The Harbor Defenses of Boston was a United States Army Coast Artillery Corps harbor defense command. It coordinated the coast defenses of Boston, Massachusetts from 1895 to 1950, beginning with the Endicott program. These included both coast artillery forts and underwater minefields. The command originated circa 1895 as the Boston Artillery District, was renamed Coast Defenses of Boston in 1913, and again renamed Harbor Defenses of Boston in 1925.
History
Early Boston forts
Colonial period
Boston Harbor's principal coastal fort of the colonial era was Castle William, whose site was first fortified in 1634 and called "the Castle" until 1692, when it was renamed for William III, the King of England at the time. It is one of the oldest continuously fortified sites in the northeastern United States; however, the site of Fort William and Mary near Portsmouth, New Hampshire was fortified at least two years previously. The fort was rebuilt and expanded many times (six times prior to the American Revolution, once during it, and twice afterward), and in 1797 was named Fort Independence. The fort is on Castle Island, which was connected to the mainland by a causeway in 1928.
Revolutionary War
The major event in the Boston area in the first year of the American Revolution was the Siege of Boston from 19 April 1775 to 17 March 1776. The Continental Army under George Washington besieged British forces in the city. The British built several forts as a result, notably on Governor's Island and Noddle's Island. In January 1776 artillery captured at Fort Ticonderoga in upstate New York was brought to the Boston area under Henry Knox, providing the Patriot forces with more and larger cannon than they previously had. In the first week of March these weapons were used to engage the enemy. The turning point was the capture and fortification of Dorchester Heights on 5 March, allowing the Continental Army to bombard the British fleet in the harbor. The British evacuated Boston on 17 March under a truce, taking the ships carrying their army to Halifax, Nova Scotia. However, they damaged and destroyed Castle William and its ordnance as best they could, to deny its use to the Patriots.
Patriot forces occupied and rebuilt the British forts in the area to the best of their abilities, including Castle William (also called Fort Adams) and the forts on Governor's and Noddle's Islands. A new fort was built in 1776 on Telegraph Hill in Hull and named Fort Independence. In 1778-1780 a force of French Marines from D'Estaing's fleet greatly expanded the fort (probably assisted by Patriot forces), supervised by Chief Engineer du Portail, a French military engineer officer assisting the Continental Army at General Washington's direction.
1783-War of 1812
In 1794 Castle William/Fort Adams was repaired to some extent. In 1797 or 1799 (references vary) President John Adams visited the fort. At that time it was renamed Fort Independence and a complete rebuilding was projected. The fort in Hull lost the name and was called either the Allerton Battery or "the French fort" afterwards. The name "Fort Adams" went to a fort in Newport, Rhode Island completed in 1799. The newly christened Fort Independence was rebuilt 1801-1803 under the first system of US fortifications and was designed by French-born engineer officer Jean Foncin. It had 42 guns in the fort, with two outer batteries for six guns each, and could house two companies of about 100 men each, with an external wooden barracks for six additional companies. In 1808-1812 Fort Warren (renamed Fort Winthrop in 1834) was built on Governor's Island under the second system of US fortifications, with 12 guns in the fort and 20 guns in two water batteries. After the outbreak of the War of 1812 the fort on Noddle's Island was rebuilt with state resources as Fort Strong, named for Governor Caleb Strong.