Polaski Leo K. - Portsmouth Harbors Military and Naval Heritage

This book could never have been written without the generous assistance of individuals at the Portsmouth areas major historical archives who opened their collections to us, vastly added to our knowledge of military, naval, and civilian activities, and encouraged our undertaking at every step. Tara Webber, Strawbery Banke Museums registrar and librarian, along with James Dolph and Walter Ross of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Museum, were unfailingly supportive, and both collections produced photographic treasures we are still marveling about. Wayne Manson, director of the Kittery Historical and Naval Museum, added greatly to our information about the shipyard and naval activities. Rebecca Ernest and Nancy Mason, Special Collections librarians at the University of New Hampshires Dimond Library, welcomed us every time. Pam Cullen of the New Castle Town Hall kindly provided repeated access to the towns historical photograph collection. Nicole Cloutier, Special Collections librarian at the Portsmouth Public Library, and Catherine Beaudoin, director of the Dover Public Library, were generous with their time and resources. History writer Richard E. Winslow III collegially researched two difficult questions and shared his findings with us.

We wish to recognize the generosity of the following individuals, working from more distant locations: Bolling Smith, for sharing the relevant photographs from his collection of period images; Terrence C. McGovern Jr., for assisting an aerial photography trip; National Park Service writer and historian Carole Perrault, for contributing photographic and textual material she had acquired for a Fort Constitution project; and Dr. Joel W. Eastman and Gregory J. Hagge, for resolving a particularly troublesome point in our research. Additional photographs and information most useful to the book were found at the National Archives and the Library of Congress. Finally, thanks beyond measure are due to Wynn S. Shugarts, who ably served as recorder, researcher, wordsmith, photo handler, and supporter.

Photographs are keyed as to source by the following notations: Bolling Smith Collection (BS); Corps of Engineers Historical Section (EM); Glen Williford Collection (GW); Kittery Historical and Naval Museum (KM); Library of Congress (LC); National Archives, Washington/College Park (NA); New Castle Historical Collection (NC); University of New Hampshire (NH); National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NO); National Archives, Waltham Regional Branch (NW); Portsmouth Public Library (PL); Pete Payette (PP); Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Museum (PS); and Strawbery Banke Museum (SB).

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One

AT SHORT RANGE
THE MUZZLELOADING ERA

The fine natural harbor created at the mouth of the Piscataqua River was attractive for early settlement and commercial development, including the mast trade. The British colonists began fortifications as early as 1631. This first work and a stronger one 30 years later were located on the New Hampshire side at Great Island (the present New Castle Island). After additional stores and cannon were shipped there, a much-enlarged work of the 1690s was named Fort William & Mary, after the reigning monarchs. By 1721, this site was complemented by a work on the Maine shore at Kittery Point, named Fort William.

During times of threat, other sites were also developed for temporary defensive fortifications. These were most likely simple, militia-manned earthworks and could be found at Jerrys Point, otherwise called Jaffreys Point, and on some of the upriver islands, such as Fort Sullivan on Seaveys Island and Fort Washington on Peirces Island, built during the Revolutionary War. A few of these sites were periodically repaired and then utilized in the War of 1812.

American defenses commenced when the state of New Hampshire transferred the site of Fort William & Mary to the federal government in 1791. The work there, renamed Fort Constitution in 1801, was an important American coast defense position until after World War II. In 1808, the fortified location on the Kittery side was obtained; soon named Fort McClary, it became one of the essential defenses of Portsmouth. While rebuilt and modified several times, the forts had both a similar general structure and armament. They consisted mostly of a raised earthen rampart, faced with either stone or brick masonry. The ordnance consisted of heavy, smoothbore, muzzleloading guns made of iron, typically firing a 24-pound or 32-pound round shot. Fort Constitution usually had 20 to 40 such weapons and smaller Fort McClary, fewer than a dozen.

At certain times throughout this period, the harbor forts were garrisoned and saw active defense, such as during the War of 1812, while at others, just a single caretaker minded the gunpowder store.

The most frequently fortified site in Portsmouth Harbor is Fort Point on Great Island, now known as New Castle Island. Though at times in a state of virtual abandonment, this location possessed important defenses almost continuously from 1631 to 1950. The point projects into the channel of the Piscataqua River, where the river changes course, forcing vessels to slow for the turn. (GW.)

The first record of a fortification at Fort Point dates from 1631 and reveals nothing more than a simple earthen redoubt or fort house. Substantial rebuilding occurred in the mid-1660s and the early 1690s, when the fort was named Castle William & Mary, after the British monarchs who funded its extensive improvements. The notches in the wall of the work, as seen from the Piscataqua River, are embrasures, one for each of the approximately 60 cannon of the intended armament. (KM.)

Large-scale masonry walls were constructed around the forts perimeter in 1705. This early plan, originally from the collection of the New Hampshire Historical Society, reveals the forts outline as of that date. Projecting bastions gave additional protection to the landward approaches across the narrow neck of land. (KM.)

Royal Governor John Wentworth presided over the province of New Hampshire from 1767 to 1775. In mid-December 1774, two separate parties of local patriots, under the command of John Langdon and John Sullivan, overcame the garrison at Fort William & Mary and carried off the forts gunpowder supply, which was desperately needed by the revolutionaries. These raids were among the first organized acts by the rebels, and as such, firmly connect the fort on Great Island to American history. (LC.)