Editing Fort Monroe (section)

{{Short description|Moated, six-sided, historical bastion fort in Hampton, Virginia}}
{{For|the historic site in California|Fort Monroe (Yosemite)}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox military installation
|name= Fort Monroe
|partof=[[Harbor Defense Command|Harbor Defenses of Chesapeake Bay]] 1896–1945
|location= 
|coordinates=
| pushpin_map =
| pushpin_mapsize = 
|image= 
|caption= 
|image2=
|caption2=
|type=Headquarters, garrison fort, training center
|code=
|built=
|builder=[[U.S. Army Corps of Engineers]]
|materials=stone, brick, earth
|height=
|used=1823–2011
|demolished= 
|condition= 
|ownership= Federal, State, Local
|open_to_public= Yes
{{Infobox NRHP
| name                           = Fort Monroe National Monument
| embed                          = yes
| nrhp_type                      = nhld
| nocat                          = yes
| nrhp_type2                     = nmon
| designated_other1              = Virginia Landmarks Register
| designated_other1_date         = September 9, 1969<ref name=register>{{cite web|title=Virginia Landmarks Register|url=http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/registers/register_counties_cities.htm|publisher=Virginia Department of Historic Resources|access-date=19 March 2013}}</ref>
| designated_other1_number       = 114-0002
| designated_other1_num_position = bottom
| image                          = Fort Monroe Aerial.jpg
| caption                        = Fort Monroe in 2004
| location                       = [[Hampton, Virginia]]
| coordinates                    = {{coord|37|00|13|N|76|18|27|W|region:US-VA_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
| locmapin                       = Virginia#USA
| area                           = {{convert|565|acre|0}}
| architect                      = [[Simon Bernard]]{{sfn|Weaver II|2018|pp=179–186}}
| architecture                   = [[Seacoast defense in the United States|Third system fort]]{{sfn|Weaver II|2018|pp=179–186}}
| built                          = 1819–1834
| designated_nrhp_type           = December 19, 1960<ref name="nhlsum">{{cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=691&ResourceType=District|title=Fort Monroe|access-date=2008-06-23|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing|publisher=National Park Service|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071229081945/http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=691&ResourceType=District|archive-date=2007-12-29}}</ref>
| designated_nrhp_type2          = November 1, 2011<ref name="DP NatMon">{{cite news|last=Macauley|first=David|title=It's Official - President Obama confirms Fort Monroe park designation|url=http://www.dailypress.com/news/hampton/dp-nws-cp-fort-monroe-proclamation-20111101,0,6400748.story|access-date=1 November 2011|newspaper=Daily Press|date=1 Nov 2011}}{{Dead link|date=December 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
| added                          = October 15, 1966
| refnum                         = 66000912<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2007a}}</ref>
| increase                       = March 9, 2015
| increase_refnum                = 13000708
| website                        = [https://www.nps.gov/fomr/ Fort Monroe National Monument]
}}
|controlledby= 
|garrison=
|current_commander=
|commanders= 
|occupants= 
|battles=[[American Civil War]]<br>[[World War I]]<br>[[World War II]]
|events=
}}
[[File:Fort Monroe tents.jpg|thumb|Temporary tents set up outside the walls of Fort Monroe during the Spanish American War, 1898]]
'''Fort Monroe''' is a former military installation in [[Hampton, Virginia]], at [[Old Point Comfort]], the southern tip of the [[Virginia Peninsula]], United States. It is currently managed by partnership between the Fort Monroe Authority for the Commonwealth of Virginia, the National Park Service, and the city of Hampton as the '''Fort Monroe National Monument'''. Along with [[Fort Wool]], Fort Monroe originally guarded the navigation channel between the [[Chesapeake Bay]] and [[Hampton Roads]]—the natural [[roadstead]] at the confluence of the [[Elizabeth River (Virginia)|Elizabeth]], the [[Nansemond River|Nansemond]] and the [[James River (Virginia)|James]] rivers.

