southwestern-most town in Washington County and the entire U.S. state of Rhode Island. The village is listed as a census-designated place. Watch Hill Historic District is a historic district in the...

 in Westerly, Rhode Island.

History

Fort Mansfield and similar forts stretching from Galveston

Galveston, Texas

Galveston is a coastal city located on Galveston Island in the U.S. state of Texas. , the city had a total population of 47,743 within an area of...

 to Maine

Maine

Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...

 can be traced back to a joint Army-Navy Board created in 1883 known as the Gun Foundry Board. Its report a year later warned of the defenseless condition of the USA's coasts and recommended a system of fortifications to protect harbors and coastal cities from invasion. In 1885 this Board was replaced by what has become known as the Endicott Board

Endicott Board

Several boards have been appointed by US presidents or Congress to evaluate the US defensive fortifications, primarily coastal defenses near strategically important harbors on the US shores, its territories, and its protectorates.-Endicott Board:...

 which in 1886 issued formal recommendations for a major coastal defense network. Fort Mansfield was one of numerous coastal artillery installations constructed to guard the eastern entrance to Long Island Sound

Long Island Sound

Long Island Sound is an estuary of the Atlantic Ocean, located in the United States between Connecticut to the north and Long Island, New York to the south. The mouth of the Connecticut River at Old Saybrook, Connecticut, empties into the sound. On its western end the sound is bounded by the Bronx...

 as part of the coastal defense network for New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

. It was named in honor of Joseph K. Mansfield

Joseph K. Mansfield

Joseph King Fenno Mansfield was a career United States Army officer, civil engineer, and a Union general in the American Civil War, mortally wounded at the Battle of Antietam.-Early life:...

 (1803–1862) who had served as Chief Engineer Of The Army during the Mexican War

Mexican–American War

The Mexican–American War, also known as the First American Intervention, the Mexican War, or the U.S.–Mexican War, was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848 in the wake of the 1845 U.S...

 and was eventually promoted to Inspector General Of The Army.

Construction

In 1898 the United States government purchased 60 acres (242,811.6 m²) on Napatree Point

Napatree Point

Napatree Point, often referred to simply as "Napatree", is a long sandy spit created by a geologic process called longshore drift. Up until the Hurricane of 1938, Napatree was sickle-shaped and included a 1.5-mile long northern extension called Sandy Point...

, a long, narrow spit of land jutting out from Watch Hill. The fort was located on a bend in the spit beyond which was called Sandy Point

Sandy Point Island

Sandy Point Island is a 35-acre island in Little Narragansett Bay. Once an extension of Napatree Point, Sandy Point is now its own entity...

. Construction of the fort began the following year. When the fort was first manned in 1901 it was considered a sub-post of Fort Trumbull

Fort Trumbull

Fort Trumbull refers to a fort in New London, Connecticut and to a nearby neighborhood.-Neighborhood:The neighborhood of Fort Trumbull was demolished as part of plan for the economic development of New London. The plan was appealed in a case that reached the US Supreme Court, Kelo v...

 in New London, Connecticut

New London, Connecticut

New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States.It is located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, southeastern Connecticut....

. But when the fort was fully manned in 1902 its status changed to an independent battery. The fort’s main armaments consisted of two Crozier 8 inches (203.2 mm) disappearing guns plus several rapid-fire 5 inches (127 mm) cannon and were divided among three batteries: Wooster, Crawford, and Connell.

Fatal flaw

War games held in 1907 proved the fort had a fatal flaw. Any attacking vessel could approach Fort Mansfield from a “dead angle” along the Rhode Island coast which its long-range 8 inch cannon, did not cover. The installation could be bombarded with impunity and depending on where an invading party landed, it could assault the fort opposed by nothing better than small-arms fire. A report on the war games stated "... I believe I could capture Ft. Mansfield with a fleet of coal barges, equipped with 6-inch rapid fire guns".

Because of this fatal design flaw, the fort was removed from the list of active coastal artillery posts in 1909. By 1911 only 18 men were left to man the post. That dropped to six men in 1916 and that small contingent remained until 1926 when the government placed the land up for sale. With one developer proposing nearby land on Sandy Point to be divided up into some 674 plots, the land was purchased by a private syndicate eager to prevent the land from being used for “cheap little houses” that might affect the exclusive character of Watch Hill. The sale was finalized in 1928.

Demolition

All the government buildings were demolished during the winter of 1928–29 leaving the three concrete gun emplacements behind. Batteries Wooster and Crawford, while overgrown, survive to this day but Battery Connell has succumbed to sea erosion which has pushed the beach back some 200 feet (61 m) since the fort was built. What remains of Connell can sometimes be seen at low tide.

Cleanup

In August 2009, a small group of young adults interested in historical preservation began a cleanup project on Fort Mansfield. Finding roots to be the major source of cracks and deterioration, foliage was cut back. The fort's decay has slowed because of the lack of the roots' pressure against the structure.

While this project proved beneficial in alleviating some of the stresses upon the fort, efforts from the community must occur to maintain the integrity of the constructions.

External links

• Aerial view of the ruins of Fort Mansfield at Google Maps