On March 20, 1794, George Washington signed into law An Act to Provide for the Defense of Certain
Ports and Harbors in the United States. This act created the first series of coastal defense forts
in the United States. It stated that the following ports and harbors be fortified under the direction
of the President of the United States; Portland in the district of Maine, Portsmouth in the state of
New Hampshire, Gloucester, Salem, Marblehead and Boston in the state of Massachusetts,
Newport in the state of Rhode Island, New London in the state of Connecticut, New York,
Philadelphia, Wilmington in the state of Delaware, Baltimore in the state of Maryland, Norfolk
and Alexandria in the state of Virginia, Cape Fear River and Ocrcock Inlet in the state of North
Carolina, Charleston and Georgetown in the state of South Carolina, and Savannah and Saint Mary's
in the state of Georgia. This series of forts construction would begin in 1794. The next day
Congress passed an Act Making Appropriations for the Support of the Military Establishment
of the United States for the Year 1794. $76,000 was appropriated to fortify the 20 ports and harbors
of the United States, including purchasing the land for the forts. On May 9, 1794, George Washington
signed into law an Act Providing for Raising and Organizing a Corps of Artillerists and Engineers.
These men would man the new coastal defense forts. They would be voluntary enlistments
for a term of three years, and they would be led by a lieutenant colonel,
who would command the Corps of Artillerists and Engineers. The lieutenant colonel and two other
officers would command four battalions of artillerists and engineers. Each battalion
would have a command staff of three officers which would be commanded by a major. Each battalion would
have four companies. Each company would have five officers and 62 enlisted for a total of 67 men.
Therefore the entire Corps of Artillerists and Engineers would be 1087 men. Also on May 9, 1794,
George Washington signed into law an Act Supplementary to an Act to Provide for the Defense
of Certain Ports and Harbors in the United States. This act added the city of Annapolis
in the state of Maryland to be fortified. On June 9, 1794, George Washington signed into law an Act
Making Certain Appropriations for Certain Purposes Therefore Expressed. This act
provided an additional thirty thousand dollars for the building of forts, because Congress had
realized they had underfunded this effort. George Washington had a problem when it came to building
these coastal defense forts. America did not have trained engineers to build these forts,
but because of the French Revolution there were a number of French officers
living in the United States that had the skills of an engineer to help construct these forts.
So George Washington hired seven french engineers to help construct these forts. In Portland Maine,
they repaired the enclosed ruins of Fort Allen giving it stone walls filled with earth.
In Portsmouth, New Hampshire, they repaired the ruins of an old colonial fort named Fort William and
Mary and renamed it Fort Constitution. This fort was made of masonry walls and sod. In Gloucester
Massachusetts, they rebuilt the ruins of Fort Point, but this was never named and no money was
appropriated after 1795. In Salem Massachusetts, they rebuilt the ruins of a colonial fort
named Fort William. This fort was made of masonry. It was later renamed Fort Pickering. In Marblehead,
they also rebuilt the ruins of an old colonial fort named Fort Sewall.
It was built of masonry. In Boston Harbor, they only made limited repairs to Castle
William outside of Boston, because the local authorities were using the site as a prison.
It wouldn't be improved until 1799, when it became Fort Independence.
In the harbor of Newport Rhode Island, they refurbished the colonial Fort Washington.
This fort was later renamed fort Walcott in 1798. They also constructed a battery at Holland's Ferry
at the end of Rhode Island. In the port of New London Connecticut, they repaired the ruins of Rort
Trumbull. In New York Harbor, they refurbished Fort Jay on Governor's Island. The drawing you see here
was actually the result of upgrades to the fort that took place in 1798
to 1800. A battery at the tip of Manhattan was also constructed in this first series of fortifications.
For the harbor of Philadelphia Pennsylvania, they reconstructed the fort that was on Mud Island. This
fort was later renamed Fort Mifflin. In the port of Wilmington Delaware, no fort was ever built.
In the harbor of Baltimore a star fort was constructed of earth and wood. This battery would
later be named Fort McHenry. In Annapolis Maryland, some construction was begun but never completed.
In the port of Alexandria Virginia, just below the town on Jones Point some construction was done but
never completed. In the harbor of Norfolk two forts were constructed; Fort Norfolk and Fort Nelson on
opposite sides of the river. Both forts were built of dirt, sod, and wood. This drawing of Fort Nelson
built on the ruins of the Revolutionary War Fort Nelson clearly shows the new construction.
For Ocracock Inlet in North Carolina a fort on Beacon Island was planned, but due to the
remote nature of the location, no fort was ever completed. On the Cape Fear River in North Carolina,
a colonial fort below Wilmington North Carolina was rebuilt as Fort Johnston. These drawings of
the fort clearly showed the construction of the original fort of earth and wood between the river
and the later construction. In the port of Georgetown South Carolina, no fort was ever built.
In the port of Charleston South Carolina, which was one of the most important ports in the south,
four forts were built; Fort Moultrie, on Sullivan's Island, Fort Johnson on James Island, Fort
Pinkney later called Castle Pinkney, and Fort Mechanic in the town of Charleston.
For the port of Savannah Georgia, Fort Greene was built on Cockspur Island at the mouth of the river.
This fort was built of earth and wood. For the Saint Mary's River a small earth and wood fort was
built. It was built near the settlement of Saint Mary's at the mouth of the river at Point Peter.
These forts represented the first series of forts built by the United States in 1794 and 1795.