The Light Infantry - Rifles Debate - 1835-1836 and 1850s

Just finished a reading of Wayne Wei-siang Hsieh's
West Pointers and the Civil War: The Old Army in War and Peace, UNC Press Books, 2009
(linked preview at google books).

Hseih's work is multi-faceted; exploring and assessing a number of cross currents which impacted the development of a professional, albeit small, regular military force - "the old army" of the antebellum period 1815-1860. But, as a study of an institution, to my mind it has one glaring omission and that is the "old army's" organizational challenges, development and growth. It is not unless one reads the author's footnote on page 201 that we learn his real de-limiting focus
"...as a study of, more than anything else, an institution, this work will tend to focus on the narrower world of the history of tactics, and how those tactics were then used in specific circumstances. Strategic issues are, however, inherently unavoidable." p. 201

Although a West Pointer, a lover of most Civil War and/or any Old U.S. Army history, I found the title misleading, then perplexing, and at last disingenuous.

From a "worth to the profession" perspective, a more apt title might have been "The Old Army in War and Peace; Tactical and Strategic Continuities, Discontinuities and Transformation 1815-1865." Admittedly this is a title less conducive to sales! But I digress.

The book amply discusses "Light infantry" tactics and method, within the context of the "gradual dispersal of infantry formations that had occurred over the course of the antebellum period..."p. 197.
Thereby, I found much of value on offer; and germane to other posts here on the "MMHRI" blog.

Specifically, the author's reference to several Army and Navy Chronicle articles spurred my further reading and research.

Hsieh writes;
"The leading historian of Civil War minor tactics has made much of the increased movement rates found in Hardee's tactics, which he connects closely to the arrival of the rifle-musket:...The figures for Hardee's tactics do seem significant in comparison to the 1835 regulations [Scott's],...but they do not seem so striking when compared to the 1825 tactics...American officers had considered the use of quicker infantry movements long before the arrival of the rifle-musket. Indeed, the adoption of Scott's 1835 tactics also gave rise to a wide-ranging professional debate withing the American military establishmnet over the merits of the new tactics. The biggest foe of Scott's 1835 tactics, the author "Clairfait" in the Army and Navy Chronicle (a short-lived professional journal), denounced Scott's tactics in April 1835 on the grounds that, although light infantry methods were especially well suited to the American service, the new 1835 tactics mandated an inferior light infantry system. Indeed, the Army and Navy Chronicle reprinted a piece in 1836 that saw the early disasters of the Seminole War as caused partly by the absence of a specialized light infantry corps in the American Army. Clairfait was also not alone in believing the 1825 light infantry drill superior to the new tactics; "Young Fogram" backed his ideas in his own article in late August 1835....Clairfait's statements did not go unopposed. "Hindman" mounted a vigorous defense of the new tactics and rejected Clairfait's ideas about training pure light nfantry with no background in close-order tactics..."p. 43-45

A major omission, as with the 1835-1836 "New Infantry" debaters and later tactical theorists of the antebellum period Hsieh discusses, is a lack of mention or seeming awareness of the organizational and tactical precedence (Tactics, Techniques and Procedures) established by the Rifle Regiment(s) of 1808-1821, or the Voltigeurs and Foot Riflemen Regiment of the Mexican War - a French inspired and combined arms intended formation (legion). In addition, there is little consideration of the purposes and efforts surrounding the formation of the 1st and 2nd Dragoons (and dismounting of the 2nd) and the contentious debate surrounding the formation of the Regiment of Mounted Riflemen (actually two regiments of riflemen were proposed) in 1846. In light of his admission on page 201, I later learned "why."

For example, in 1837, then Major Bennet Riley informed one Congressman:

"It is my opinion that a rifle regiment should be added to the peace establishment, as two wars have shown us that rifleman are the most efficient troops that were ever deployed by our country. Where can you find troops more efficient than Morgan's riflemen of the Revolution or Forsyth's riflemen of the last war with Great Britain?" Camp Sabine, Louisiana, August 28, 1837

American State Papers - House of Representatives, 25th Congress, 2nd Session Military Affairs: Volume 7, beginning at the bottom of page 957-958

Defence of the western frontier.--Correspondence with officers of the army relative to the establishment of military posts and ... 956
Riley, Major Bennet, relative to the establishment of military posts and defence of the western frontier.--Letter of ... 957

See excerpts below from other distinguished officers, Gaines, Kearney, and Kingsbury

See also the 1846 debates surrounding the "bill to raise two regiments of riflemen at:
Congressional Globe: Index to Appendix 29th Congress, 1st Session:

arranged by page number:

"The Army and Oregon" Page 124
(also at
"The Army and Oregon," THE NATIONAL REGISTER, 1846, p. 295)
http://books.google.com/books?id=XHwFAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA295

McClernand, J. A., a Representative from Illinois--on the bill to raise a regiment of mounted riflemen, ... 420

Riflemen, remarks in the House of Representatives on the bill to raise two regiments of riflemen, by--
Mr. Haralson, of Georgia, ... 476
Mr. Yell, of Arkansas, ... 549
Mr. Gentry, of Tennessee, ... 551
Mr. Tilden, of Ohio, ... 564
(Speech of Mr. D. R. Tilden, of Ohio, on the bill to raise two regiments of riflemen and for other purposes: delivered in the House of Representatives, U.S. March 24, 1846)
http://books.google.com/books?id=LTwuAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover

Levin, Lewis C., a Representative from Pennsylvania-on the bill for raising a regiment of mounted riflemen, concerning the enlistment of foreigners in the army, ... 605

Campbell, W. W., a Representative from New York on the bill to raise a regiment of mounted riflemen, concerning the proposition to limit the enlistment and appointment of officers and soldiers to "Native Americans," ... 619

Memoirs of John Quincy Adams: comprising portions of his diary from 1795 to 1848, by John Quincy Adams, 1877 (see pages 229, 252, and 255 concerning political maneuverings of the bill)
http://books.google.com/books?id=_nwsAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover

"REPORT OF MAJOR GENERAL SCOTT.
Report of the General-in-Chief of the Army, accompanying the Report of the Secretary of War..."
(omitted from Sec Wars Report Appendix in the online Congressional Globe 2nd Session December 2, 1850 to March 3, 1851)
Strykers American register and magazine, Volume 5- pp. 495-496
House documents, otherwise published. as Executive documents: by United States. Congress. House, p. 114-115

Hsieh correctly notes that the old army's "...preference for Western nation-state adversaries, as opposed to Indian fighting, would mark the regular army throughout the century. " p. 19
[note the use of the academic "Western nation-state" reference in contrast to the actual "Western"threat - the Indians who were actually in our West!] He adds that "the army "drew on Old World practice for the New World army they were trying to create."p. 23
This statement is also correct; but what is with this new introduction of terminology of "Old World - New World" - as if 200+ years of Colonial European settlement and wars - and 40 years (1776-1815) had left no legacy on the Continental Army, and its follow-on U.S. Army?

Hsieh ignores his own injunction to not read too much into the future (the Mexican or Civil War) at this point. In a sweeping analysis he argues that the regular army's "three combat arms along with a functioning staff system represented a bare minimum of organizational competence which the United States had not possessed in 1812, despite having thirty years of peace after the Treaty of Paris to prepare for the War of 1812. The United States, then fighting a war on its own soil, had found the time to recover with respect to Great Britain; however, fighting a war of conquest on foreign soil thirty years after the Treaty of Ghent, Polk could not have afforded the two years of bungling allowed to President James Madison. In short there was nothing automatic about the creation of a competent regular army after 1815. Indeed, the officers of the old army deserve much of the credit for the creation of the three combat arms...Professionally minded officers went to the time and trouble of translating foreign manuals, sitting on tactics boards, commenting on proposed tactical manuscripts, and even traveling to Europe to collect and adapt the professional expertise of the Old World [ugh! again]...The old army persevered, however, and in 1846 the United States could boast of an army far better prepared for a European style war at the commencement of hostilities than any other previous army in the history of the republic. What makes this achievement of the regular army even more impressive is that it spent most of this period engaged in taxing frontier duties very different from its hard-won reformulation of Old World [ughx3!] military institutions.
Some historians have criticized the regular army for refusing to devote much professional thought or discussion to Indian fighting, but in the regular's defense no Indian force could replicate the British sack of Washington. [my italics - comment before] pp. 35-36

See the above reference to "Correspondence with officers of the army relative to the establishment of military posts and defence of the western frontier," as just one example of the thoughts that went into western defense - the fact that Congress and the Army's own Eastern (non-frontier), bureau fiefdom apparatus - blocked expenditures of needed moneys and force enlargement and restructuring is the real culprit behind the Army's lack of a coherent Western strategy, force structure, and competent tactical approach.

Hsieh acknowledges that; "Most forward-thinking regular army officers tended to view the introduction of the rifle-musket before the outbreak of the Civil War as an evolutionary development within the light infantry tradition of European and American practice..."p.194

But he could have added here the corresponding visionaries who argued for the combination of enhanced mobility and firepower at the beginnings of the old army, and with results in the 1830s, which resulted in the dragoon's and "the dragoon tactics" he later applauds in his concluding assessment of the Civil War:
"The Federal cavalry after Gettysburg, and earlier in the western theater, had evolved into a force that used its horses for greater mobility but frequently fought on foot, although saber charges remained in use. When combined with the Spenser repeater, the new dragoon tactics created a potent offensive striking force for the Union Army"...but then rightly criticizes Sheridan for not conducting screening and reconnaissance.p. 194-195
J H Wilson's is mentioned for his reform efforts but why not his sweeping 1865 Cavalry Raid through Alabama and Georgia?

As concerns breech loaders and repeaters..the Ordnance bureau refused to consider them as a legitimate alternative well into the war. Breech loaders were by no means "new"and GIVEN government and Army support to entrepreneurs and armories, could have been advanced in design, development and fielding, well before the Civil War and perhaps even in time for the Mexican war - see below.

Nevertheless, the real problem I have with Hsieh analysis, is that he has a limited view of what constitutes "professionalism" insofar as the regular army is concerned. I would not argue that the innovators or even the tactical manual translator's etc., were not professional...but those who sought to have and develop on hand a more effective, efficient and hard-hitting frontier fighting force, even constabulary, because that was their given mission at the present, stymied time and time again, had a very real and tangible incentive beyond developing a force for the future. An efficient and capable force was needed to minimize the cost in lives (on both sides), and money. These realists and pragmatists struggled against a regular army mindset that could never adapt to the frontier REALITY it faced or develop a regular-militia relationship that transcended cultural animosities. The fact that the Army was good enough and well led enough, yes, even brilliantly by Scott - as well as lucky enough to face badly led Mexicans, in addition to being favored by good fortune at some critical moments - as correctly adjudged by Hsieh - can also be said IF that army had been a better organized and trained regular frontier force that it was obviously not. The Army of Occupation and Observation drilled enough to make up for any previous deficit. Scott later marched onto the Halls of Montezuma with regulars blooded by Taylor, and new regular regiments formed in 1847 (ten) that had drilled but few months before, not to mention some fine remaining volunteer units that all proved their mettle in the "nation-state to nation state"fighting.
So, there was no "professional" excuse (outside of Congressional miserliness and cultural antipathy) for the army to be as ineffective an irregular fighting force as it was prior to fighting on foreign soil. A non-interventionist could easily argue that they need never have been trained for such fighting in the first place - the war was a war of choice - not imposition.

As for "but in the regular's defense no Indian force could replicate the British sack of Washington.":
Outgunned, out maneuvered and outfought by the Indians, NO British force could have replicated the Little Big Horn Massacre (Defeat) of Custer's 7th Cavalry!
OR the far more bloodier Defeat (Massacre) inflicted on General St Clair at the 1791 Battle of the Wabash (623 soldiers killed or captured-952total casualties) - "The Worst Defeat in the History of the U.S. Army" - after the Continentals had defeated the British and before we faced the them again in 1812-1815.

Moving on, Hsieh also provides a compelling analysis of Bvt. Lt. Colonel William J. Hardee's and Lt. Cadmus M. Wilcox's doctrinal contributions in the 1850s to the development of light infantry.

Hardee, he notes, "...chose the manual of the Chasseurs a Pied [French "elite light infantry"] as his model..."p. 78

Hsieh pointedly affirms that: "In their original formulation, Hardee's tactics were never supposed to be a complete replacement for Scott's 1835 infantry tactics; the old army instead intended Hardee's contributions to be a light infantry supplement to the tactics of traditional "heavy infantry," that is, line infantry fighting in close order. [Secretary of War Jefferson] Davis's original order of March 29, 1855, authorizing the manual explicitly declared the new tactics "adopted for the instruction of the troops when acting as Light Infantry or Riflemen." p. 79

Wilcox's farseeing ideas, expansively quoted by Hsieh, were expressed in:

Rifles and rifle practice: an elementary treatise upon the theory of rifle firing, explaining the causes of inaccuracy of fire, and the manner of correcting it, by Cadmus Marcellus Wilcox, D. Van Nostrand, 1859
http://books.google.com/books?id=JNtEAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover

After further extensive discussion of skirmishing and sniping (in the context of siege operations) Hsieh states:
"The use of specialist units had ample precedent in the American light-infantry tradition. Sniping during siege operations also had earlier precedent, McLaws had recognized the importance of rifle-muskets to siege operations as early as the siege of Yorktown in the spring of 1862."p. 193

Again, before learning his stated purpose; why no mention of sniping as traced back to the siege of Boston, or beyond siege operations to the Continental Army at such battles as Saratoga - when Timothy Murphy, of Morgan's Rifle Corps, eliminated British General Fraser? The author's self-judged "elastic" "old army" construct (the army before the last war) and his well-taken point that "The Continental Army was not a true regular Army, because it was disbanded after the end of the Revolution."p. 203), combine to limit his scope.
It might help to recall that post War of 1812 army started under de-moralizing circumstances at best, owing to the amalgamation of nearly 50 infantry and rifle regiments into 8 infantry and 1 rifle. As William Ganoe puts it "Some sinister effort must have been at work to deprive all the old regiments of their traditions and spirit. For no plan could have more shrewdly dammed any existing pride and affiliations than the following:

The old 1st Infantry went into the new 3rd Infantry;
the old 2nd went into the new 1st;
the old 3rd, into the new 1st;
the old 4th, into the new 5th;
the old 5th, into the new 8th;
the old 6th, into the new 2nd;
the old 7th, into the new 1st; and
the old 8th, into the new 7th.

(RG- the old First Regiment of Riflemen into the new Rifle Regiment)

The new 1st was then made up of the old 2nd, 3rd, 7th and 44th;
the new 2nd, of the old 6th, 16th, 22nd, 23rd, and 32nd;
the new 3rd, of the old 1st, 17th, 19th, and 28th;
the new 4th, of the old 12th, 14th, 18th, 20th, 36th, and 38th;the new 5th, of the old 4th, 9th, 13th, 21st, 40th, and 46th (revised correction in 1949?)
the new 6th, of the old 11th, 25th, 27th, 29th, and 37th;
the new 7th, of the old 8th, 24th, and 39th;
and the new 8th, of the 5th, 10th, 15th, 31st, 33rd, 34th, 35th, 39th, 41st, 42nd, 43rd, 45th."

(RG- the new Rifle Regiment from the old 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Rifle Regiments)

The further reduction of 1821, eliminating the Rifle Regiment (special unit precedent) and 8th Infantry continued this organizational waif and woe.