Until disarmament in 1946, the areas protected by the fort were the entire Chesapeake Bay and Potomac River regions, including the water approaches to the cities of Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, Maryland, along with important shipyards and naval bases in the Hampton Roads area. Surrounded by a [[moat]], the six-sided [[bastion fort]] is the largest fort by area ever built in the United States.{{sfn|Weaver II|2018|p=41}}

During the initial exploration by a mission headed by Captain [[Christopher Newport]] in the early 1600s, the earliest days of the [[Colony of Virginia]], the site was identified as a strategic defensive location. Beginning by 1609, defensive fortifications were built at [[Old Point Comfort]] during Virginia's first two centuries. The first was a wooden stockade named Fort Algernourne, followed by other small forts.<ref name=NAFortsHamp1>[https://www.northamericanforts.com/East/varoads.html#hampton Hampton Roads forts at American Forts Network]</ref><ref name=FWikiMon1>[http://www.fortwiki.com/Fort_Monroe Fort Monroe at FortWiki.com]</ref> However, the much more substantial facility of stone that became known as Fort Monroe (and adjacent Fort Wool on an artificial island across the channel) were completed in 1834, as part of the [[Seacoast defense in the United States|third system of U.S. fortifications]]. The principal fort was named in honor of [[President of the United States|U.S. President]] [[James Monroe]].<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ | title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States | publisher=Govt. Print. Off. | author=Gannett, Henry | year=1905 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n128 129]}}</ref>

Although Virginia became part of the [[Confederate States of America]], Fort Monroe remained in [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] hands throughout the [[American Civil War]] (1861–1865).  [[George B. McClellan|Union General George B. McClellan]] landed the [[Army of the Potomac]] at the fort during [[Peninsula campaign|Peninsula campaign of 1862]] of that conflict.  The fort was notable as a historic and symbolic site of early freedom for former [[slavery|slaves]] under the provisions of [[Contraband (American Civil War)|contraband]] policies.

For two years following the war, the former Confederate President, [[Jefferson Davis]], was imprisoned at the fort. His first months of confinement were spent in a cell of the [[casemate]]d fort walls that is now part of its [[Casemate Museum]].

Around the turn of the 20th century, numerous gun batteries were added in and near Fort Monroe under the [[Board of Fortifications|Endicott program]]; it became the largest fort and headquarters of the [[Harbor Defense Command|Harbor Defenses of Chesapeake Bay]].<ref name=FWikiMon1/> In the 19th and 20th centuries it housed artillery schools, including the [[United States Army Coast Artillery Corps|Coast Artillery School]] (1907–1946). The [[Continental Army Command]] (CONARC) (1955–1973) headquarters was at Fort Monroe, succeeded by the [[United States Army Training and Doctrine Command]] (TRADOC) following a division of CONARC into TRADOC and [[United States Army Forces Command]] (FORSCOM) in 1973. CONARC was responsible for all active Army units in the [[continental United States]]. TRADOC was headquartered at the fort from 1973 until it was moved to Fort Eustis in 2011.<ref name=TRFAQ1>[https://web.archive.org/web/20190125020442/https://www.tradoc.army.mil/Organizations/TRADOC-Staff/Command-History/Frequently-Asked-Questions/ FAQ at TRADOC.army.mil]</ref>

Fort Monroe was deactivated September 15, 2011,<ref name="DP Stands Down">{{cite news|title=Fort Monroe Stands Down After 188 Years of Army Service|url=https://www.dailypress.com/2011/09/15/fort-monroe-stands-down-after-188-years-of-army-service/|access-date=16 September 2011|newspaper=The Daily Press|date=15 September 2011|archive-date=3 April 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120403011859/http://articles.dailypress.com/2011-09-15/news/dp-nws-monroe-deactivation-20110915_1_fort-algernourne-fort-monroe-authority-doctrine-command|url-status=live}}</ref> and many of its functions were transferred to nearby [[Fort Eustis]]. Several re-use plans for Fort Monroe are under development in the Hampton community. On November 1, 2011, [[President of the United States|President]] [[Barack Obama]] signed a proclamation to designate portions of Fort Monroe as a [[National monument (United States)|national monument]]. This was the first time that President Obama exercised his authority under the [[Antiquities Act]], a 1906 law to protect sites deemed to have natural, historical or scientific significance.<ref name="DP NatMon" />