Open main menu
Home
Random
Recent changes
Special pages
Community portal
Preferences
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Incubator escapee wiki
Search
User menu
Talk
Dark mode
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Editing
Fort Slocum
(section)
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
===Late 19th century through 1916=== As the post on Davids Island grew, in the 1880s the Army invested in new brick construction of more than 20 new buildings, including officers' quarters, enlisted men's barracks, mess halls, hospital buildings, and support facilities.<ref name=FWiki1>[http://www.fortwiki.com/Fort_Slocum_(2) Fort Slocum at FortWiki.com]</ref> It was later converted to a [[coastal artillery]] defense post and was eventually given the name Fort Slocum after Major General [[Henry W. Slocum]], U.S. Volunteers in 1896.<ref name=FWiki1/> Construction of fortifications on the island resulted from the recommendations of the Endicott [[Board of Fortifications]], an 1885 study of America's coastal defenses. The study called for better protection of ports such as [[Harbor Defenses of New York|New York Harbor]], and Davids Island became part of its system of defenses.<ref name=NYMM1/><ref name=FWiki1/> Between 1891 and 1904, artillery batteries were erected at three places on the eastern half of the island: Battery Practice near the southeastern shoreline, with 1870s-era weapons for training personnel for older forts, the state-of-the-art Abbot Quad heavy mortar batteries, Haskin and Overton, mounting a total of 16 [[12-inch coast defense mortar|breech-loading 12-inch mortars]], at the southeast end of the island; and two adjoining medium-range breech-loading rifled gun batteries, Fraser and Kinney, on the northeastern shore.<ref name=NYMM1>{{cite web|url=http://www.dmna.state.ny.us/forts/fortsQ_S/slocumFort.htm|title=Fort Slocum at New York State Military Museum|access-date=10 April 2016}}</ref><ref name=FWiki1/> Battery Practice had at least one 15-inch smoothbore [[Rodman gun]] and two 8-inch [[Rodman gun#Rifled Rodmans|converted rifles]], all muzzle-loading and typical of weapons emplaced in the 1870s. It was disestablished in 1899, although the 15-inch gun remains on the island.<ref name=FWiki1/> Battery Kinney had two [[6-inch gun M1900|6-inch M1900 guns]] on pedestal mounts, and Battery Fraser had two [[5-inch gun M1900|5-inch M1900 guns]] on pedestal mounts.<ref name=FWiki1/><ref name=Berhow208/> (Despite the presence of mis-captioned postcards, including those in the New Rochelle Public Library, there were never large-caliber breech-loading disappearing guns placed at Davids Island.)<ref name=Berhow208>Berhow, p. 208</ref> Battery Haskin was named for [[Joseph A. Haskin]], a general who served in the Mexican War and Civil War, whose son, Major [[William L. Haskin]], commanded Davids Island 1894–1896. Battery Overton was named for Captain Clough Overton, a cavalry officer in the Spanish–American War. Battery Kinney was named for Joseph Kinney, an officer killed in the War of 1812, and Battery Fraser was named for Upton S. Fraser, an officer killed by the Seminoles in 1835.<ref name=FWiki1/> With improved [[dreadnought battleship]]s and the construction of the [[Coast Defenses of Long Island Sound]] at the beginning of the 20th century, these batteries became obsolete, and Ft. Slocum was removed in 1907 from the Artillery District of New York (Coast Defenses of Eastern New York from 1913), leaving [[Fort Totten (Queens)|Fort Totten]] and [[Fort Schuyler]] in that role until 1935.<ref>[http://cdsg.org/old/reprint%20PDFs/CACorg2011.pdf ''Coast Artillery Organization: A Brief Overview'' at the Coast Defense Study Group website]</ref><ref name=Rinaldi165>Rinaldi, pp. 165-166</ref> However, Fort Slocum retained all its guns until World War I.<ref name=Berhow208/> At the start of the 20th Century Davids Island became the East Coast assembly point for units assigned to America's new overseas territories.<ref>[http://militarytimes.com/blogs/outside-the-wire/2011/01/31/historic-fort-slocum-n-y-commemorated-online/ Historic Fort Slocum, N.Y., commemorated online]</ref>
Edit summary
(Briefly describe your changes)
By publishing changes, you agree to the
Terms of Use
, and you irrevocably agree to release your contribution under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 License
and the
GFDL
. You agree that a hyperlink or URL is sufficient attribution under the Creative Commons license.
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)