I found no reference by the author to the formation of, or tactical actions by, the two U.S. SharpShooter Regiments of CW fame - the most formalized (vice ad-hoc) organizational example and precedent of the "specialist units" created - and the foremost combat tested "rifle" force since the U.S. Rifle Regiment(s) during the War of 1812.

Finally, on a positive note, Hsieh's analysis of Upton's life and role is splendid and moving indeed...

*********************************************************************************
Snippets from the 1835-1836 Army Navy Chronicle "New Infantry Tactics" Debate

*April 23, 1835

"THE NEW INFANTRY TACTICS. No. 5.

" Instruction for Light Infantry and Riflemen, or Skirmishers."

Of all the systems of Tactics adopted for the use of the service there has probably never been one better suited to the peculiar features of the country than the present Drill for Light Infantry and Riflemen. The broken and diversified character of the ground; the swamps, creeks, and rivers, Which intersect it in all directions; the variety of woods, orchards, cultivated fields, and scattered villages: with the very small proportion of clearings, commons, and plains; conspire to render light troops over all others, the most useful description of force, which we can possibly employ in a defensive warfare. Nor is this all. The country itself, is not only fully adopted to the action of this species of troops, but the genius and character of the great mass of the people, are in (he most perfect harmony with the nature of their set vice. The facilities which the peculiar duties of light infantry and riflemen afford for the exercise of their love of enterprise, individual intelligence, and singular skill as marksmen, constitute the great charms which it possesses in their minds over every other arm of the service; and the general, who overlooks these considerations in the constitution of his Army corps, Division, or even Brigade, will, in a very short campaign, find himself deficient in one of the most powerful levers of American warfare. If these facts be admitted, it is at once manifest, that too much care cannot be bestowed on the discipline of light infantry and riflemen. To effect this, two principal objects are to be regarded, namely ; the selection and arrangement of the best system of Tactics, and its thorough application in practice. This system should be complete in itself; and should be characterized by simplicity and uniformity in the evolutions, and brevity and clearness in the commands, in order to secure that expertness and rapidity of execution, which render light troops so formidable. It should, moreover, be not only good in itself, but should be adapted to the genius and habits of the troops, and the peculiar nature of their operations. These qualities belong, in an eminent degree, to the light infantry and rifle drill as at present practised, and make it not only invaluable, but indispensable, to that portion of the army on the frontier stations, not excepting even the dragoons. When a system of instruction is thus found to be not only excellent in itself, answering every purpose for which it was originally intended, but also susceptible of application to the service of cavalry, there can no longer be a question about its intrinsic value; and we know not in what manner to express the extent of our surprise and astonishment when we see it deliberately supplanted by a series of mere skirmishing manoeuvres. Of these manoeuvres, as they differ but slightly from those at present in use, we have but little to say ; but against the words of command attached to them, we declare open war. They are beyond all question, entirely too long; and instead of making the evolutions clearer, they serve no other purpose than to lumber up the minds of the men with a useless mass of words. Light infantry and riflemen are not only supposed to be intelligent, but they actually arc so ; and if this intelligence cannot be sufficiently depended upon to make them comprehend that the command "Extend—Advancing" means that they shall take their proper intervals in extended order, as they move to the front, from the point where the command is given : "Deploy as skirmishers. 2, On the left file, take intervals. 3, Quick—(or double quick,) March," would never make the manoeuvre any clearer to them.

This prolix command also labors under the objection of containing the word "Quick," which ought always to be understood when no other is given, since this rate of march is the basis of all light infantry -movements.

In our former articles, we have generally compared the two systems of Tactics, by placing similar parts side by side ; but on (his occasion we acknowledge ourselves at a loss as to the best manner of proceeding, on account of the peculiar and marked characteristic* belonging to them.

We might indeed say, that the present Light Infantry drill was complete in itself, and that intelligent recruits, properly 9et apart in the school of the soldier, could become accomplished as light infantry and riflemen without knowing anything of the duties belonging to infantry of the line. Whereas, in the new Tactics, they are not only obliged to go through the heavy drill of the company and the battalion, before exercising as light infantry, but even then they have to make a manual to suit themselves; and commence skirmishing from their position in the battalion, without any preparatory instruction, and on no other close-order basis, than that which belongs to infantry of the line. We can easily imagine, that an intelligent infantry soldier can manage his musket at will, without much difficulty ; but how a rifleman is to handle his arms at close-order, we arc wholly at a loss to conceive.

When we reflect that the light companies of the different regiments on service, are constantly thrown together, and with a frequent change of commanders, we shall readily perceive, that nothing should be left, either to the construction of the officers or men; but that every movement should be clearly prescribed, and positively enjoined.

As the firings form a very essential and important part of the duty of skirmishers, one would naturally suppose that the manner of executing them would have been clearly and fully explained, and their performance strictly insisted upon. Hut such, unfortunately, is not the case ; since the subject is touched upon in the most general terms ; of which, paragraph 1669 may be cited as a specimen. "They," (the skirmishers) 'will also be exercised in loading and firing, kneeling and lying, leaving each man at liberty to execute 'those times (or pauses) in the manner he may find the easiest." This, it may be supposed, is a matter of but little importance ; since, the files being in loose order, uniformity is not so desirable. But it is from considerations superior to uniformity, that we look upon its instruction as highly necessary. These are ease, skillfulness, and rapidity of execution ; and when we reflect how little trouble it is to teach the soldier in what these consist; and how he shall best guard against accidents ; compared with the perplexity of allowing him to find them out by a long experience, attended with all the risks arising from ignorance and awkwardness, we are not a little surprised that the subject should have been thus overlooked. If some system of detailed instruction be not laid down in the new Tactics, those officers who take a pride in their men, and who arc ambitious concerning their efficiency, will be obliged to resort to the present Light Infantry drill for many of their most important lessons.

It cannot be reasonably expected that a rifleman can fire with that precision, on which the value of his piece so materially depends, if he is obliged to stand in the position of a soldier of the line ; nor will he unless equipped with Hall's patent rifle, he able to load it without special instructions; or, having loaded, will he be able to fire with that confidence and steadiness on which the accuracy of his fire is so essentially based.

We have before remarked, that we had nothing to say against the manoeuvres of the skirmishers ; but we find, on reflection, that the interval of ten paces between the files is much too large; and that a company displayed at intervals of eight paces, will fully cover the front of the remaining nine companies of its battalion in line, together with the proper space upon the flanks. This will always be an ample allowance, but as the grenadiers are frequently detached, there will occur cases where six paces might become the distance between the files. However, if eight paces be the habitual interval; since the rear (or centre) rank men step up into line, on the left of their proper front rank men; the distance between the files will become essentially six paces, or a little less than five yards. This distance should always he understood, unless the circumstances of the case require a different interval.

The only changes which remain to be noticed, are the extension of intervals; the marching, and firing by a flank in extended order ; and having the guide in the centre, when displayed advancing. These are all decided improvements, and increase the efficiency of the skirmishing accordingly.

On the whole, our objections to this system of skirmishing, are more against its incompleteness, and the inordinate length of the words of command, than against the manoeuvres themselves; for, with the slight exceptions above-named, they are essentially the same as those contained in the Tactics of 1825 ; and we could not give the reader a better idea of the whole matter, than by referring him to the last eight pages of the present Company Drill for Light Infantry and Riflemen.

While on this subject we cannot refrain from remarking, upon the singular disproportion which exists between the numbers of light troops as compared with infantry of the line, in our own service, and in that of the armies of the principal nations of Europe.

In a country, over all others in the world, peculiarly adapted to the action of light troops ; and with an inland frontier swarming with savages, whoso known rules of warfare are based upon individual craft and prowess; our infantry is organized into seven battalions, with only one-tenth equipped as light-infantry or riflemen ; while the armies of Germany, France, and England—with countries so open and exposed, as to be highly favorable to the operations of cavalry—are constituted in such a manner, that the yagers, tirailleurs, light-infantry and riflemen, form more than one-fifth of all their soldiers of the line. If for no other reason, than to give our little army that efficiency which the experience of all Europe has shown to be necessary, it would seem expedient to organize our infantry regiments with two light companies, at the least; since, at that rate, we should merely place our troops upon the same footing, as those nations who have much less need of this description of force than ourselves. This might be easily effected, by a single regulation, displacing that unmeaning collection of long and badly formed men, which lumber up the rights of regiments, under the denomination of grenadiers, by companies of light-infantry or riflemen.

We are well aware, that these suggestions may be met by the remark, that such a change would be useless, on account of the instruction which is prescribed for entire regiments ; and that throughout the infantry, it is an understood thing, that light-infantry and rifle movements come under the head of their ordinary duties. This is all very well in theory, but what, let us ask, is the practice? Is it not notorious, that at some posts, it is wholly neglected ; at others, considered as a mere pastime, to indulge the men with a little exercise; while at a very few, it receives some degree of attention from the efficiency which their situation renders necessary?

For our own parts, we conceive its importance to be so great, that were the matter left to our direction, it should form the habitual and constant exercise of all troops on the frontier stations. CLAIRFAIT." p. 133
Army and Navy chronicle, Volume 1-2, 1835, by Benjamin Homans
http://books.google.com/books?id=JnFMAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover

August 27, 1835

"THE NEW INFANTRY TACTICS.

Mr. Editor :—It seems as if the inventive powers of some individuals were endless. When we advised a different colored binding for the several volumes of the Infantry Tactics, for the sole purpose of distinction, it did not occur to us that this distinction, to be complete, should address itself to more senses than one. To effect the omission on our part, the brigadier in charge of the printing and binding has caused the second volume to appear in red and gold; the red cloth, unlike the blue imitation of seal skin, is smooth, and the emblematic bugle horn of the Dough Boys is stamped on the flanks of each book, so that by day or by night the most blind may find which is the Military Tactics and which the Infantry.

The color of the third volume has caused much speculation and many odd remarks. Since our suggestion has been followed, we flatter ourselves that good taste is properly appreciated, and accordingly propose that for the third volume, there be no binding whatever, inasmuch as it is unnecessary, since the Evolutions of the Line are never used except at the "seat of science," and then only for a few days of each year. A friend at my elbow says "Why not omit the printing itself, as the system will doubtless be changed before long, particularly when the price of translation is so high." We object to this, and say the whole system has been bought, and although " too much has been paid for the whistle," it must be printed, bound and sold again.

But to the inside. Here we perceive an omission of certain signals for the light infantry drill or rather skirmishing.

We are induced to believe this on account of the inordinate length of all the commands which should be, as every experienced officer knows, the reverse, if they are to be given to the troops by the "word of mouth." Now, as it is next to impossible, in their present state to do this, it struck us that they were to be made known by means of the bugle, and as no signals of this kind are mentioned, we have concluded that the above omission is accidental.

We regret to be obliged to say that this part of the tactics has undergone a total and thorough alteration of the manoeuvres and commands; and what is still more to be regretted, all for the worse! A single reading will prove our assertion conclusively—the very platoon, detained as a reserve, has been changed from that of the flank to the centre ! In short, it is so different, and withal so deficient, that it will be found useless, and in time of need, recourse will necessarily be had to the old system of light infantry.

Although this volume bears "a little " the marks of our genius, we, out of regard for the service, ask the immediate attention of the infantry officers to it, being confident that an attentive reading of it and a comparison with the old drill, will result in an application to the War Department that this part may be hung up under the second section of the orders issued on the 10th April, 1835, on the subject of which we have been writing, and of which we shall hold our peace hereafter.

YOUNG FOGRAM." p. 277

Army and Navy chronicle, Volume 1-2, 1835, by Benjamin Homans
http://books.google.com/books?id=JnFMAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover

October 15, 1835

"THE NEW INFANTRY TACTICS. No. I.

This work being now in the hands of the army, a general exposition of the changes which it operates on the book of 1825, together with a defence of those changes, may not be unacceptable to the profession ; and, in order to a clearer comprehension of the whole subject, a brief history of our tactical mutations will first be attempted....HINDMAN." pp. 340-341

Army and Navy chronicle, Volume 1-2, 1835, by Benjamin Homans
http://books.google.com/books?id=JnFMAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover

*April 14, 1836
"LIGHT INFANTRY. The following communication appeared a few days since in the Globe, and is republished at the request of the writer.

The recent disasters in Florida, not only show a want of force, but a great defect in the organization of our military establishment.

The most useful troops in time of war are beyond all question Light Infantry. The want of such a corps, well organized and disciplined, it will not be denied, was most seriously felt during our last war with Great Britain, and more especially in our late warfare with the Indians. In Europe, a country by no means so favorable as the United States for the employment of this species of troops, they are considered indispensable in the organization of every army. Whether received in a compact, open or irregular order; they have always appeared equally conspicuous and useful in the field of battle.

If an army is to invade an enemy's country, their activity and vigilance, place them in front and on the flanks, to protect it from the enterprise of the enemy ; if it is retreating, they are in the rear to prevent assaults, and close pursuit ; if encamped, they are the outpost of the army, if a village, a height, or an important defile is to be seized, they are the first to take possession; if forage or other supplies are to be obtained, they are the covering party; if reconnoitering is the object, or a convoy to be intercepted, they are peculiarly well calculated to effect the end ; and in a general engagement, they are the first to commence the action, and conceal the movements of the line. If necessary, they can be united with the Infantry battalions ; when having been accustomed to every danger, they are the more steady, and the first to animate their companions to victory. Skilled in the open ard extended order, and taught to avail themselves of every cover, whether of grass, trees, thickets, or hillocks, in order to conceal themselves and to take advantage of the enemy, they are well calculated to operate successfully against savages. Such a corps, well organized, and instructed, would have been an invaluable auxiliary in conducting the recent operations in Florida.

In presenting this subject for consideration, it is with no expectation that a light infantry corps could be organized in time to render any aid in the operations now carried on in Florida. Ere this, I trust, the Indians in that quarter are subdued, and the war at an end. But in reference to the future, and to guard against scenes being enacted similar to those which have recently occurred in Florida, on the western and northern frontier, where we have a large body of Indians concentrated, which will be greatly increased by emigration from the east side of the Mississippi, I would most earnestly recommend a light Infantry corps. Whether the army is increased or not, such a corps should be immediately organized. Indeed every infantry regiment stationed on the Indian frontier should he taught practically light infantry tactics, which should be the primary instructions. It embraces activity, vigilance, concealment, and stratagem, and consequently the only corps, perhaps, well calculated . to contend with Indians. The instructions of light infantry and riflemen are the same. The only difference is in the arms. One uses muskets, and the other rifles. Such a corps, or corps, with a few light, long 12-poundcr brass howitzers, directed by artillerists, and the dragoons, with the present regiments of infantry, would, I have little doubt, give protection to the inhabitants residing on our Indian frontiers. Without, however, such a corps, or such instruction to the troops stationed to guard the Indian frontier, we may always look for disaster, disgrace and defeat, when contending against an enterprising and savage foe. The instruction and discipline as here contemplated are not very dissimilar to that practised by the Indians when skilfully commanded, as in the case of Pontiac, Tecumseh, Black Hawk, or Powell, whose warfare was that of activity, vigilance, concealment, stratagem, and surprize." p. 235

Army and Navy chronicle, Volumes 2-3, by Benjamin Homans, 1836,
http://books.google.com/books?id=F7CgAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover

other related articles

March 5: I835.

"Infantry Tactics.

March 19, 1835....

"THE NEW INFANTRY TACTICS.

