Fort Standish (Plymouth, Massachusetts)

Fort Standish was a fort built in 1863 for the American Civil War on Saquish Head in Plymouth, Massachusetts.[1][2] It was named for Myles Standish, military leader of the Plymouth Colony in the 1620s, and augmented the nearby Fort Andrew on Gurnet Point. It was designed and constructed under the supervision of Major Charles E. Blunt of the United States Army Corps of Engineers. The fort had five gun emplacements with five 8-inch smoothbore guns, along with a bombproof shelter, two magazines, and a well. Outside the fort were a barracks, officers' quarters, and a mess hall.[3][4] From January to June 1865 the fort was garrisoned by the 27th Unattached Company of Massachusetts militia.[5]

Fort Standish
Saquish Head, Plymouth, Massachusetts
Fort Standish Location in Massachusetts Fort Standish Fort Standish (the United States)
Coordinates	41°59′43.13″N 70°37′53.85″W
Type	Coastal defense
Site information
Owner	private
Open to the public	no
Condition	earthworks remain
Site history
Built	1863
In use	1863–1870
Materials	earthworks
Battles/wars	American Civil War

The fort was placed in caretaker status following the Civil War, remaining so at least through World War I.[4] The military reservation was purchased by the federal government and declared inactive in 1870. Reportedly, the fort and/or the reservation were used in the Spanish–American War and World War I.[6] The land was sold in 1925 to a private buyer.[1]

See also

• Seacoast defense in the United States
• List of coastal fortifications of the United States
• List of military installations in Massachusetts

References

1. "Massachusetts - Fort Standish (1)". American Forts Network. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
2. Heitman, Francis B. (1994) [1903]. Historical Register And Dictionary Of The United States Army: 1789-1903, vol. 2 (Reprint. ed.). Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Pub. Co. p. 547. ISBN 080631401X.
3. Manuel, p. 51
4. "Project Fact Sheet, Formerly Used Defense Sites, for the former Fort Standish Military Reservation, Plymouth, MA; Project Number D01MA051901". Defense Environmental Restoration Program for Formerly Used Defense Sites Ordnance and Explosive Waste. US Army Corps of Engineers. 13 November 1995. Archived from the original on 3 May 2002. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
5. Unattached Companies Massachusetts Vol Militia at CivilWarArchive.com, from Dyer's Compendium
6. Roberts, p. 411

• Manuel, Dale A. (Summer 2019). "Major C.E. Blunt's Other Civil War Forts". Coast Defense Journal. Vol. 33 no. 3. Mclean, Virginia: CDSG Press.
• Roberts, Robert B. (1988). Encyclopedia of Historic Forts: The Military, Pioneer, and Trading Posts of the United States. New York: Macmillan. ISBN 0-02-926880-X.