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Fort Wool was a seacoast fortification located in the mouth of Hampton Roads approximately one mile south of Fort Monroe. The island fortress was designed by Brigadier General of engineers Simon Bernard, an expatriated Frenchman who had served under Napoleon as his chief engineer, was one of more than forty forts started after the War of 1812 when the British boldly sailed up the Chesapeake Bay to burn the Capital.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 url = http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/regional_review/vol2-2b.htm )〕 Started upon a shoal of ballast stones that were dumped as sailing ships entered Hampton's harbor called Rip Raps, the fort was to have three tiers of casemates and a parapet mounting a total of 232 muzzle-loading cannons, although it never reached this size. Originally named Castle Calhoun for the Secretary of War, John C. Calhoun, Fort Wool was built to maintain a crossfire with Fort Monroe, located directly across the channel, thereby protecting the entrance to the harbor.〔 〕 In 1902, as a result of the Endicott Board's findings,〔 (【引用サイトリンク】 url = http://www.cdsg.org/downloads/46%20WD%20Bd%20of%20Review%2011-26-15.pdf ) 〕 all of the original fort, except 8 casemates, was demolished and new fortifications were constructed. The new armament mounted on five batteries of two to four guns remained in place for decades, although modifications were made from time to time.〔 (【引用サイトリンク】 url = http://www.cdsg.org/reprint%20PDFs/CDList12.pdf ) 〕 Only six of the original three-inch guns remained in 1942, when two were sent to Fisherman Island (Virginia). A modern battery of two new long-range six-inch guns was constructed on top of one of the old Endicott period batteries during World War II. The outmoded fort was finally abandoned by the military in 1953.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/registers/Cities/Hampton/114-0041_Fort_Wool_1969_Final_Nomination.pdf )〕 ==History== Brigadier-general of engineers Simon Bernard was tasked by Secretary of War John C. Calhoun to create or improve fortifications for the protection of vital U.S. ports.〔See "Harbor Defenses of the United States of America" (CDSG website ).〕 Bernard's plan was to build more than forty new forts, including Fort Wool, which he had named Fort Calhoun.〔See "Third System Forts 1820-1867" (CDSG website ).〕 The fort was to have three tiers of casemates and a parapet with a total of 232 muzzle-loading cannons mounted, and was to be manned by a garrison of 1,000 soldiers. It was to built on a 15 acre (61,000 m²) artificial island southeast of Old Point Comfort in Hampton, Virginia. Construction got underway in 1819 when crews started dumping granite boulders into the water. It took four years to bring the rock pile up to the a 6-foot tall island called for in the plans.〔 (【引用サイトリンク】 url = http://www.virginiaplaces.org/chesbay/chesattack.html ) 〕 A controversy soon arose over the stones purchased for the island.〔 (【引用サイトリンク】 url = https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=Y5YbAQAAMAAJ&rdid=book-Y5YbAQAAMAAJ&rdot=1 ) 〕 A nineteen page report sent May 7, 1822 to the House of Representatives from the Military Affairs committee included depositions from individuals alleging that the contract to deliver 150,000 perches of stone at $3.00 per perch awarded to Elijah Mix on July 25, 1818 was fraudulent. Before awarding the contract, inquiries had been made at several quarries, and it was no secret that the government needed lots of stone for the project. The allegation was that the contract was awarded to Mix by General Joseph Swift of the War Department without advertising for bids. While other contracts had been awarded without advertising for bids as was standard procedure before April 1818, in April 1818 the newly reorganized United States Army Corps of Engineers required public notice be given for every contract after that date.〔 (【引用サイトリンク】 url = http://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/clementsmss/umich-wcl-M-1164.1van?view=text ) 〕 Two proposals were received before the contract was awarded to Mix, and two more afterwards. All four of these proposals came in with higher bids than the one Mix offered. Many knowledgeable men agreed that the government had made a good deal, and the contractor had made a bad one for himself.〔 In 1819, the controversy increased when Mix assigned half his contract to Major Christopher Van Deventer, who was chief clerk in the War Department.〔 Major Van Deventer and Mix were married to the daughters of Major Samuel Cooper, a noted Revolutionary War officer. Van Deventer later sold half of his interest to his father-in-law, Major Cooper. Secretary of War Calhoun had advised him that while what was done was not illegal, it “might expose Van Deventer to improper insinuations.” Major Van Deventer deposed that he had no interest in the contract when it was first negotiated nor did he have any influence when the contract was awarded.〔 General Swift deposed that he felt Major Van Deventer had no interest in the contract when it was originally negotiated.〔 Major Cooper and Major Van Deventer sold their shares to Howes Goldsborough & Co. on July 1, 1820.〔〔 (【引用サイトリンク】 url = http://www2.nycbar.org/Publications/record/jan-feb99pp.1.pdf ) 〕 Construction of the fort began in 1826, and after considerable delays caused by subsidence of the island, the first level of casemates was finally completed in 1830. Only ten guns were mounted. Construction continued through 1834, and only half of the second tier was completed. It was then found that Fort Calhoun's foundations had continued settling. A young second lieutenant and engineer in the U.S. Army, Robert E. Lee was transferred there to assist Captain Andrew Talcott, the U.S. Army engineer in charge of the construction of Fort Wool and its larger companion Fort Monroe, across the channel on the mainland. Lee was given the task of stabilizing the island as his first independent command. He found that the island wouldn't hold the weight of the two tiers of casemates and brought more stone in to stabilize it, but the fort never reached its intended size. Lee found the stone foundation under the fort was the problem, and that it would never support the weight of three tiers and parapet of the completed fort.〔Freeman 1997, Chapter 7.〕 Fort Wool also has a little-known association with presidents. President Andrew Jackson, broken hearted after the death of his wife and in frail health, came to Fort Wool in the late 1820s and the 1830s. Jackson made the fort his "White House." Jackson built a hut and would watch ships from on the island. He even made key policy decisions from the fort with cabinet advisers. Ironically President Jackson's Secretary of War John C. Calhoun had become the president's arch rival by this stage, by threatening to pull South Carolina out of the union. Later President John Tyler took sanctuary on the island after the death of his wife. Abraham Lincoln also visited the fort.〔 (【引用サイトリンク】 url = http://articles.dailypress.com/2011-07-04/news/dp-nws-evg-fort-wool-20110704_1_fort-wool-civil-war-anniversary-fort-calhoun ) 〕 Fort Wool even has an association with the actor Sir Alec Guinness, who was grounded in a minefield off the fort in World War II. The comedian Red Skelton also showed up at Fort Wool during the war to entertain troops.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Fort Wool」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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