March 26, 1835...

"THE NEW INFANTRY TACTICS. No. 2.

April 9, 1835

"THE NEW INFANTRY TACTICS. No. 3.

April 16, 1835

"THE NEW INFANTRY TACTICS. No. 4.

*April 23, 1835

"THE NEW INFANTRY TACTICS. No. 5.

July 23, 1835

"THE NEW INFANTRY TACTICS.

July 30th, 1835

"NEW INFANTRY TACTICS.

August 20, 1835
"NEW INFANTRY TACTICS.

August 27, 1835

"THE NEW INFANTRY TACTICS

September 17, 1835
"THE NEW INFANTRY TACTICS.

October 15, 1835

"THE NEW INFANTRY TACTICS. No. I - Hindman

October 22, 1835

"THE NEW INFANTRY TACTICS. No. II - Hindman

October 29, 1835
"THE NEW INFANTRY TACTICS. No. III -Hindman

1836

"The valuable essays, signed " Hindman,'s (three of which have already appeared in the Chronicle ) Contain So much historical information respecting our own systems of Infantry Tactics, and a complete exposition of the new French System, recently incorporated into our own (that we have concluded to reprint the three first numbers, for the benefit of those subscribers who commence with the new series. No. IV is in type, but reserved until the publication of the three previous numbers is completed. There will be eight altogether; the Subsequent ones will appear in regular order." p. 8

January 7, 1836

"THE NEW INFANTRY TACTICS. No. I. reprint

January 14, 1836

"THE NEW INFANTRY TACTICS. No. II reprint.

January 28, 1836

"NEW INFANTRY TACTICS.No. III reprint

I shall now proceed with the Report of the French Commission, turning aside, if possible, from the Clairfaits and Young Fograms—those croakers, produced under " the green mantle" "of a calm world, and a long peace," who, on this subject, have whiled away an entire spring and summer of the Army and Navy Chronicle...."pp. 60-61

February 4, 1836

"NEW INFANTRY TACTICS No IV- Hindman

Learning that the second volume of this work is now after some delay in a course of general distribution I resume the translation of the Report which the French original for the approbation of Soult TITLE IV School or the Battalion...."pp. 76-78

February 11, 1836

"NEW INFANTRY TACTICS No V- Hindman

The Report on the French Tactics of 1831 under head School of the Battalion thus proceeds.."pp. 90-91

March 10, 1836

"NEW INFANTRY TACTICS No VI - Hindman

The Report on the new French Tactics thus proceeds...."pp. 153-156

March 17, 1836

"NEW INFANTRY TACTICS No VII - Hindman

The following is the conclusion of the Report on the new French Tactics..."pp. 170-172

March 31, 1836

"NEW INFANTRY TACTICS No VIII - Hindman

I shall now advert to certain miscellaneous work which have not been met by the Report or the incidental remarks thereupon the subject of commands...."pp. 203-206

March 31, 1836

"The New Infantry Tactics.—The communication of " Hindman," in this days paper, concludes the series ,of articles in defence of the new system of Infantry Tactics, and in reply to "Clairfait," and other writers.

As Clairfait has been particularly alluded to by Hindman, it will naturally be expected that he should in turn have something to say for himself; but if our 'surmises' are correct, (and we have nothing but surmise to guide us in the case,) the author of Clairfait is no longer among the living.

If we should be in error, however, Clairfait will in due time answer for himself." p. 202

*April 14, 1836
"LIGHT INFANTRY

April 14, 1836

THE NEW INFANTRY TACTICS. Philo-clairfait, in the absence of his Clairfait, to the Editor of the Army and Navy Chronicle

April 21, 1836
"THE NEW INFANTRY TACTICS.

June 9, 1836
"THE NEW INFANTRY TACTICS,

September 28,1837
Army and Navy chronicle, and Scientific repository, Volume 5 By William Quereau Force, 1837
pp.201-202
RIFLE CORPS. Thoughts On The Subject or A Rifle Corps—Hall's Rifle—The Old Yager—Muskets—Cochran's Rifle, Etc. Etc.
We have not a single corps of riflemen in the service, and hence the weapon which is most
effective when used by Americans, is seldom or never handled by the regular soldier. This is an
evidence of the want of nationality in our army, and of the neglect under which it has long
labored.
It is useless to say that a portion of the Infantry may at any time be armed with rifles, for
much practice is necessary to acquire skill in the exercise of these arms.
The following considerations will serve to show in some measure the relative advantages of
muskets and rifles for Indian warfare.
In target firing at the distance of one hundred yards, but one musket ball in five or six will
strike the size of a man ; and if there be three buckshot in the cartridge, these fly so much at
random that only one of the fifteen can be expected to strike the same object. An ordinary
marksman with a good rifle will scarcely fail to strike every time. Hence but little reliance is
to be placed on the musket for sharp shooting, and nearly all the execution done is by random
shots. What a small number of Seminoles have been killed since the commencement of this war. At
Dade's massacre, from all that we can learn, only eight or ten were killed; at the Wifhlacoochee,
ten or twelve ; at Wahoo Swamp, eight; at Game's battle, two or three ; at Fort Mellon, ten or
fifteen, including negroes. Did we believe, however, the newspaper accounts, but few warriors
would be left in Florida; while, if the fugitive Creeks be included, the number of our enemy is
without doubt as great now as at any period of the war.
The musket, then, has not proved very destructive to our savage foe, and it possesses the
following defects when used for light infantry:
1. It is heavy, and kicks so violently with a full charge, that many soldiers do not on this
account hold the piece steady.
2. The locks are too clumsy, and when the trigger is pulled, the action of the lock shakes the
gun somewhat out of direction.
3. Even should the musket be aimed accurately, the ball will often deviate.
Still the experience of the most civilized nations bas established its value as an arm for heavy
infantry, and when an enemy is drawn up in regular order any ■hot five feet above ground may take
effect. When troops, however, are drawn up, and fight in open order, as practised in the light
infantry drill, random firing does but little execution, and the rifle becomes the appropriate
weapon ; its superiority is then evident. Can we forget the glorious achievments of Morgan's
riflemen in the Revolution, and of Forsyth's in the late war, or the bold exploits of our western
hunters, and of the Texians who are armed with rifles? Should a corps of this sort be raised, the
best materials might be obtained in nearly every State in the Union, but particularly on the
frontier. They would require, however, much discipline, and a perfect acquaintance with the light
infantry drill, which might be effected in three or four months under good officers.
There are two kinds of rifle, of the same calibre, now used in the U. S. service:
1. The old yager, which experience has sanctioned ; 2d, Hall's rifle, which experience has not
sanctioned.
The most intelligent and best informed officers and men, who have used Hall's rifle in the Creek
and Seminole campaigns, will say that it has the following faults:
1st. The locks are not sufficiently protected from the weather, on which account the internal
machinery is apt to become rusty and out of order; besides which, the mainsprings break more
easily than those of the musket.
2d. On a march, either on foot or on horseback, if the gun be loaded, a large portion of the
powder is apt to sift out between the barrel and breech ; hence the first attempt at firing is
often a complete failure, or mere squib.
3d. It does not shoot so strong, nor so accurately as the old rifle.
4th. More accidents have happened from its use.
5th. It is carried with much inconvenience, either on foot or horseback, being badly balanced.
6th. Rust, or other obstacles, will sometimes tender it impossible to raise or lower the breech;
this i9 often the case in the hands of volunteers.
7th. The. powder and ball flask very soon become unserviceable.
These are inherent defects, not easily corrected, which more than counterbalance the advantage of
loading at the breech—its only claim to merit.
About seven hundred of these rifles were issued to the Georgia volunteers, who performed much
hard service during the Creek war in the lower part of that State; with almost one voice, they
exclaimed against Hall's rifle, and would even prefer the common musket.
Captain Jernigan, a gallant officer who distinguished himself in many fights, much prefers the
old yager; his company of one hundred men was armed with yagers, and deserves great credit for
its valuable services. The Tennessee troops were at first pleased with Hall's gun, but they soon
began to consider the article a cheat. Captain J. M. Washington's company, fourth artillery, was
armed with Hall's rifles ; that experienced officer said the articles had proved a failure, and
possessed the defects enumerated by me. It is useless to say more on this subject: experience,
the only sure guide, if consulted, will decide against Hall.
The French, it is said, do not adopt any new invention in service, until it has stood the test of
a campaign. Had we followed this wise rule, a large sum might have been saved the Government.
Still Hall's rifle may answer very well for Arsenal practice, and would be valuable in the
defence of a permanent post, where it would not be used on marches, and might be kept in perfect
order.
The above observations may in part be applied to Hall's carbine. The dragoons complain of the
powder sifting out, on a scout; it sometimes insinuates itself between the lock and wood-work,
blowing off a piece of the stock.
Cochran's rifle made a great noise in the newspapers ; but if all are as bad as the one I have,
they will never be fit for service. The article in my possession carries a ball of about sixty to
the pound, and appears to be well made ; it may be fired with great rapidity and certainty for
short distances, and would be of great value in close action, but it would not answer for the
Seminoles, who keep off to the distance of one or two hundred yards. Over a distance of forty
yards, no reliance whatever is to be placed upon this article ; at one hundred and fifty it is no
more effectual than a pop-gun; besides, when fired, the report is enough to deafen one, and it is
necessary to keep cotton stuffed in the left ear. The short distance at which this gun fires
accurately, is probably owing to the very limited charge of powder which can be used.
Having disapproved of all other weapons for light infantry, I am decidedly in favor of the old
rifle with flint and steel; it has gained many victories, and can gain many more.
Much is expected from the Board of officers now engaged in examining rifles of various patterns ;
but the best test would be to have them tried in Florida.
SUBALTERN.
*****************************************************************************

"Many causes conspire to render the fire of infantry in battle ineffective, the rapidity of fire, the excitement incident to the strife, difficulty of aiming properly in consequence of the dust or smoke, necessity of firing by command, unsteadiness resulting from the pressure of files to the right or left, or in front or rear, and in general, one of the opposing forces being protected by fortifications, field or permanent. A more general cause of want of accuracy has been, doubtless, the firing beyond the effective range of the musket. In view of the improved rifle, it may confidently be asserted that battles will be more destructive than formerly, a greater number of balls will take effect; it will be difficult for the soldier to find himself in presence of the enemy, and yet beyond the range of his rifle, at least he would scarcely commence to fire beyond the range of his present piece. He will be inspired with more confidence, knowing the range and accuracy of his arm. At great distances he will no longer fire by hazard, but will use his elevating sight; at short distances, knowing the power of his rifle, he will fire with the utmost coolness, and with a certainty that the smooth-bore and round ball never could inspire. It may be that the infantry soldier, occupied with the care of aiming or adjusting his sight, will have his mind diverted from thoughts of danger, and be in the moral condition attributed to cannoneers, whose proverbial sang froid in the presence of the enemy is said to be due to the occupation that the pointing or aiming of the piece gives.

The increased range and accuracy of the rifle, and the confidence with which it must inspire the soldier, will cause the fire of infantry to be far more destructive than formerly, and every enemy killed or wounded will no longer cost his weight in lead (or ten times his weight in iron, when killed by artillery)." p. 237

"A Rifle, whatever may be its range and accuracy, in the hands of a soldier unskilled in its use, loses much. of its value ; hence the necessity of giving the most detailed and thorough practical instruction as to the means of preserving the piece, and of attaining the greatest possible precision of fire ; hence the necessity of creating schools specially for the purpose of teaching the soldier the art of firing,..."p. 238
"...There should be four battalions to the regiment; every company should be thoroughly instructed at target practice and the skirmish drill; but as some men will excel others in the use of the rifle, and have greater aptitude for the duties of light troops, the fourth battalion of each regiment should be formed of such soldiers. These battalions, although excelling at target practice, are not to be employed exclusively as skirmishers, but to be organized at times into special corps, to be launched at critical periods of battle in mass, moving with the accelerated pace against the almost victorious adversary : ....The new rifle clearly gives to infantry, in all secondary operations of war, and in the defence of positions, an element of force that it did not possess formerly." pp. 245-246

*********************************************************************************
More from American State Papers, House of Representatives, 25th Congress, 2nd Session
Military Affairs: Volume 7
Defence of the western frontier.--Correspondence with officers of the army relative to the establishment of military posts and defence of the western frontier.

"I am decidedly of the opinion that, in addition to the posts and garrisons already placed upon the frontier...there should be held ready for action a disposable force of six thousand men...The points to be selected for the location of all military posts, and more especially for the proposed disposable force, should be guarded by law from the ruinous attacks of whiskey-traders, by placing under the entire control of the commanding officers a township of public land, of which posts should be on the centre section...The proposed frontier posts might be converted into military schools, for the instruction of many of the aspiring youths..., unable to obtain admission into the Military Academy at West Point...Graduates from such schools of the west would prove to be in nowise inferior to the graduates of West Point...."
Edmund P. Gaines,
Headquarters Western Division, St. Louis, August 14, 1837 p.959

"The preliminary measure to protecting the frontier are to have the limits of the frontier definitely settled...the "military road"...should be laid out in the Indian country,...Upon this road should be erected strong and permanent military works,....for a frontier of about one thousand miles, four regiments of infantry or artillery and three of dragoons...As the military road is by law to stop at Red river, and as I suppose you do not ask my opinion of the country south of it, I shall say nothing about it....It is well known that the cause of most of the difficulties we have had with the Indians may be traced to the lawless acts of some white men amongst them...if Congress would by law authorize that offenses...be tried in military courts, should the offender be apprehended in the Indian country, such authority would do more to preserve peace on the frontier than many additional regiments..."
S.W. Kearney, Colonel First Regiment of Dragoons,
Fort Leavenworth, June 20, 1837 p. 960

"In addition to the present force, I think there should be a regiment of riflemen raised, to be mounted in case of an Indian war. They should be armed with good rifles. This has been proved to be the most effectual weapon against Indians. The officers of the regiment should be hardy and enterprising men, possessing a knowledge of the frontier country, and acquainted with Indian character."
G P. Kingsbury
Fort Coffee, West of Arkansas, September 10, 1837 p. 962
[KINGSBURY GAINES P Bom in Ohio Appointed from Ohio Bvt 3rd Lieut Mounted Rangers 1 July 1832 Trans to 1st Drag 14 Aug 1833 2nd Lieut 31 May 1835 1st Lieut 4 July 1836 Resigned 15 Oct 1836 Died 15 Aug 1839]

*****************************************************************************

"Breechloaders, Metallic Cartridges and Repeating Rifles

In 1811 John Hall produced the first produced a breech loading flintlock rifle which was adopted by the U.S. Army in 1819. By 1833 a percussion version was used by U.S. Army Dragoons in the West during the Mexican War 1846-48. The Hall rifle was plagued by problems with the breach seal and gas leakage with an loss of muzzle velocity and dangerous explosions. In 1848 Christian Sharps developed a much tighter breech loading rifle that used that took a paper or linen wrapped cartridge. These carbines and rifles were percussion cap, came in .36-.52 cal. and could produce a rate of fire of about 4-5 shots per minute.

