Christopher Klein - The Boston Harbor Islands: Discovering the Citys Hidden Shores

Demilune on Fort Warren.

By 1825, however, heavy erosion and the sale of sand and gravel to passing ships in need of ballast had diminished Georges Island to half of its original size. The first act taken by the federal government after it purchased the island, therefore, was to build a massive seawall to protect it from further disappearing. By 1833, construction on the fort began in earnest. Fort Warrens ingenious (and very European) design was the brainchild of Sylvanus Thayer, an early superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy known as the Father of West Point. (Around Boston, he is also remembered as the founder of Thayer Academy in Braintree.) Though the fort was neither attacked nor ever required to fire its cannons, Thayers design, which incorporated impenetrable oak doors, portcullises, and a tremendous amount of armament, ensured it would have been ready. The fort was named in honor of Dr. Joseph Warren, a patriot hero who died in the Battle of Bunker Hillthough the name was actually transferred from an existing fort on Governors Island, which eventually vanished from the map when it was incorporated into Logan Airport.

It would take decades for teams of stonemasons, carpenters, blacksmiths, and other laborers to complete this massive construction project, which was constantly plagued by delays in appropriations and a lack of skilled labor (not an entirely unfamiliar saga to present-day Bostonians). When the military originally purchased Georges Island, it was composed of two drumlins, a topography similar to the East Head of Peddocks Island. Though the design of the fort took advantage of the islands landscape by incorporating the two hills into earthwork protection for the fort, some resculpting had to occur. Lowering and moving these hills in order to accommodate the fort was a considerable task, especially since the work was done by hand, using 536 picks and shovels and 406 wheelbarrows. Moving the granite blocks used to build the forts twelve-foot-thick foundation walls was no easy feat either. Quarried at Cape Ann and Quincy, the granite blocks were unloaded onto carts at the islands dock, pulled uphill by oxen, and lifted into place by large derricks. It took so long to build Fort Warren that by the time the Civil War began, the fort was still not fully functional, and its defensive design was considered virtually obsolete.

Union soldiers stationed at Fort Warren during the early days of the war are credited with composing the lyrics to the famous marching song John Browns Body, which was sung to a tune from an old Methodist revivalist hymn that began, Say, brothers, will you meet us? According to some accounts, the song may not have been originally composed to honor the real John Brown, the famed abolitionist leader who raided Harpers Ferry, but to poke fun at a soldier at Fort Warren who shared the same name. Regardless, the men of the Massachusetts Infantry who trained at Fort Warren carried the song with them into battle, and its popularity quickly spread through the Union ranks. The rhythm and memorable chorus of John Browns Body made it a natural marching song. When Julia Ward Howe heard Union troops singing the song while marching into battle, she was inspired to write an alternative set of lyrics. Those words, combined with the original melody, became an American anthem: The Battle Hymn of the Republic.

A little more than six months after the first shots were fired at Fort Sumter, the federal government decided to transport Confederate prisoners to Fort Warren, which was under the command of Colonel Justin Dimick. The veteran officer was told to ready the fort for the arrival of 150 prisoners, so he was understandably shocked when, on Halloween in 1861, a boatload of more than eight hundred men docked at the island. Fort Warren was overrun and ill-prepared, which resulted in food rations and prisoners sleeping on floors. A newspaper account from November 1861 reported that when the prisoners arrived at Fort Warren pity rather than the hatred of the visitors was excited by the sad spectacle. Bostonians responded by donating food, beds, and other supplies to assist the Confederate prisoners, hoping that their proper treatment might inspire equal compassion toward Union prisoners of war. Additionally, these acts of generosity bolstered the moral high ground of abolitionists.