Fortress America: The Forts That Defended America, 1600 to the Present

by J. E. Kaufmann, H. W. Kaufmann

Overview

From the earliest colonial settlements to Cold War bunkers, the North American continent has been home to thousands of forts and fortress structures. Fortress America surveys the broad sweep of fortifications throughout North America-from seacoast forts of the late eighteenth century to wooden inland forts built to defend against Native American, English, French, or Spanish attack; from Civil War-era coastal and inland waterways forts to the Great Plains' forts of the Old West; from World War II subterranean bunkers to Cold War concrete missile silos. The text of Fortress America is complemented with never-before-published photographs, and extraordinary drawings, cut-aways, and diagrams illustrating the design and structure of American forts.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780306816345
Publisher:	Da Capo Press
Publication date:	09/10/2007
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	416
Sales rank:	317,326
File size:	24 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

J.E. Kaufmann is the author of six books on fortifications. He and his wife, H.W. Kaufmann, live in San Antonio, Texas. H.W. Kaufmann is the wife of J.E. Kaufmann, the author of six books on fortifications. They live in San Antonio, Texas.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements     6
Prologue     7
New France and Louisiana     13
Fortifying Quebec and Access to the Mouth of the St. Lawrence     16
Forts of the Great Lakes Wilderness     21
The Lower Mississippi and Gulf Coast Forts     26
The Acadia and Lake Champlain/Richelieu River Corridor     31
Fortified Road to the Ohio Valley     36
The British in North America     39
Early English Colonization: The Southern Colonies     41
English and Dutch Colonization North of the Chesapeake     52
Eighteenth-Century New England Frontier and King George's War     60
The French and Indian War: War of the Forts     63
Other Forts of the Thirteen Colonies     87
Indian Uprising of 1763     92
The American Revolution     95
The War for Independence Begins     100
The Delaware River Forts of 1777     108
Defending the Highlands of the Hudson     113
Other Fortified Posts and Cities of the American Revolution     121
Fortifying America: 1783-1815     133
Occupation and Defense of the Northwest Territory     133
Creation of the Army Engineers and the First System of Coastal Defenses     142
The Second System of Coastal Defenses     146
Canada Before the War of 1812     152
The War of 1812     156
Fortifications of the Expanding Frontiers     175
The Frontier and Foreign Encroachment     175
Seminole Wars and the Forts of Florida     192
Wars of Expansion and New Forts on the Frontier     194
The Third System of Coastal Defenses     205
Some Features of Third System Forts     228
The Challenge of the 1850s     230
The American Civil War     235
First Actions: Battles of the Forts     236
Western Theater of War 1862     240
The Eastern Theater of War     250
Failure of the Forts in the Western Theater in 1863     260
Clearing the Coast-1863 to 1865     271
In Defense of Washington D.C.     280
In Defense of Richmond     285
Four Fortresses and the Keys to Victory     293
Post-Civil War Era and Transition     297
Winning the West     297
Canadian Defense Against the United States     304
The Question of Fortifications and Coast Defense     305
The Endicott Board and a New System     311
The End of Isolation and The Big-Gun Fortifications     325
Change in Fortifications and Weapons     325
The Characteristics of Coastal Fortifications until 1920     328
Modernization of the Coastal Defenses after 1920     332
The Lean Years     336
Preparing for War     340
World War II Comes to America     341
America's "Atlantic Wall"     345
From Guns to the Missile Age     369
Spreading the Net     370
Antiaircraft Artillery     377
The Soviet Threat and Missile Defense from 1950s to 1960s     379
Defenses for the Offensive Weapons: the ICBMs     383
New Defense Against Missiles     390
Command, Communication, and Security     391
Appendix     393
Important Forts of the French and Indian War     393
Battles of War of 1812 Involving Fortifications     393
1st and 2nd System Forts 1790-1812     394
Forts of the Bernard/Totten 3rd System     396
Weapons of the Endicott Era for Coast Defense     397
Coastal and Harbor Defenses-1903-1944     397
Harbor Entrance Command Posts 1941 to 1946     401
Major Radars of the Cold War     402
Glossary      403
Bibliography     406
Index     411

Editorial Reviews

Many Americans will be startled to learn that the US has nearly as many old fortifications scattered across its landscape as does Europe. Few of them, it is true, are towering masonry structures like Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, or Fort Mackinac at the head of Lake Huron. Most of these old defenses were hastily constructed of earth and logs during a time of crisis, and the succeeding years have been hard on them. Some of our coastal defense fortresses remain more or less intact, though stripped of their once-fearsome artillery. Other strong points have taken on new identities as hospitals, tuberculosis sanatoria, or government offices. But still, many of the old forts survive and nearly all are a delight to visit. In this book, the Kaufmanns have assembled information about virtually all of these old outposts. The text provides a running commentary on the history of each region, neatly fitting each strongpoint into the larger perspective of the nation's history. Even better, their book abounds in maps, photos, drawings and diagrams, which helps the reader understand exactly why each fortification was designed and located as it was. Occasionally, a reader will discover that one or two favorite historical sites have been shortchanged, there being no diagram or the text being too skimpy. By and large, however, the authors do justice to their subject. This is a book of historical description, and not a travel guide; hence there is seldom much information about the condition of the forts today, if they are suitable for viewing, visiting hours, and the like. It is left to the intrigued reader to make an adventure of scouting out the locations of his particular interest. Age Range: Ages15 to adult. REVIEWER: Raymond Puffer, Ph.D. (Vol. 42, No. 1)

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