The Sharps was very popular and effectively became a common rifle in the Plains where it was used extensively to kill bison and adopted by the Army during the Civil War. However, these paper/linen cartridges and breechloaders were still plagued by leakage problems. Inventors like Samuel Colt and Horace Smith/Samuel Wesson were working cylinder rifles and revolvers and metallic rim fire cartridges. This allowed for repeating weapon magazines. The first of these was patented in 1860 by Christopher Spencer. The carbine used a lever to eject the spent cartridge and feed a new round from a tube in the stock and could fire seven rounds in 10 seconds, with reloading 14 rounds per minute. Also, in 1860 B.T. Henry developed another repeating rifle that employed a tube under the barrel to hold 15 shots. Later, Henry partnered with Oliver Winchester to establish the New Haven Repeating Arms Company. Thus the lever action Winchester rifle became a popular weapon in the American West beginning with the Model 1866 and continuing with the Model 1873, Model 1876 and ending with the 1894. These early Winchesters like the Henry had the modest .44 cal metallic cartridge which was great for the Western landscape and operating on a horse."

The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine, Volume 19, November 1879 to April 1880

http://books.google.com/books?id=8uoGAQAAIAAJ

AMERICAN ARMS AND AMMUNITION.

"The experience of Russia, in her recent 'contest with Turkey, has had an effect upon ■conservative military opinion which promises to result in serious modification's of the tactics of battle. Armed with an American rifle and American cartridges, the Turks accomplished extraordinary results with volley firing at distances ordinarily regarded as not to be compassed by anything except the fancy shooting of rifle ranges or the tentative practice of sharp-shooters. Anywhere from a mile to nearly a mile and a half (1,500 to 2,500 yards) from the Turkish works, the Russians found themselves subjected to a fire so deadly that they speedily lost one-half of their effectives. General Zeddeler, who was with the Russian Guard at Gorni-Dubnik, reports that at 3,000 paces the Russians began to suffer loss, and at 2,000 paces were falling rapidly, the reserves, as the attack progressed, suffering nearly as severely as the firing line. Similar reports from Russian sources are common. An American observer, Lieut. F. V. Greene, an intelligent young officer of engineers, sent abroad by our War Department to record his experiences, relates the following incident:

On one occasion General SkoubelofT " found the men lying down and receiving the fire of the enemy without replying to it. Asking an explanation, the men replied that it was of no use to fire, for their guns would not reach the position of the Turks— about 1,500 yards off", across a ravine. While he was talking, his chief of staff was very badly wounded in the shoulder. Skoubeloff immediately ordered up a company of the 23d regiment, which he had armed with the Peabody-Martini rifles captured from the Turks. They had hardly opened fire before the Turks ceased their fire and retired behind the crest of the ridge."

To the gun, therefore, not to the Turk, are to be credited the extraordinary results which have elevated into a most important factor in the calculation of military possibilities the long-range fire, once supposed to be merely the amusement of experts. True, the employment of high-angle fire— or fire with the gun pointed midway between the zenith and the horizon—was one secret of the effect; but even where the Russians employed an equal elevation, they were un

able, with the inferior Krenk rifle with which the majority of their troops were then armed, to secure a range anywhere approaching that of the Turks.

One of the most notable demonstrations of the Turkish battle-fields was the marked superiority of American arms and ammunition. The gun, of whose deadly long-range fire such reports are given, was the product of a workshop in Rhode Island, that of the Providence Tool Company; the cartridges, to which so much of its effect was due, were made in Connecticut,—at Bridgeport, by the Union Metallic Cartridge Company, and at New Haven by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. Official investigation and private experience had, before this, satisfied experts of the superiority of our American manufactures of small arms; here the lesson was enforced by a most notable example in the view of all the world. Previous to the development of our arms manufactures, during our War of Secession, military as well as sporting arms were largely imported to this country, Colt's revolvers being the only American arms sold abroad to any extent. Since 1867 the tide has set the other way, and not far from one hundred millions of dollars have come to this country in payment for military arms and ammunition, the product of American factories. ...

In 181 2 John H Hall invented a breechloader which was manufactured under the orders of our government and issued to troops for trial as early as 1816 or half a century before the needle gun made itself famous In his letters to the War Department Hall laid great stress upon his plan of making every similar part of my gun so much alike that it will suit every gun that if a thousand guns were taken apart and the limbs thrown promiscuously together in a heap they may be taken promiscuously from the heap and all will come right How far Hall went beyond Whitney in the application of this principle we do not stop to consider It has certainly been greatly developed on this side of the Atlantic This principle of interchangeability of parts was first applied to government service by Hall at Harper's Ferry in 1818 and it finally established itself as the rule of the government workshops The Mexican war showed how much was gained by a system which enabled an armorer to carry with him to the field duplicate parts with which to restore a disabled gun to service"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

for follow-on history see:

The Army's Search for a Repeating Rifle: 1873-1903

Sidney B. Brinckerhoff, Pierce Chamberlin

Military Affairs, Vol. 32, No. 1 (Spring, 1968), pp. 20-30

Published by: Society for Military History
Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1983588

“The New Courage": Rifles and Soldier Individualism, 1876-1918, by Russell Gilmore, Military Affairs, Vol. 40 No. 3, October 1976, p. 97-102

Crossing the deadly ground: United States Army tactics, 1865-1899, by Perry D. Jamieson, University of Alabama Press, 1994
http://books.google.com/books?id=8jp1js2F038C&printsec=frontcover

Marksmanship in the U.S. Army: a history of medals, shooting programs, and training, William K. Emerson,University of Oklahoma Press, 2004
http://books.google.com/books?id=OdHtJ9-jCsIC&printsec=frontcover

.
[PDF] US Army Rifle and Carbine Adoption between 1865 and 1900
www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a471224.pdf
...
end

OLD POINT COMFORT - background information for recommended OPC/FM events timeline..

http://www.arcadiapublishing.com/

The Civil War on the Virginia Peninsula, by John V. Quarstein, Arcadia Publishing,1997

The Battle of the Ironclads, by John V. Quarstein, Arcadia Publishing, 1999

"Quarstein grew up virtually amidst the river battlefield of the Monitor and Merrimack. He lived at Fort Monroe at the mouth of the James and he is the director of the Virginia War Museum in Newport News a mere 1 mile from the Merrimacks attack of the US Congress and Cumberland...."- reviewer Daniel Hurley

World War I on the Virginia Peninsula,John V. Quarstein, Sarah Goldberger, J. Michael Moore, Arcadia Publishing, 1999

Fort Monroe:the key to the south, by John V. Quarstein, Dennis P. Mroczkowski, Arcadia Publishing, 2000

Fox Hill on the Virginia Peninsula, Fox Hill Historical Society, Arcadia Publishing, 2004

Fort Story and Cape Henry, by Fielding Lewis Tyler, Arcadia Publishing, 2005

Fort Monroe, Paul S. Morando, David J. Johnson, Arcadia Publishing, 2008

Hampton, by J. Michael Cobb, Wythe Holt, Arcadia Publishing, 2008

Fort Wool: Star-Spangled Banner Rising, by J. Michael Cobb, History Press, 2009

Old Point Comfort Resort: Hospitality, Health and History on Virginia's Chesapeake Bay, John V. Quarstein, Julia Steere Clevenger, Wendy Drucker, Molly Joseph (FRW) Ward, History Press, 2009
"The Chamberlin Hotel still stands today as a dominant landmark along the Hampton Roads Harbor. This restored hotel symbolizes the days when Old Point Comfort was the premiere health and holiday resort in the South. The Hygeia and Chamberlin were grand hotels that lavishly catered to invalids, travelers and vacationers seeking relief from the summer's heat during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Steamships and trains brought hundreds daily to enjoy Old Point Comfort. These elegant buildings combined a luxurious health resort and waterfront atmosphere with military bands, parades, promenades, historic sites, fresh breezes and the promise of courtship. Longtime Fort Monroe resident and Hampton historian John Quarstein has woven together tales and images, recipes and artifacts to tell the wonderful story of the "Old Point Comfort Resort."

"Kingdom by the Sea" - WHRO NORFOLK (PBS) FORT MONROE DOCUMENTARY - produced by WHRO's Center for Regional Citizenship. 27-minutes. (Received a "Best Television Documentary" award. )
http://wmstreaming.whro.org/whro/ftmonroe/ftmonroe.asf

********************************************************************************

Early Old Point Comfort – Fort Monroe

source notes..background information for recommended OPC/FM events timeline..

Fort Monroe exemplifies 400 years of the integrated history of the American "way of life" from its founding through its settlement, development and defense

- Cape Comfort - Algernourne Fort - Point Comfort Fort - Fort George - Old Point Comfort - Fortress then Fort Monroe - AMERICA'S GIBRALTAR - Freedom's Fortress - Defender of the Chesapeake -

These names are suggestive of the transitional and constantly evolving sense of place that this once sandy spit evoked in its various forms of safe harbor - shelter - encounters - watch - warning - deterrence - protection and defense

see the British controversy in the Revolution

1802 lighthouse still in operation

later CW = critical federal held bastion for power projection, Freedom's Fortress for black Americans

There are sufficient historical moments to give every period a "piece of the action" see timeline of sample seasonal proposed events

Key early Old Point Comfort Events:

28 April 1607 - founding

September 1607 - Kecoughtan feed Smith

December 1608 - first Christmas celebration

October, 1609 - first fortification - Algernourne Fort

21 May 1610 - Governor Gates and relief arrives; Captain Davis informs him of Jamestown plight

8 June 1610 - turning back of Jamestown - renewal

1619 - late summer - August?- Dutch? ship offloads first Africans stolen from Spanish ship in exchange for food resupply

1627 - Chesapeake fur trade begins - vessels set sail from today's Hampton area rivers and inlets - Hampton River, Back River, Harris Creek, Buck Roe, Grandview, Point Comfort William Claiborne.

1728 - second fortification - Fort George

26 October 1775 - Battle of Hampton

Jun-July 1781 - Old Point Comfort at center of British strategic discussions; which resulted in the decisive Yorktown campaign and surrender

-------------------------------------

first pivotal historical moment:

Historical point of emphasis:

Founding

28 April 1607 - search for channel - spit of land with 6-12 fathom-deep waters = named Cape Comfort - then Point Comfort - then referred to as Old Point Comfort when a "new point" was found at north at Mobjack bay...first "new world" OLD appellation applied to

a place...the "old"...signifying a sense of permanence and stability

Fort Monroe - NPS pdf
http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/nnps/fort_monroe.pdf

tie-in? to traditional and regionally supported Easter Sunrise services held on Fort Monroe at the park bandstand - will this be discontinued?

---------------------

Historical progression - from earliest times as critical base for further exploration, alarm, and defense...bring into focus the first two as the physical nature of moated - Fort Monroe - makes obvious the third

--------------
WPA Virginia Guide - Indians
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/vaguide/indians.html

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""From all we can learn the town was never in such desperate straits as the neighboring settlement of Jamestown, and its subsequent growth would seem to justify the opinion of those historians who believe that the English would have been wiser had they made Kecoughtan their first Virginia settlement...."p.36"
Round about Jamestown: historical sketches of the lower Virginia peninsula, by Jane Eliza Davis, 1907
http://books.google.com/books?id=jKBBAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover

"Kecoughtan Indians

Thirtieth day [April 1607], we came with our ships to Cape Comfort; where we saw five Savages running on the shore. Presently the Captain [Christopher Newport] caused the shallop to be manned, so rowing to the shore, the Captain called to them in sign of friendship, but they were at first very timersome, until they saw the Captain lay his hand on his heart: upon that they laid down their Bows and Arrows, and came very boldly to us, making signs to come ashore to their Town, which is called by the Savages

Kecoughtan.

By the time George Percy made this record of the first friendly contact between the English colonists who would settle Jamestown and the natives who had long inhabited Virginia, the Kecoughtan Indians had been reduced to a clan of only about twenty to thirty warriors, plus women and children. The natives, said Percy, goe altogether naked, but their privities are covered with Beasts skinnes beset commonly with little bones, or beasts teeth: some paint their bodies blacke, some red, with artificiall knots of sundry lively colours, very beautifull and pleasing to the eye, in a braver fashion than they in the West Indies.

The Kecoughtan entertained the English "very kindly," presenting them with gifts of dainties, bread, and tobacco, all the while performing a ceremonial welcome dance and song. In exchange, the English gave the Kecoughtans "Beades and other trifling Jewells."

William Strachey, appointed secretary and recorder of the Jamestown colony in 1610, learned upon his arrival at Jamestown that the Kecoughtans had been a part of the Powhatan Confederacy for only about a decade, having been conquered by Powhatan in 1597 or 1598. Until then, said Strachey, the Kecoughtan had been a people 1,000 strong, living in some 300 houses. By the time John Smith observed them in 1608, they were confined to a village of 18 houses on 3 acres of land. The Kecoughtan had met Europeans as early as the late 1560s, when Spanish Jesuits had traveled to the area in pursuit of an ideal spot to establish a mission. Ralph Lane, the founder of the tiny settlement on Roanoke Island that came to be known as the Lost Colony, had learned of the Kecoughtan in the 1580s but was unable to find them. (In fact, some scholars have suggested that the lost English of Lane's colony went to live with the Kecoughtan, either by force or by their own volition.) The Kecoughtans, situated as they were near the Atlantic coast in the Chesapeake Bay, most likely had met other Europeans or at least had seen their vessels sailing in the Atlantic from time to time. Perhaps their knowledge of the existence of other peoples and societies made them more resolute in supporting their chief's resistance against Powhatan, who wanted to bring the tribe into his confederacy. In any event, when the Kecoughtan chief died (about 1597), Powhatan "subtilly stepped in, and conquered the People killing the Chief and most of them;" those left alive, except for a handful loyal to Powhatan, were taken into captivity and their lands occupied by Pochins (b. 1583), one of Powhatan's sons. The displaced Kecoughtans were later allowed by Powhatan to live on lands once occupied by the Piankatank, a tribe in Powhatan's dominion that he considered disloyal and thus expelled in 1608.

The next encounter between the Kecoughtan and the colonists took place in September 1607, when the colonists were in dire need of food; Captain John Smith led a party of six or seven men to barter with the Indians. Smith went down the river from Jamestown to Kecoughtan "where at first they scorned him, as a famished man, and would in derision offer him a handfull of Corne, a peece of bread, for their swords and muskets, and such like proportions also for their apparell." Smith put up with the Indians' mocking long enough to learn for sure that they were not going to trade away their corn, at which time he made bold to try such conclusions as necessitie inforced, though contrary to his Commission: Let fly his muskets, ran his boat on shore, whereat they all fled into the woods. So marching towards their houses, they might see great heapes of corne: much adoe he had to restraine his hungry souldiers from present taking of it, expecting as it hapned that the Salvages would assault them, as not long after they did with a most hydeous noyse.

Although the Indians outnumbered Smith's party ten to one, they were no match for the colonists' gunfire, and in the end the warriors sought peace. They then traded venison, turkey, fowl, and bread for English beads, copper, and hatchets. The following summer, 1608, Smith stayed several days at Kecoughtan, where their chief, thinking Smith was going to attack their enemy the Massawomecks, "feasted us with much mirth." That December, while enroute to the Pamunkey town in search of Chief Powhatan, Smith stayed six or seven days at Kecoughtan, where the "extreame winde, rayne, frost and snow caused us to keepe Christmas among the Salvages, where we were never more merry, nor fed on more plentie of good Oysters, Fish, Flesh, Wild-foule, and good bread; nor never had better fires in England, then in the dry, smoaky houses of Kecoughtan."
**Jamestown Colony: a political, social, and cultural history, by Frank E. Grizzard, D. Boyd Smith, 2007
http://books.google.com/books?id=555CzPsGLDMC&printsec=frontcover
see Bibliography below

"Old Kecoughtan
...the Indians seem to have grown accustomed to the presence of the English, and remembering no doubt with respect and admiration the prowess shown by the doughty captain on his last visit, they entertained him right royally during the whole of Christmas week in 1608 when he was weatherbound at Kecoughtan. "The extreame wind, raine, frost, and snowe," says Captain Smith, "caused us to keep Christmas amongst the Savages; where wee were never more merrie, nor fedde on more plentie of good oysters, fish, flesh, wild foule, and good bread; nor never had better fires in England then in the drie, warme, smokie houses of Kecoughtan." pp. 34-35

[RG note - CRITICAL POINT!!] This is the first recorded Christmas celebration of the English in the New World.

