Gerald Butler - The Military History of Bostons Harbor Islands

This construction of a typical preCivil War fort shows granite blocks being prepared, rail carts for moving blocks to the construction area, and horses for power. A gin pole, or derrick, used to move the granite blocks can be seen on the left.

This 1885 photograph of Fort Independence shows the garrison soldiers in formation with rifles and bayonets fixed. In the foreground, four officers can be seen with their swords lowered at

rest. In the background, atop the ramparts, a typical preand postCivil War seacoast cannon can be seen.

To date, this is the only known photograph taken inside Fort Independence during the Civil War. The military unit designs on the parade ground depict Union Army units that served at the fort.

Edgar Allan Poe enshrined Fort Independence in American literature, using material learned during his eight-month service there with Company H of the 1st U.S. Artillery. On May 26, 1827, Poe enlisted under the name Edgar A. Perry at Castle Island. One off-duty summer evening, he heard the legend that had grown up around the fatal Christmas Day duel of Light Artillery Lts. Robert F. Massie and Gustavus Drane, 1817. Massie, a popular fellow, and Drane, a disagreeable character, had quarreled on Christmas Eve. Fueled by alcohol, the quarrel escalated into a duel the following dawn. Accompanied by their seconds, Massie and Drane chose their weapons and fought a short distance from the forts main gate. Massie was mortally wounded. Neither of the seconds would testify against Drane and he was transferred. Massies fellow officers subscribed for a memorial obelisk which is now placed at Fort Devens, Devens, Massachusetts.

In the legend, a group of officers and trusted enlisted men deal out a different justice to the nameless and disfavored victor of the duel. Feigning friendship, officers and men take turns getting the duelist insensibly intoxicated and wall him up alive in an unused niche deep within the fort. Private Poe captured the terror of this legend in The Cask of Amontillado, first published in Godeys Ladys Book in November 1846. (Drawing by Gerald Butler.)

In 1884, a group of 13th Massachusetts Regiment Civil War veterans who had served at Fort Independence during the early summer of 1861 returned for a reunion. Here, six of them are seen outside the main entrance of the fort.

In this photograph, the same group of veterans are seen inside the fort, displaying a sign that proclaims this is where they were quartered during the early summer of 1861.

This remarkable view of Fort Winthrop on Governors Island in the late 19th century was taken from atop Fort Independence. In the center of the island the huge granite keep of Fort Winthrop can be seen. This area is now one of Logan International Airports busiest runways.

This view of Fort Winthrops parapet shows a Rodman smoothbore cannon on its carriage. Adjacent are two unmounted cannon tubes, minus carriages. The weapons were probably never mounted at Fort Winthrop.

The entrance to Fort Warren on Georges Island appears in this 1865 Civil War view. Photographed from near the wharf, the guardhouse and sentry box can easily be seen in the background. The side of the granite fort (Bastion D) visible is the location of the Civil War Hospital.

Although not photographed during the Civil War, this late-19th-century photograph taken from the wharf shows the massiveness of the fort as well as the beautiful granite architecture designed by Col. Sylvanus Thayer.

This Civil War era photograph shows a formal view of the entrance to Fort Warren and its guardhouse. The earth ramp in the background led to the bridge (behind the sentry and sentry box) that, in turn, went over the dry moat and into the sallyport, or main entrance of the fort proper. The sallyport was protected by a drawbridge, which, when raised, lowered a Portcullis (gate) that effectively sealed-off the fort against invaders.

One of the finest Civil War views of Fort Warren, this March 1864 photograph shows a formal formation and review of Union troops on the parade ground. Most of the forts guns have not been mounted and the ramparts are mostly vacant. The background areawhere the three

flights of stairs are visibleis Bastion B. This is the area of the fort purportedly visited by the Black Widow.