East Battery | “Forts Useless and Ridiculous”
The silhouette of the East Battery ruin, from across the harbor. [2016, Dunlap]
The ruin lies close to Long Point Light. [2008, Dunlap]
Text last updated in 2015 | During the Civil War, concerned about the Confederate navy trying to blockade the harbor, the federal government erected a three-gun earthwork battery at the eastern tip of Long Point and a five-gun earthwork battery about 1,800 feet to the southwest. Because the Long Point batteries never saw wartime duty, townsfolk called them “Fort Useless” and “Fort Ridiculous.”
They were under the charge of Sgt. John Rosenthal and were not decommissioned until 1873, after which the barracks came across to land at 473 Commercial. Both fortifications are discernible as relatively flat-topped mounds. The East Battery is where the Beachcombers erected their memorial to Staff Sgt. Charles S. Darby.
¶ Republished on 28 December 2023.