[tie in to Phoebus merchants' street festival - what Christmas was like during a kinder, simpler time- classic cars lined the two blocks of Mellen closed to traffic - Volunteers wearing period dress - local older teens portraying Ft Monroe soldiers in period military uniforms - old-time Christmas carols and musical performances.

"Event coordinator Carla Mingee said her goal was to recreate Bedford Falls, the town featured in the movie "It's a Wonderful Life," of which there was a free showing at the American Theatre." "It's about community," said Mingee, the Merchants Association's vice president. "It's about looking out for each other."

The evening culminated with an old-fashioned swing dance to benefit the Hampton Veterans Administration Medical Center and the Peninsula Agency on Aging."

The Virginian-Pilot - HATTIE BROWN GARROW, November 26, 2006

----------------
Fort Algernon and Fort George, The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol 14, July 1906 page 119
http://books.google.com/books?id=otIRAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA119

*A fort called Fort Algernon was built at Point Comfort in 1608. Throughout the seventeenth century this fort seems to have existed in an uncertain fashion—sometimes in repair, manned and equipped, and sometimes falling to decay. Frequent notices of it occur in Hening, I and II. About 1736-38 the fort was again rebuilt and placed under the command of Captain Samuel Barron, who had probably seen military service. It is stated (Virginia Historical Register, I, 24) that in 1749 a great hurricane totally destroyed the fortifications. Among the manuscripts in the collection of this Society is a letter dated March 22, 1847, in which Dr. Robert Archer (afterwards of this city), who as a surgeon U. S. A. was long stationed at Fort Monroe, complied with a request which had been made by the Virginia Historical Society, and gave an account of old Fort George, which had stood on part of the site of the modern fort. Dr. Archer says:

"The front lines only and part of the flanks are now visible, the rear lines having been obliterated by the excavation of the ditch of Fort Monroe : so that it is now impossible even to surmise what the form of the work was. * * * It was built of brick and shell lime, and judging from the quality of the materials, and character of the masonry, the contractor executed his work most faithfully. * * * The bricks appear to have been home made, they were well burned but rough , nine inches long, four wide and three thick.

"Fort George consisted of an exterior and interior wall about sixteen feet apart, the exterior twenty-seven and the interior sixteen inches thick. These were connected by counterports ten or twelve feet apart and forming a system of cribs which were no doubt filled up with sand. The foundation of the work is three feet below the present level of the sand at the Lighthouse. * * * The front lines bear a remarkable coincidence with those of Fort Monroe in their rear."

Dr. Archer then describes an iron signet ring lined with silver, which was found some sixteen or seventeen years before he wrote in the rubbish of the old fort. The arms on the seal were: A bear rampant arg, holding in his paws a globe (or heart) surmounted by a cross. Crest. An eye with wings conjoined.

----------------

"After Smith's December 1608 stay with the Kecoughtans, other colonists routinely visited the tribe's town, although not all of the enounters were pleasant ones. The Kecoughtans joined some of their native neighbors in resisting both the establishment of an English settlement in Nansemond territory in the summer of 1609 and the erection of Fort Algernon at Old Point Comfort, only a half mile from the Kecoughtan settlement, the following fall. In the summer of 1610, Lord De La Warr and Sir Thomas Gates retaliated against the Kecoughtan for their part in trying to fend off the English move into the region, by driving them away and occupying their town. The English occupation of the town and surrounding territory brought to an end Kecoughtan occupation of the small peninsula on the Chesapeake Bay. By 1611, two other English fortifications were erected in Kecoughtan territory, Fort Henry and Fort Charles. Although the Virginia General Assembly voted to "change the savage name of Kicowtan" to Elizabeth City when it incorporated the county at its first session (the county name was retained until mid-twentieth century), the name Kecoughtan persisted, especially in reference to the area bordering the waterfront and even after the founding of Hampton in the 1690s.

The eviction of the Kecoughtans from the land of their ancestors by the English, coming on the heels of Powhatan's complete subjugation of the tribe, resulted in the total disappearance of the Kecoughtan people in the very early years of English settlement.

Strachey claimed that the Kecoughtans had been "better husbands then in any parte else that we have observed," having cultivated great fields of maize, the product of which they apparently exported to neighboring tribes, and mulberry groves. The Kecoughtans also gathered shells from the nearby bay to make beads for Powhatan's people, but otherwise little else is known about the now lost Algonquin tribe. The Peninsula Council of the Boy Scouts of America in 1951 honored the Kecoughtan tribe by chartering the council's Order of the Arrow lodge in its name. In 1996, the Kecoughtan Lodge merged with nearby Chanco Lodge of the Old Dominion Area Council (when the two councils merged) to create Wahunsenakah Lodge, named in honor of Chief Powhatan."pp, 103-107

**Jamestown Colony: a political, social, and cultural history, by Frank E. Grizzard, D. Boyd Smith, 2007
http://books.google.com/books?id=555CzPsGLDMC&printsec=frontcover
see Bibliography below

-------------------------------

Historical point of emphasis:

- why did Point Comfort succeed versus Jamestown ? answers? - better location and relations with natives - cooperation, reciprocity (for a time)

activity? - story of the Kecoughtan - involve regional tribes - Mattaponi, Pamunkey (Powhatan) etc - and Hampton – and Hampton City Schools (Kecoughtan High School!) students in outdoor drama ala Roanoke "Lost Colony" and First Colony at Cape Henry/Ft Story's "First Landing" for example see

http://www.firstlandingfoundation.com/

----------------------------------------

Historical point of emphasis -

A critical turning point in American history needs rooting in time and place -

establish firmer ties in to Jamestown...think celebration/festival of the council on shore that decided the fate of Jamestown)

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".....from here (emphasize) on 8 June 1610, that representatives of the recently arrived Thomas West, Lord Governor De La Warr, intercepted and turned back the departing colonists who had abandoned Jamestown on the preceding day, following the tragic period that came to be known as the Starving Time. Fort Algernon appears to have been destined to ensure the permanence of the English in North America and could have played a larger and earlier role than it did. While it was used as a point of defense on the James River and served as the launching point for returning the colonists to

Jamestown, it possibly could have prevented, or at least reduced, the number of deaths related to the Starving Time at James Fort. Traveling to Fort Algernon just days before the arrival of Lord De La Warr, President Percy was astonished to find that the inhabitants were so well provisioned that they were feeding their abundance of crabs to their hogs. Scores of people had starved to death in the preceding months, although less than forty miles downriver their countrymen were living in relative abundance."

**Jamestown Colony: a political, social, and cultural history, by Frank E. Grizzard, D. Boyd Smith, 2007
http://books.google.com/books?id=555CzPsGLDMC&printsec=frontcover
see Bibliography below

Never accepting Powhatan's authority over them, they were driven out of their ancestral town by him and later resettled in former Piankatank territory. ...

--------------------

"Fort Alegernoune
Kecoughtan was recognized as a strategic situation, and after Captain Smith's departure for England, in October, 1609, George Percy, the President, sent Captain John Ratcliffe down to the mouth of the river to build a fort. He chose the present site of Fort Monroe, and called his stockade "Algernourne Fort," in honor of President Percy's ancestor William Algernourne de Percy, who came to England with William the Conqueror.

Soon after began the Starving Time at Jamestown, during which most of the settlers died. Captain Ratcliffe, while on a trading voyage to the York, was betrayed and killed by the savages, and his place at Point Comfort was supplied by Captain James Davis.

Only some sixty wretched survivors were at Jamestown when the Spring of 1610 arrived, and these would have perished but for the almost miraculous arrival of Sir Thomas Gates and the passengers of the Sea Venture, who had been wrecked for forty weeks on the Bermuda Islands. They reached Point Comfort May 21, 1610, and through Captain Davis, Governor Gates was first made acquainted with the terrible condition of things at Jamestown.

Here again was the stopping place two weeks later of Sir Thomas West, Lord Delaware, who arrived just in time to prevent the desertion of Virginia by Gates. There was then waiting at Point Comfort, a little pinnace called the "Virginia," built on the coast of Maine, and the only product of the colony sent out, to that region in 1607 by the Plymouth Company. It had been sent down from Jamestown by Governor Gates to take on Captain Davis and his guard; and the colonists at Jamestown were momentarily expected.

Delaware at once dispatched the Virginia up the river, and the ships from Jamestown were met off Mulberry Island. Under orders the departing ships tacked about and sailed back to the old place of settlement, and, in the evening of June 8th, 1610, the colonists again took possession of their forlorn habitations. ...." pp. 13-14
Forts Henry and Charles - see pp. 14-15

*History of Hampton and Elizabeth City County, Virginia at archive.org
http://www.archive.org/details/historyofhampton00tyle
also

"History of Hampton and Elizabeth City County, Virginia. Compiled by Lyon G. Tyler, M.A., LL.D. Published by the Board of Supervisors of Elizabeth City County, Hampton, Virginia, 1922.
http://www.accessgenealogy.com/virginia/history_of_hampton.htm
* see Table of Contents below

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Important persons - Algernourne Fort's John Smith - or the another Davis we should know

--------------------------------------

The First "Davis" at the Fort

James Davis, Captain, was probably born in England about 1575, location unknown. In the history of England in the New World, he first appears as part of the group assembled in 1606 for the purpose of establishing a settlement in America under the charter of the Virginia Company of Plymouth.

Sir John Popham, at the time the Lord Chief Justice of England -- but also an adventurer in the Plymouth Company -- was active in assembling the group which set sail in 1606. The group landed at Sagadahoc, Maine, near the mouth of the Kennebec River, where James Davis had been assigned as "Captain of the Fort". By the spring of 1607 he was the master of the ship, Mary and John, which brought additional colonists and resupply to the colony. Later the same year he was listed as master of a pinnace, Virginia, built at Sagadahoc.

He next appears in the record as master of the Virginia when it was part of the nine vessel fleet known as the Third Supply which sailed from England to Virginia in June 1609. Having run into the hurricane that wrecked one ship in Bermuda, the Virginia, did not reach the colony until October. Capt Davis and his men were then assigned to Fort

Algernon at Old Point Comfort. After the fort's commander, Captain John Ratliff, was taken and killed by the Indians in November [not by Kecoughtans but by Powhatans along the YORK}, Davis became the commander of Fort Algernon, an assignment which may have saved his life during the "starving time" as these men just 32 miles by water from Jamestown, but totally out of communication, enjoyed plenty of sea food during this bitter winter. In 1611, while still commanding at Fort Algernon, he was ordered to secure the forts at the two Virginia capes, Henry and Charles.

There are two final references to James Davis. One entry shows him in command at Henrico on the north side of the James River in 1616. In the muster of 1625 Captain James Davis is listed as among those "dead at all these plantations over the water," a reference to the losses in the March 1622 massacre south of the James River.

Captain Davis had married Rachell (surname unknown) and had one son, Thomas Davis, born about 1613. The son, Thomas, received a land patent in 1634 for 300 acres on Warwicksqueicke Creek. By 1637 he was living in Norfolk County and then in 1642 in Nansemond County, where he served as a justice and was a member of the county commission until 1660. His date of death is unknown. He left 4 sons and possibly a daughter.

References:

1. "Adventurers of Purse and Person Virginia 1607 1624/5", 4'hEdition 2004;Genealogical Publishing Company, Baltimore, MD

2. "The Sagadahoc Colony", by Henry 0. Thayer; Printed for the Gorgas Society,ortland, Maine, 1852

3. "Founding the American Colonies 1583 1660", by John E. Pomfret with Floyd M.Shumway; Harpers & Row, New York, NY, 1970....."

James Davis
http://www.jamestowne-wash-nova.org/JamesDavis.htm

--------------------------

Historical Point of Emphasis –

1619 - late summer - August?- Dutch? ship offloads first Africans stolen from Spanish ship in exchange for food resupply

History of Colonial Virginia: The First Permanent Colony in America, by William Broaddus Cridlin, Secrety of the Virginia Historical Pageant Assocaition; Registrar Virginia Society of Sons of the American Revolution,Printed by Williams Printing Company, Richmond, Virginia, 1922
http://www.newrivernotes.com/va/cridlin1.htm

“The Treasurer returned to Jamestown in September, 1619 in consort of "a man-of-war of blushing." The arrival of these two ships and the cargo they brought with them have been the cause of many speculations and incriminations. Evidently the Treasurer is the ship alluded to as a "Dutch man-o'-war" that brought the first negroes to the colony-. The man-o'-war of Flushing no doubt must have been the Hopewell, commanded by Captain John Powell. The last named ship had previously been reported to have turned pirate and joined the Treasurer. There was every reason to suppress the names of the two ships that were permitted to land their cargoes at Jamestown, and both Powell and Elfrith were hard adventurers who did not hesitate to carry out the wishes of their employers. The report that these ships were Dutch was in keeping with the general report on all ships that had turned pirate. Brown, in his "First Republic" states, "The reports sent to England were evidently written more for the purpose of concealing the facts than of revealing them." It is not known when these two ships again cleared from Virginia waters, but at least twenty- negroes were left at Jamestown.”

---------------------------
The English Colonies' first major entrepreneur?

William Claiborne
http://www.claibornesociety.org/history/brief_background_on_william_claiborne.shtml

and his trading ventures - using Old Point Comfort, Mill Creek, Buck Roe...to launch?

"Claiborne Established Trading Post in Hampton: Land patents granted to William Claiborne (Clayborne) in 1625 include 150 acres in "The Corporation of Elizabeth Citty." It was on this land, located near the present Settlers Landing Road that he established the trading post used as a base for fur trading expeditions and explorations in upper Chesapeake Bay. See Records of the Virginia Company of London

(Vol 4, pp 555-558), edited by Susan Myra Kingsbury, published in 1906 by the U.S. Government Printing Office and reprinted in 1994 by Heritage Books Inc., Maryland."...

