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Fort Jefferson.
Photo courtesy of VISIT FLORIDA.
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Maritime nations have long relied upon the permanent placement of weaponry
to ward off attacks from the sea. This strategy protected harbors, inlets,
rivers, inland territory and harbor traffic, and supported naval defense power.
To mount these weapons and to house and protect the troops needed to operate and
maintain them, nations built coastal forts.
Coastal forts were built in response to several factors. The terrain surrounding
them dictated their shape and size. The nature of the perceived threat determined
their permanence. But more than anything, forts were built in response to weapons
technology. The location of a fort and the height and thickness of its walls had
to repel whatever artillery could be fired from ships. As long as ships were made
of wood, cannons fired at them from behind earthenworks or masonry walls provided
an effective defense. With introduction of ships constructed of iron and steel,
new, more powerful and accurate cannons had to be mounted in coastal forts.
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Fort Zachary Taylor.
Photo courtesy of the Florida Division of Historical Resources.
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From the beginning, the North American continent required coastal protection,
since early colonists settled along the seaboard. Strategic harbors, inlets
and river deltas, and offshore islands became focal points for commerce and
communication. They also were vulnerable to attack unless defended. Based
on European designs, colonial engineers built coastal forts of earth, wood,
and stone overlooking navigable waters near centers of population. Housing
artillery, ammunition, soldiers, and stores, these forts sometimes changed
hands between nations competing for colonial supremacy. The United States
continued the practice of building, arming, and manning coastal forts,
eventually constructing some of the largest masonry structures of their
kind in the world. Some of these coastal forts have disappeared, some are
preserved as they originally were built, and others have undergone
refurbishing and interpretation to provide us with a glimpse of our maritime past.
The first coastal forts in colonial Florida were made of earth or wood -
plentiful materials at hand for quick construction and defense. These forts
worked against the lesser technology of Native Americans, but were inadequate
against attacks by other Europeans. Early forts were positioned to warn off
competing claimants to Florida; later forts were built to defend settlements,
ports, or naval installations.
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Fort Caroline.
Photo courtesy of the Florida Division of Historical Resources.
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The first fort in Florida, Caroline, was built by the French on the St. Johns River
in 1564. The Spanish responded with wooden forts at St. Augustine in 1565. In 1672,
they replaced these with Castillo de San Marcos, built of coquina rock. By the late
18th century, Florida's forts were being made of brick. During the Civil War, earth
became an important building material again as berms were created to protect cannon
batteries at unfortified coastal locations. Reinforced concrete was the last building
material used before mid-20th century weaponry rendered all of Florida's coastal forts
obsolete. None of the wooden forts remain, although Fort Caroline has been reconstructed.
Twelve coastal fort sites are open to the public today.
America's "System" of Forts
President George Washington asked Congress to fund a series of forts
to protect America's seaports. These "first system" forts primarily were
open earthworks. In the early 1800s, Congress again funded coastal
fortification as the "second system." These structures consisted of open
batteries, masonry-faced earth, and all masonry. Later in the 19th century,
"third system" forts were constructed throughout the United States, including
along the coasts. These were masonry forts, many of which became obsolete
only with the development of aerial bombing technology in World War I.
Additional Fort Information
For we have a covenant with the future,
that has been sealed in blood and sacrifice
and to it we must not fail.
There is nowhere a better example of that sacrifice
than this old Spanish fort, a landmark in the struggle
between European powers for possession of this country.
- Justice B. K. Roberts, 1966 address
at Fort San Marcos de Apalache
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