Claiborne Explored Chesapeake Bay:

Claiborne Discovered Kent Island:

Pentran/Historic Kecoughtan 44HT44
http://www.apva.org/resource/jt2000/44HT44.html
Will Moore, Thomas Higgins, and Deborah Davenport

Suggested Reading:

    * Chesapeake Conflict The Troublesome Early Days of Maryland by Gene Williamson, Heritage Books, Inc. 1995 (1-800-398-7709);

    * We Claim Right of Possession by Gene Williamson, 2000, (great unpublished.com Title No.70);

    * "Virginia's One-Man War Against Maryland" by Gene Williamson,"Virginia" magazine, Vol.6,no.2 (804-725-7700)

***** Virginia Venturer, a Historical Biography of William Claiborne, 1600-1677 by Nathaniel C. Hale, Dietz Press, 1951;

    * The English Ancestry of William Claiborne of Virginia by Clayton Torrence in Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol 56, No. 33-4, 1948;

* History of Hampton and Elizabeth City County, Virginia at archive.org
       http://www.archive.org/details/historyofhampton00tyle
also at

"History of Hampton and Elizabeth City County, Virginia. Compiled by Lyon G. Tyler, M.A., LL.D. Published by the Board of Supervisors of Elizabeth City County, Hampton, Virginia, 1922.
http://www.accessgenealogy.com/virginia/history_of_hampton.htm
* see Table of Contents below

Later Claiborne would receive an additional 700 acres adjacent to Point Comfort..in the area now known as Buckroe (then Buck Roe)

Here, some awareness of geography and place names, although in arcane wording, may be helpful:

“OLD KECOUGHTAN.                                83

     There are in the records of Elizabeth City county the details of a suit in ejectment, which are interesting not only for the legal phases that illustrate the course of law in the colony, but for the information they give about the early settlement of Elizabeth City county. When the first emigrants arrived in Virginia, they found an Indian village near Point Comfort, called Kecoughtan, or Kicoughtan, or Kiccotan. There was in the neighborhood
a large open country of two or three thousand acres in which the Indians raised their corn, beans and tobacco. Only July 9, 1610, because the Indians of Kecoughtan captured and killed Humphrey Blunt at the point on James River in Warwick county, hich still bears his name, Sir Thomas Gates set upon the Indians, whose chief was Pochins, a son of Powhatan, and drove them away from their habitations. To secure his new conquest, he erected, at the mouth of Hampton River, two small stockades, "about a musket shot apart," and about two miles from the fort, called Fort Algernon, already established in 1608 at Point Comfort, and called them Fort Charles and Fort Henry.

When these forts were abandoned, the field about Fort Henry, called "Fort Field," consisting of 100, or, as it is otherwise expressed, 110 acres,.. described as "lying on the Strawberry Banks, beginning at a well, known by the name of the Plackett Well, which is upon the creek side,… A grant in 1648 to Major Richard Moryson, brother-in-law of Lucius Cary, Lord Falkland, and one of Captain Hooke's successors in command at Point Comfort, is more definite. The land is here described as "lying south upon the Main River from the mouth of a creek commonly called Hook's creek alias John's creek unto Sandy Point, bounded on the West side from the Sandy Point with a creek that parteth the land of Thomas Coniers and the Glebe land from this land, bounded on the north with the land late belonging to Thomas Oldis gent. by marked trees to a tree near the bridge that leadeth to the dwelling house of said Oldis from (sic) to the mouth of said John's creek, on the east side." These bounds are the bounds of the present Soldier's Home, on

Hampton Roads, for the creek on the east side of that property still retains the name of John's creek.     On the west of John's creek was a tract of one hundred acres..(later 150).. described as "lying west on a small creek dividing the same from the fields called Fort Henry,… Beyond … situated on the "Strawberry Banks" (the country from the mouth of Hampton River to the mouth of Mill Creek), was a tract of fifty acres,.. At the east side of this land, on the shore, about 100 poles or 500 yards from John's Creek, was the "look-out tree," where a sentinel watched the distant capes for approaching vessels…..[an additional] 100 acres adjoining. These two tracts, making 150 acres, or 165 acres… known as Downes' Field (see plat by John Lowry). On the east side was a marsh or gut called Thomas' Creek, still to be seen to the east of Mrs. Phoebus' residence, near the town of Phoebus…. Some distance above this, about 500 poles from John's Creek, was a tract of 100 acres, … "It lay in or neare Buckerowe," a term, like "Strawberry Banks," originally meaning a considerable region of country, and afterwards used to designate a single plantation. This tract extended along Mill Creek (originally Point Comfort Creek) for 75 poles till it reached 300 acres, called in the suit below "Buckroe," … Further above, it seems, was an Indian Spring, on the shore side of Mill Creek, about a mile and a quarter from a branch of Harris' Creek… In 1619, 3,000 acres were assigned at Hampton for the use of the company, and 100 acres for a glebe;* and 1,500 acres were reserved for the common lands. These lands were on the easterly side of Southampton River, and stretched along Mill Creek as far as the Bay. They were at first only leased for a term of years. In 1625, there were 349 inhabitants at Elizabeth City, and Captain William Tucker was commandant of the plantation… 50 acres upon a creek parting the same from the land called "The Indian House Thicket." This last was a neck of land on the east side of Hampton River, between two creeks…. On the west side of the river lived in these early days that very quaint character in our early history, called William Capps, who resided at "Little England," anciently known as Capps' Point, and who in 1619 represented Kecoughtan in the first American Legislature. Above him, on two tracts of land, together aggregating 150 acres, and separated from Capps by a creek, was the most famous of all the early settlers of this region. This man was the celebrated William Claiborne, surveyor, Treasurer of Virginia and Secretary of State. Here, on the very site of the present Hampton Town, he had his storehouse for trade with the Indians up Chesapeake Bay and elsewhere, and from this storehouse his sloops, loaded with good in exchange for skins and furs, sailed to many points in Maryland, Nansemond and the Eastern Shore.

     It was a patent obtained by Claiborne for his wife on the Strawberry Banks that brought much trouble to various persons resident many years later in that beautiful region. It conflicted with the patent of Major Richard Moryson, and the conflict broke out with several law suits, which culminated, in 1745, in the suit below between John Selden and Samuel Galt. Selden claimed under the patent of Moryson, and Galt under the patent of Col. Claiborne.

     In Buck Roe were seated in 1621 the French Vignerons, sent over to instruct the settlers how to raise grapes and make wine to better advantage. These men had been selected by John Bonall, silk-worm raiser to the King at Oakland, England, and had been sent over by him, under the charge of his kinsman, Anthony Bonall.   In 1619, on the petition of the inhabitants, who did not like the heathen name of Kecoughtan, the name Elizabeth City was given to one of the four great corporations in which all the settlements were included, and this name was afterwards applied to the county formed out of a part of this corporation. But the name "Kecoughtan" adhered to that section of country lying on Hampton River, during all of the seventeenth century, and part of the eighteenth. The town of Hampton (from Southampton) was not regularly established till 1680, when it was laid out on the west side of the river, at the place where Colonel Claiborne had lived. A ship captain called Thomas Jarvis was living there then on "a trading plantation" of 200 acres. The General Assembly condemned fifty acres for the proposed town. This Jarvis was the second husband of Elizabeth Duke, daughter of Sir Edward Duke, and widow of the celebrated Nathaniel Bacon, Jr. They had only one son, Thomas, who, it is believed, was ancestor of the North Carolina family of that name.

    Not long after (in 1704) the well-known preacher and scholar, George Keith, who, it is believed, was a descendant of the minister of that name, one of the early residents of this neighborhood, visited his son-in-law, George Walker, on the Strawberry Banks, and "preached in the church at Kickotan." 84-87

“We Agree a Patent from Sir William Berkeley Knt. to ElizV Claibourne the Wife of Capt. Wm. Claiborne Esq. his Majesty's Treasurer of the Colony of Virginia for Seven Hundred Acres of Land dated the 27th of Novr. 1647 to which we refer & is as follows—

To all etc., Whereas etc., Now know ye that I the said Sir Wm Berkeley Knt. do with the Advice and Consent of the Council of State accordingly give and grant unto Eliza Claiborne the Wife of Capt. Wm Claiborne Esq. his Majs. Treasurer of this Colony of Virginia Seven Hundred Acres of Land Situate lying & being in the Corporation of Eliza City on the East Side thereof partly on the Land Commonly called Strawberry Bank partly on the Land of Buck Roe and Abuts Easterly and Northerly on the Land of Wm Wilkenson Clarke according to the known and appointed bounds there dividing the same and thence bounded on the Easterly and Southerly Side thereof by Point Comfort Crook. Extending by the Water Side Four Hundred Pole & Sixteen foot & a half to a pole unto the Land late in the Possession of Thomas Oldis & none (?) of his Heirs and bounded on the Westerly and southwesly side by the bounds and marks from the sd Thos Oldis Land and into the Land Abutting on the Glebe Land in the Main Woods the s. Seven Hundred Acres of Land being due by and for the Transportation of the Fourteen Persons into this Colony All whose Names are in the Record mentioned under this Patent and made and granted unto the sd Eliz". Claiborne by her sd Husband Capt. Wm Claiborne in Nature & Heir of a Jointure according to a former Order of Court the 7th of June 1644 to have & to hold etc. to be held etc. Yielding and paying etc. provided etc.
dated the 26th Xber 1647 Wm Berkeley“ p. 112

Old Kecoughtan, Elizabeth City County, VA - Old Records; Wm. & Mary Qtrly, Vol. 9, No. 2, 1901 College of William and Mary,
http://books.google.com/books?id=NDsSAAAAYAAJ&lpg=PA112

also found at

Old Kecoughtan, Elizabeth City County, VA - Old Records; Wm. & Mary Qtrly, Vol. 9, No. 2
http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/elizabethcity/court/kecoughtan.txt

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Historical Points of Emphasis

the issue of religious toleration appears - tie in to theme of Protestant and Catholic churches supported by federal government at Fort Monroe in antebellum period

historical tie in to intra-waterway transportation and future Washington - Baltimore Ferrys to Fort Monroe

Claiborne's naval battles with Catholic Maryland...offer avenues to be explored..as I will stress later

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"...We have seen that after Captain Ratcliffe's death. Captain James Davis had command of Algernourne Fort, and in 1614 the fort was described as a stockade "without stone or brick," containing 50 persons, men, women and boys, and protected by seven pieces of artillery; two of thirty-five "quintales," and the other thirty, twenty and eighteen all of iron.

After Percy's departure for England, in April, 1612, the name Algernourne Fort was discontinued; and the place, for many years afterwards, was referred to as "Point Comfort Fort."

In 1632, the fort having fallen in disuse, was rebuilt by Captain Samuel Mathews, afterwards governor, and furnished with a guard of eight men; and Captain Francis Pott, brother of Governor John Pott, of the ancient family of the Potts of Harrop, in Yorkshire, was made commander, and continued such till he was removed by Sir John Harvey in 1635.

In that year (1635) Francis Hooke, of the Royal Navy, " an old servant of King Charles, " was put in command.

He died in 1637, and Captain Christopher Wormley, who had been governor of Tortugas, was for a short time in charge.

Then, in 1639, succeeded Richard Moryson, son of Sir Richard Moryson, and brother-in-law of the noble cavalier, Lucius Cary, Lord Falkland, who married Letitia Moryson.

In 1641, he returned to England, and left his brother, Lieutenant Robert Moryson, in charge of the fort.

In 1649, Major Francis Moryson, another brother, who had served King Charles in the wars with the Parliament and came to Virginia with Colonel Henry Norwood, Colonel Mainwaring Hammond and other cavaliers was appointed by Sir William Berkley, captain of the fort. After Major Moryson, his nephew. Colonel Charles Moryson, son of Richard Moryson, about 1664, succeeded to the command.

For the support of the Captain, what were known as ** castle duties" were established in 1632, consisting, at first of "a barrel of powder and ten iron shot" required of every ship ; and the Captain kept a register of all arrivals.

By 1665, the fort was entirely out of repair, and the general assembly in obedience to orders from the king appointed Captain William Bassett to build a new fort, but the council constituted Col. Miles Cary and his son Thomas, as Bassette lived too remote. Before the work was finished, however, the great storm of 1667 washed away the very foundations, and Col. Cary lost his life fighting the Dutch, who made an attack the same year, and burnt the English shipping at the mouth of the river. Then the king sent new orders to restore the fort, but the assembly, who had very reluctantly obeyed in the first instance, now instead of doing what the king required, ordered five forts to be built at five other places, viz: Nansemond, Jamestown, Tindall's Point, Corotoman and Yeocomoco. As an excuse of this action they asserted in the preamble to their act the inefficiency of a fort at Point Comfort and the great difficulty of getting material to build a fort there. Of course, when the Dutch came in 1673, there was nothing to prevent their operations at the mouth of the river, and the shipping had the misfortune of 1667 repeated upon them.

The fort seems to have been discontinued for many-years after this." pp. 22-24

"...When John Fontaine visited Hampton in 1716, it was a place of 100 houses and had the greatest business in Virginia. All the men-of-war lay before this arm of the river, and the inhabitants drove a great trade with New York and Pennsylvania.
Pirates still infested the coast and one Edward Teach, otherwise known as Blackbeard, was notorious. He had his headquarters in Pamlico Sound, North Carolina, from which he sailed from time to time on piratic expeditions. In 1717, Governor Spotswood sent Captain Henry Maynard from Hampton after him, with two small sloops. On November 21, a bloody battle was fought, and Blackbeard was shot down by Maynard, and fourteen of his confederates were captured. Ma>aiard returned in triumph to Hampton swinging Blackbeard's head from his bowsprit. He set it up at the mouth of Hampton River, and the point is still known as Blackbeard's Point. Maynard's prisoners were tried and hanged at Williamsburg...." p. 31-32

"The Fort at Point Comfort, 1727-1749

"We have seen that the fort at Old Point Comfort was discontinued after 1667. In 1706 the whole point of land, containing about 120 acres being deserted, was patented by Robert Beverley. Five years later Governor Spotswood advised that the fort be rebuilt to afford a retreat for ships, when pursued by privateers in time of war, or by pirates in time of peace ; but it was not until 1727 that the Assembly seriously took up the proposition. When finished, which was not till after several years, it was mounted by twenty-two guns, and about 1736 Governor Gooch reported that: "no ship could pass it without running great risk." It was named Fort George, and was made of brick, each nine inches long by four wide and three thick. The exterior wall was sixteen feet distant from the interior one, and the former was twenty-seven inches thick and the latter sixteen inches. Then the two walls were connected by counter walls ten or twelve feet apart, forming cribs, which were probably filled with sand. During this time the fort was under the control of George Walker, "gunner and storekeeper. It seems that the government built the work without asking the consent of the owner of the land, but in 1744 this difficulty was quieted by their giving William Beverley, son of Robert Beverley, then deceased, 165 pounds for his rights. Five years later another and more fatal difficulty assailed the fort.
In 1749, a hurricane, which has been described as most terrific and disastrous, visited Virginia. The officer in command at Point Comfort was Captain Samuel Barron, ancestor of a line of naval heroes distinguished in three wars. The barracks in which he stayed were a long row of wooden buildings with brick chimneys, running up through the center of the roofs, and Captain Barron caused all his family with the officers and soldiers of the garrison, to muster on the second floor with all the weighty articles they could find; which, it was supposed, kept the houses firm on their foundations, and so preserved the lives of all concerned. The hurricane, however, entirely destroyed the walls of Fort George, and Captain Barron removed with his family to the upper part of Mill Creek, not far off, where he resided during the remainder of his life.'
In 1756, Governor Dinwiddie, commenting on the fort, observed: **It was built on a Sandy Bank; no care to drive the piles to make a Foundation; the Sea and wind beating against it has quite undermined it and dismantled all the Guns which now lie buried in the Sand. " There is no evidence that the fort was ever restored, but as late as 1847 parts of its walls were seen and described. " pp. 36-37

*History of Hampton and Elizabeth City County, Virginia at archive.org
http://www.archive.org/details/historyofhampton00tyle
also
"History of Hampton and Elizabeth City County, Virginia. Compiled by Lyon G. Tyler, M.A., LL.D. Published by the Board of Supervisors of Elizabeth City County, Hampton, Virginia, 1922.
http://www.accessgenealogy.com/virginia/history_of_hampton.htm

* see Table of Contents below

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Fort George:

“Initially Fort Algernon was merely earthwork; however, "by early 1611 it was well stockaded and contained seven heavy guns awl a number of smaller weapons. Its garrison was a company of 40 men commanded by Captain Davis. "the British undertook other forts (Forts Henry and Charles) nearby; however, their role was subsidiary to Fort Algernon. On May 22, 1611, Captain Davis was appointed by Sir Thomas Dale as "taskmaster" for the three forts which would form the first harbor defense command on the continent.

A physical description of these defensive forts was provided by Spaniard Diego de Molina who was imprisoned there.

At the entrance (into the James River) is a fort (fuerte) or, to speak more exactly, a weak structure of boards ten hands high with twenty-five soldiers and four iron pieces. Half a league off is another (Fort Charles) smaller with fifteen soldiers, without artillery. There is another (Fort Henry) smaller than either, half
a league inland from here for a defense against the Indians. This has fifteen more soldiers.2

Unfortunately, an accidental fire destroyed Fort Algernon in February/March of 1612. By that time the fort boasted a stockaded earthwork with storehouse, magazine and garrison quarters. Captain Davis and his men immediately began the fort's reconstruction; however, it was never again called Fort Algernon but simply "the fort at Old Point Comfort."

The fort's reconstruction was poorly executed. Upon Governor Argall's arrival at the fort in May 1617, he decided to instigate repairs and improvements to the ailing defensive work. This undertaking was likewise insubstantial, for when Governor Yeardly arrived in the colony in 1619, he found not one fortification capable of defending the settlements from hostile naval approach.

The climate of Virginia was conducive to rapid decay, and this, combined with the lack of engineering skill among the men of the colony,prevented the erection of enduring works. As a result, from this time to the end of the colonial period the forts quickly fell into dilapidation and ruin.3

The climate was not the only deterrent to the erection of permanent fortifications at Old Point Comfort. The maintenance of the forts was financed by the taxation of the colonists, who did not share the British desire to protect the coastline which the settlers felt was sufficiently secure. Despite orders from England to repair or erect new fortifications,the colonists refused. Commissioners returning to England in 1625 reported that there were not public works, guest house, church, or fort.

Page 11

Not until 1630, when the resources of the colony had improved, did the General Assembly draft a resolution to construct a substantial fortification.

This new fort was completed under the direction of Captain Sam Matthews by 1632. The upkeep of this fort was to be financed not only by taxation but also by tariffs levied on incoming ships; however, these funds were poorly managed. By 1640 a new fort was necessary and the General Assembly levied a tax on the colonists for the reconstruction. It was apparent that a fort built of stone would preclude the constant need for repairs and reconstruction and in 1650 Governor Berkeley received the authority from England to build one. However, Berkeley wanted a fort at Jamestown so that he could collect the tariffs; consequently, he never availed himself of the authority, the fort at Old Point Comfort fell into disrepair and by 1664 was again useless.

On July 8, 1666, the General assembly bowed to Governor Berkeley's wishes and ordered the construction of a large fort at Jamestown. Old Point Comfort was discounted as a fort site because: the discovery that the channel of the James River was wider than previously thought; prohibitive cost of construction; sparse local population; no local fresh water; infertile soil.

During the construction of the Jamestown fort the Dutch approached the unprotected harbor and burned numerous ships and Hampton. The General Assembly immediately voted to erect a fort at Old Point Comfort (and three other sites) for strategic reasons alone. By June 1667, eight guns were positioned at the Point; however, on August 27, 1667, a "Dreadful Hurry Cane.. .carryed all the foundations of the fort at Point Comfort into the River and most of our Timber which was very chargeably brought thither to perfect it."4 Fortunately no one was injured. The hurricane proved too devastating for the fort, however. Nothing was done to replace the lost defensive works and three years from the date of construction, they ware in ruins.

During the remainder of the century there were no more signs of interest in fortification. By 1681 the forts were reported to be indefensible; by 1690 Governor Nicholson declared all fortifications to be in ruins. In 1695 the Jamestown fort was demolished and in 1699 the Governor and the General Assembly agreed to recommend that all forts be allowed to sink into ruin. Even with Europe at war, the colonists did not feel a threat serious enough to warrant the expense of erecting coastal defenses.

In 1711, however, upon receiving news of the approach of the French Fleet, Governor Spottswood, acting without the approval of the General Assembly, resurrected four forts with a total of 70 cannons. One fort was at Old Point Comfort. As had been the case, again the forts were allowed to rot when the colony later felt secure. Consequently in 1728, the General Assembly was again considering the cost of revitalizing the fort.

By March 1728 the General Assembly had appropriated enough funds to undertake the most substantial and elaborate fortification ever undertaken by the colony.

Page 12

The new fort was built of brick and shell lime in two lines of walls about sixteen feet apart. . . The bricks, homemade, were 9"x4"x3". The exterior wall was 27" thick, while the interior was but 16" thick. The two walls were connected by a series of

counterparts 10 or 12 feet apart, forming a system of cribs, which were filled with sand. With this wall of brick and sand sixteen feet in thickness, the fort had a substantiality that was more apparent than real, for the brick retaining walls were woefully thin. A breach in the outer wall would endanger the whole structure.5

In honor of the reigning British monarch, the .defensive work was named Fort George. Even this substantial fort fell into disrepair. It had been constructed in preparation for war; however, with Britain still fighting Spain in 1742, Fort George had seen no military action and consequently had received no upkeep. The already weakened fort experienced a hurricane in 1749 and although no one was injured, the fort was completely destroyed. With the loss of Fort George, colonial coastline fort defenses came to an end. In 1756 and 1757 Governor Dinwiddie reported to the Lord's Commissioners for Trade and Plantation that "we have no forts in y's Dcm'n. There was one erected at the mouth of Jas. River, but as it was built on a Sandy Foundation, the Sea and Weather destroyed it (so) y't the Guns lie dismounted, and (are) of no Use."5

By 1774 the garrison was reduced to one man, John Dames, to oversee the ruins. He began to display a light at night for the benefit of passing ships.

The Revolutionary War refocused the attention of the colonies on coastal defense. No fortifications existed which could effectively keep the British from invading at will. Even by 1781, there were only six men at Old Point Comfort, lord Cornwallis chose to occupy fortifications at Yorktown and Gloucester instead of Old Point Comfort because: no drinking water was available; material for repairs would be brought from a distance; the low elevation of the site would allow plunging fire from ships; the existing structure was too seriously decrepit. These disadvantages were not at Yorktown; however, Yorktown was vulnerable from land attack. This weakness allowed the defeat of Cornwallis and the ultimate victory over the British. With the end of the war. Old Point Comfort was once again abandoned and allowed to fall into disrepair.”pp. 11-13

THE ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE OF FORT MONROE: INVENTORY AND DOCUMENTATION OF HISTORIC STRUCTURES UNDERTAKEN BY THE HISTORIC AMERICAN BUILDINGS SURVEY VOLUME I
Prepared by: John Paul Graham, Supervisory Historian Mary Beth Gatza, Historian E. Kipling Wright, Historian
Historic American Buildings Survey/ Historic American Engineering Record, National Park Service Department of the Interior, 1987
www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/nnps/fort_monroe.pdf

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Currently the American Revolution is glossed over in past histories etc. on "Fort Monroe" history:

"During the Revolutionary War it was reported that there were only six guards at Old Point Comfort."

"the British who landed unopposed and set fires" at OPC and nearby Newport News. (Continental Army Command pamphlet, 1960)

"Discovering that Portsmouth and Old Point Comfort were unsuitable, Cornwallis decided in early August to fortify Yorktown and Gloucester Point opposite each other on the deep-channeled York River."

"our French allies under Admiral Comte De Grasse landed some men and erected a battery on Old Point Comfort." -Tales of Old Fort Monroe, No 10. Old Point Comfort: America's Greatest Bastion, Casemate Museum.

Now, consider the regionally famous and massive crowd that annually attend "The Fourth at the Fort" - will this event continue and in what form? - Especially without the Army's support and expenditures.

It should and can with greater community sponsorship and financial support - and perhaps an expanded approach - including observance of OPC's role and Hampton's in the revolution.

Revolutionary War events should fittingly and easily be tied to future 4th celebrations.

Imagine the Fife and Drums from Williamsburg..period re-enactors...the Spirit of 76...symposiums.

and expansion on theme - example: augmented with a greater inclusion of Old Point Comfort's gravitas and tie in to the Yorktown Campaign (October)...the Revolutionary Battles that occurred at Hampton and the co-related issue of ongoing slavery

- I digress here for a moment to stress now the importance of African-American..history..the first landing of slaves in 1619, obviously the CW period will deserve its greatest treatment - but let's look for a continuum..through Colonial times - to the revolution - to the slave "uprising" in the sacking of Hampton in 1813..the CW..and tie in to Hampton Institute now University!

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The month of October would likely seem another opportunity to stress revolutionary beginnings..

26 October 1775, a squadron of British naval vessels attacked the town of Hampton, Virginia.

see

"Rebel against Rebel": Enslaved Virginians and the Coming of the American Revolution by Woody Holton, Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Volume 105 / Number 2, 1997pp. 157–92
http://www.vahistorical.org/publications/past_issues.htm

"...In a letter from John Page to Thomas Jefferson, Page tells of the fight. "He (Col. Woodford) mounted his Horse and riding down to the Wharf found that the Peop[le] of the Town had abandoned their Houses and the Militia had left the Breast Work which had been thrown up across the Wharf and Street. He returned to order down Captn. Nicholas's Company and Bluford's (Buford's)" He then lead Buford's Company "under Cover of Houses on the other Side of the Street placing some in a House and others at a Breast Work on the Shore." (Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Vol.1, p.257)
Squire had supposed that once he started raking the houses and streets with his cannon, the rebel troops would soon turn to flight. Instead, the militia already present were being reinforced with expert marksmen. The largest cannon that Capt. Squire had were four-pounders, and they proved ineffective against the well built, brick homes that housed the riflemen, who were now pouring rifle balls into his vessels. The Jones house in particular stood out like a fortress. Such a heavy fire poured from the house, that the British supposed it manned by 200 defenders. (The actual number was undoubtedly much less) (Scribner and Tarter, Vol. IV, p.8)
Page continues, "The Fire was now general and constant on both Sides. Cannon Balls Grape Shot and Musket Balls whistled over the Heads of our Men, Whilst our Muskets and Rifles poured Showers of Balls into their Vessels and they were so well directed that the Men on Board the Schooner in which Captn. Squires himself commanded, were unable to stand to their 4 Pounders which were not sheltered by a Netting, and gave but one Round of them but kept up an incessant firing of smaller Guns and swivels, as did 2 Sloops and 3 Boats for more than an Hour and 1/4, when they slipt their Cables and towed out". Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Vol. I, p.257)
Squire's situation was becoming uncomfortable. With the Culpeper riflemen swinging into action, it soon was more so. Standing to a cannon became a flirtation with death, climbing a rigging, pure suicide. Here was something novel in the long history of warfare-the forest outgunning the sea. Slowly Squire's guns became silent, and the Captain withdrew.
As Squire's flotilla was leaving, one of the tenders, the Hawke, commanded by Lt. John Wright, drifted towards the shore. The riflemen's fire was so effective that the men refused to man the tender properly, exposing themselves to the hall of bullets that was pouring in. The Lieutenant was himself shot. According to Page he "Jumpt over Board and was attended to Shore by 2 Negros and a white Man, one of the Negros was shot by a RifleMan across the Creek at 400 yds. distance." The Hawke was captured along with its crew and arms...."
Hampton (battle of) - Culpeper Minute Battalion - by Kyle Willyard Culpeper Militia 1995
http://www.liming.org/nwta/culhampton.html

October was also the culminating month of the Siege and Surrender at Yorktown on October 19, 1781; which leads to a:

A Great What if? Old Point Comfort vs Yorktown -- would Cornwallis have been rescued? escaped?

Consider how close OPC came to being where Cornwallis surrendered by reading the complex sequence of exchanges and reports between the British Generals and Admirals found at:

THE VIRGINIA CAMPAIGN AND THE BLOCKADE AND SIEGE OF YORKTOWN 1781 INCLUDING A BRIEF NARRATIVE OF THE FRENCH PARTICIPATION IN THE REVOLUTION PRIOR TO THE SOUTHERN CAMPAIGN BY COLONEL H. L. LANDERS, F. A. HISTORICAL SECTION, ARMY WAR COLLEGE PRESENTED BY MR. BINGHAM, February 7, 1931.Ordered to be printed with illustrations and maps

http://www.history.army.mil/books/revwar/yorktown/AWC-Ytn-12.htm

The struggle for American independence, Volume 1 and Vol 2, by Sydney George Fisher, J.B. Lippincott Company, 1908
http://books.google.com/books?id=37QsAAAAMAAJ
http://books.google.com/books?id=qFosAAAAMAAJ

"Old Point Rejected...Clinton and Phillips finally inclined to Old Point Comfort as the best of all.
The advantages of Old Point were explained in an interesting letter by General Phillips, who said that it was a post that a small force might defend on the land, and as it was directly on the bay, close to the ocean, the shipping would have ample scope to act, and by taking advantage of winds and tides might escape from a superior naval force. But up a river like the Elizabeth, the shipping would have no chance to escape, could be blockaded by a hostile naval force, and compelled to surrender with the post.

After establishing himself at Portsmouth, Cornwallis went down to examine Old Point, taking with him an engineer and four naval captains. They all decided against it; and their principal reason was that the water in front being deep for a distance of fifteen hundred yards, hostile ships could pass without being injured by the forts. The ground was so low that material for building forts would have to be brought a great distance at great expense. The forts when built would, they thought, give no protection to a weak fleet against a superior one, which could easily place the weaker fleet between itself and the forts. fn- BF Stevens "Clinton-Cornwallis Controversy vol 1 pp. 50 note, 53, 54, 62 note, 75, 96, 100, 102, 107; Tarleton Narrative, p. 407." The struggle for American independence, Volume 1 and Vol 2, by Sydney George Fisher, J.B. Lippincott Company, 1908Vol 2 p. 469

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Axelrod poses such a question in his page 334 sidebar - Why Yorktown? - opining that "It is difficult to understand just why Cornwallis was attracted to Yorktown, which offered no advantage over Old Point Comfort..."

The Real History of the American Revolution: A New Look at the Past, by Alan Axelrod
http://books.google.com/books?id=iBvtuSWgt_QC&printsec=frontcover

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Ruckman poses the key questions and answers in his analysis:

"...Yorktown needs no introduction....Being under orders to send reinforcements to Clinton in New York, Cornwallis started for Portsmouth, via the Jamestown-Suffolk road. Before arriving at this place his previous orders were countermanded, and he was directed to select a position on the coast, central to Virginia, to fortify himself, and await developments. The developments came thick and fast. He caused reconnaissance of Point Comfort and other places along the shore to be made, and selected Yorktown as the point from which he could best co-operate with the fleet.

With his [Cornwallis] movement from Williamsburg commenced that series of moves and combinations upon the strategic chessboard in which one side lost a continent, and the other secured the greatest prize ever won by any people.
Having decided on Yorktown, Cornwallis began the movement on the 1st of August, and had practically finished it by the 4th. He embarked his troops at Portsmouth and sailed through Hampton Roads: Tarleton took his cavalry on transports to Hampton Creek, swam the horses ashore and marched across the country to the designated place.
Lafayette placed detachments at Suffolk, Williamsburg and Gloucester. On August 30th, DeGrasse entered the bay with twenty-six ships of the line; on September 3d, St. Simon threw up a small fort at Point Comfort, and landed 3,200 men ; on the 5th, the British Admiral Graves arrived at Cape Charles with nineteen ships of the line and attacked the French fleet, but without decisive result. De Grasse kept Graves occupied without bringing on a battle until the 10th. On the 10th, DeBarras arrived with seven ships of the line and fourteen transports, and entered the bay, followed by DeGrasse, and Graves, having no chance of success, departed for New York, leaving DeGrasse in possession of the sea. From this day forward relief of Cormwallis by water became impossible. On the 14th, Washington himself reached Williamsburg. His army, aided by the French in transportation from Head of Elk and Baltimore, arrived on the 25th.
In this manner all the troops were taken up the Roads and James River, and without difficulty placed in rear of Cornwallis. To the latter, with escape by sea cut off and an army double his own in his rear, it became only a matter of time when he must surrender. The armies quickly closed in, and on the 17th of October the preliminaries of surrender were arranged.
A large number of the guns captured from Cornwallis may now be seen within the main work of the fort. These guns are the largest sized used in those days for field and siege operations. If he had chosen Point Comfort instead of Yorktown, his heavy guns would have controlled the roads and cut off the upper bay and the James from the . Americans. This would greatly have complicated their problem, and might have changed the result.
The important facts to notice here are that all these movements revolved around Point Comfort as a strategic pivot; that fifty-two ships of the line were concentrated at one time in the bay, being the largest number of such ships which, up to that time, had been arrayed against each other at a single point; and that the side which retained possession of the sea was victorious...."

HISTORIC FORT MONROE, by John W. Ruckman, First Lieutenant 7th U. S. Artillery.
Frank Leslie's popular monthly, Volume 52, edited by Frank Leslie, 1901, pp. 291-302
http://books.google.com/books?id=v3YXAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA291

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September 28 – October 17, 1781 - Siege of Yorktown, surrender 19 October 1781

"The Battle of Yorktown is as complicated as the Battle of Saratoga. Neither consists of a single event...it became a series of moves and countermoves which set up not only the event, but also the ultimate outcome, much as one would find in a long chess game....instructed to detach between 2,000-3,000 troops to Hampton Roads, where they could be transported to New York City, because Clinton was expecting a major Franco-American attack. Cornwallis disrupted his operations and headed toward Hampton Roads. It was during this withdrawal that he almost trapped LaFayette and Wayne at Green Springs on June 6.

After moving his forces, he received a letter from Clinton stating he no longer needed the troops. Another letter told him to take up a defensive position at Hampton Roads, Point Comfort or Portsmouth, where he could watch for the anticipated arrival of the French fleet. Then still another letter arrived recommending he consider Williamsburg or Yorktown, but stay close to a deep-water port.:"

Patriots Victorious Over British Forces at Yorktown By Compatriot Charles R. Lampman, California Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (reprinted from the Summer, 2006 Edition of the SAR Magazine)
http://www.revolutionarywararchives.org/yorkfinish.html

but let's go back - Old Point Comfort WAS OCCUPIED by the British for survey purposes, for determining these facts necessitated controlling OPC...of course they occupied locations everywhere their superior force enabled..on the southside etc..

"Attention has been brought to the many conflicting orders which were largely responsible for the controversy that started immediately after the British Army surrendered at Yorktown. The point of greatest contention made by Clinton was that Cornwallis did not obey his order to take post at Old Point Comfort, but went to Yorktown instead and there permitted himself to be bottled up by the French Fleet and the allied armies.....

A careful survey of Old Point Comfort and Hampton Roads was made by Lieutenants Sutherland and Stratton of the Royal Engineers, and the impracticability of using this post and roadstead for the purposes intended by Clinton and Graves was easily demonstrated. The great width and depth of the channel gave ships the opportunity of passing, with very little risk, any work that might be erected on the ruins of Fort George, which offered the best site for mounting guns. The report says:

I apprehend fifteen hundred yards is too great a distance for batteries to stop ships, which is the distance here. Ships that wish to pass the fire of the fort have no occasion to approach nearer.

The opinions of the commanders of His Majesty's ships in the Chesapeake, as to the propriety of defending Old Point Comfort, are expressed in the following report dated the 26th of July:

In consequence of a requisition that your Lordship received from the commanders in chief of his Majesty's troops and ships, relative to a post being established at Old Point Comfort, for the protection and security of the King's ships that may occasionally be sent to the Chesapeak: We, whose names are hereunto subscribed, have taken as accurate a survey of that place as possible, and are unanimously of opinion, from the width of the channel and depth of water close to it, that any superior enemy's force coming in, may pass any work that can be established there, with little damage, or destroy it with the ships that may be there, under its protection."

This communication was signed by Captain Charles Hudson, the senior naval commander in the Chesapeake, and three other captains of battle ships.

Captain Hudson sent, at the same time, a separate report to Admiral Graves confirming the joint report, with the additional statement that as the occupation of Old Point Comfort would not give protection to the ships, Lord Cornwallis and himself had resolved to remove the troops that were then in Portsmouth and its vicinity to "York and Gloucester river, where we apprehend a better Port can be established for the protection of the King's troops."

In transmitting to Clinton the reports of the engineer officers and the captains of the navy, Cornwallis said:
"Your Excellency will see, that a work on Point Comfort, would neither command the entrance, nor secure his Majesty's ships at anchor in Hampton road.

This being the case, I shall in obedience to the spirit of your Excellency's orders, take measures with as much dispatch as possible, to seize and fortify York and Gloucester, being the only harbour in which we can hope to be able to give effectual protection to line of battle ships. I shall, likewise, use all the expedition in my power to evacuate Portsmouth and the posts belonging to it, but until that is accomplished, it will be impossible for me to spare troops."

All the transports were loaded and on the 30th of July set sail from Portsmouth with 4,500 men aboard" pp. 122-124

THE VIRGINIA CAMPAIGN AND THE BLOCKADE AND SIEGE OF YORKTOWN 1781 INCLUDING A BRIEF NARRATIVE OF THE FRENCH PARTICIPATION IN THE REVOLUTION PRIOR TO THE SOUTHERN CAMPAIGN BY COLONEL H. L. LANDERS, F. A. HISTORICAL SECTION, ARMY WAR COLLEGE PRESENTED BY MR. BINGHAM February 7, 1931.Ordered to be printed with illustrations and maps
http://www.history.army.mil/books/revwar/yorktown/AWC-Ytn-12.htm

As the National Park Service historian's listed in 1987:
"...Lord Cornwallis chose to occupy fortifications at Yorktown and Gloucester instead of Old Point Comfort because: .... "no drinking water was available; material for repairs would be brought from a distance; the low elevation of the site would allow plunging fire from ships; the existing structure was too seriously decrepit. These disadvantages were not at Yorktown; however, Yorktown was vulnerable from land attack. This weakness allowed the defeat of Cornwallis and the ultimate victory over the British." 6

THE ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE OF FORT MONROE: INVENTORY AND DOCUMENTATIONOF HISTORIC STRUCTURES UNDERTAKEN BY THE HISTORIC AMERICAN BUILDINGS SURVEY VOLUME I
Prepared by: John Paul Graham, Supervisory Historian, Mary Beth Gatza, Historian, E. Kipling Wright, Historian, Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record National Park Service Department of the Interior 1987
www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/nnps/fort_monroe.pdf

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In the end, it was the inter-related matter of limited gun ranges for protecting ships or defeating enemy ships and ship anchorage that informed Cornwallis' decision..and the fact that his higher commander relented...and did not demand that Cornwallis occupy OPC..

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and yet, it is more than curious that Admiral Comte de Grasse, deemed it otherwise important to do so, as he "landed men and guns at the Fort George ruins and constructed a temporary fort to prevent interference by the British fleet. After the surrender of Cornwallis on October 19, 1781, de Grasse withdrew his guns and men."- http://www.vamason.org/no306/306hist.html

also mentioned in Tales of Old Fort Monroe, No 10 Old Point Comfort: America's Greatest Bastion
15 pamphlets published by the Casemate Museum, Fort Monroe, Virginia 23651.

but another chance for a tie-in is presented because in the next war with GB, Old Point Comfort in the War of 1812... will be occupied again..at the easy will of the British if for a short period...as part of their overall unopposed control of the Chesapeake strategy and operations, so, during the ensuing battle of Craney Island (22 June 1813) and burning of Hampton (24 Jun) ...

When has this occupation of American soil, at OPC, which also led to it directly becoming (again) a future military fort for the young US, emphasized?

Only just recently has Hampton commemorated the infamous fate that befell it in the War of 1812!

"A British officer recorded the result in his diary: "Every horror was perpetrated with impunity — rape, murder, pillage — and not a single man was punished." wiki

this lesson in defense - unguarded territory, surprise attack, occupation, pillaging and burning has been dominated by the very and more important stories of the burning of Washington, Pearl Harbor, and 9-11 - but the point is that Old Point Comfort and Hampton have a similar experience to tell and share with an uniformed citizenry...

the Old Point Comfort Lighthouse might become the focal point of this remembrance:

"During the War of 1812, the lighthouse temporarily fell into British hands, when the Jack Tars and Royal Marines sailed into the Chesapeake. Frustrated in their efforts to seize the town of Norfolk, the invaders landed at Old Point Comfort and used the tower as an observation post. From there they went on to take and burn Hampton on June 25th, 1813, and then torch Washington D.C. a weeks later on August 14th. "
http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=444

a symposium...along the lines of the recent Fort Algernourne, 2009, meeting could at least be considered and explored

I will not repeat the vastly more documented history that transpires - the building of Fortress Monroe, Fort Wool, it's colorful Civil War heritage where "some 25 major events of that conflict centered around Union troops stationed at the Fort" (1960 CONARC pamphlet) and the Army's important usage of Monroe to train Coastal Artillery leaders, and command the nation's forces, however designated, Ground, Field and Continental, as well as develop the training doctrine that saw the US into the current century.

------------------------------

Perhaps hosting a similar event such as “Military Through the Ages,” held for the past 26 years on a weekend in March at the Jamestown Settlement...say in April, May or June ?

what transpires:

"More than 300 re-enactors depicting soldiers from the eleventh century through modern times..In the course of one weekend, visitors will experience the past and present in a unique chronological display of military history. More than 30 Virginia and Maryland units will portray soldiers from the War of the Roses, French and Indian War, American Revolution, War of 1812 and American Civil War. Re-enactors representing World Wars I and II and the Vietnam War will take visitors through the 20th century and, with the Virginia Army National Guard, into the present."

What more logical place for such an event than Fort Monroe and Old Point Comfort?

or for that matter the impressive religious history associated with the Chapel of The Centurion (1858) and St Mary's Star of the Sea. (1860) - only to say that the latter example falls within the issue of religious and cultural toleration

What was OPC and FM - thru the centuries?

It was an ongoing exemplification of the mixing bowl and/or melting pot that became America - the first place (and I mean the tribal territory - not the English place name) where Natives broke bread and willingly shared with English - and continued to do so for some time - an army post that exemplifies where institutional integration preceded (1950s) and set the example for the larger nation let alone to its southern community neighbors - of what American values should be.

Today, thousands of still living, ethnically diverse Americans have at one time called Fort Monroe home..bring them back.

The Lighthouse should serve as their guiding beacon and symbol

a major festival - A WELCOME BACK TO THE PEOPLE WHO MADE FORT MONROE HOME - should be considered..

my suggestion for a date is around late August or September Labor Day (travel weekend)

...co-joined to two significant events:

"It is late summer. Out of a violent storm appears a Dutch ship. The ship's cargo hold is empty except for twenty or so Africans whom the captain and his crew have recently robbed from a Spanish ship. The captain exchanges the Africans for food, then sets sail." - http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/1p263.html

These 20 Angolans - some to be servants others slaves - came ashore at Old Point Comfort, site of present day Fort Monroe in Virginia.

and Hispanic Heritage Month

or alternatively this could also take place during February during Black History Month..

----------------------------------------

*History of Hampton and Elizabeth City County, Virginia at archive.org
http://www.archive.org/details/historyofhampton00tyle
also

"History of Hampton and Elizabeth City County, Virginia. Compiled by Lyon G. Tyler, M.A., LL.D. Published by the Board of Supervisors of Elizabeth City County, Hampton, Virginia, 1922.
http://www.accessgenealogy.com/virginia/history_of_hampton.htm
* see Table of Contents below

Table of Contents:

Old Kecoughtan, 1607-1619
Fort Algernoume
Forts Henry and Charles

The Development of Elizabeth City

The Strawberry Bank

"Fox Hill," and "Little England"

The First Glebe and Church

The Free Schools

The Second Church, 1667

The First Court House

The Schools of Syms and Eaton

Officers, 1680-1699.

Founding of Hampton, 1680

The Third Church

Learning in Elizabeth City County

Ministers

The Free Schools in 1720-1776

Population

The Fort at Point Comfort, 1727-1749

The Church Steeple and Bell

List of the Burgesses from 1700-1776

Hampton in the Revolution

The Heroes of Hampton Town

The Later Barrons

Lewis Warrington

Hampton in the War of 1812 [see below]

Hampton After the War of 1812

Hampton During the War of 1861-1865

Hampton After the War of 1865-1910

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Old Point Comfort WAS OCCUPIED for a second time during the Battle and Burning of Hampton in the War of 1812 - links to narratives and sources

Interestingly, as far as making "national" news - this was the most exposure Hampton was to have in its history.
More American citizens were aware from newspaper coverage of what had happened at Hampton in 1813 than probably at any time until perhaps the Civil War and Butler's famous "Contraband policy" announcement, followed by occupation and its burning by Confederates in the face of Union General McClellan's Peninsula Campaign and later the (in)famous Allen Iverson assault trial which garnered national sports and news media coverage.

A sub-community of Hampton the "Olde Wythe Neighborhood Association" included a brief mention of the surprise attack on Hampton in its "Hampton Roads – World’s Greatest Harbor - Historical Events Passing the Shores of Olde Wythe" historical marker on Chesapeake Avenue (8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker demonstrating the communities historical mindedness and the rich heritage present along these shores and in surrounding waters):
"During the War of 1812, on June 25, 1813, the British launched a surprise attack on the town of Hampton, landing before dawn between what is known today as Indian River and Robinson Creeks. As a result of the War of 1812, the U.S. Government decided to improve the defenses of the coast from foreign invasion with the construction of Fort Monroe in 1819."

Notice that mention of the events and severity of the attack are glossed over although the impact on national defense measures is noted

So, Gilbert Collins is still, to my mind, correct when he noted in 2006 that:
"Presently there is no marker to commemorate the events at Hampton during the War of 1812..."p. 315
ATTACK on HAMPTON - HAMPTON, VIRGINIA
Guidebook to the Historic Sites of the War of 1812, By Gilbert Collins, 2006, p. 315
http://books.google.com/books?id=apJd1Fp8fxwC&lpg=PA315

Hampton, Virginia, Encyclopedia of the War of 1812, by David Stephen Heidler, Jeanne T. Heidler, Naval Institute Press, 2004, p.225
http://books.google.com/books?id=_c09EJgek50C&lpg=PA225

"In April 1813, Admiral Sir George Cockburn brought a squadron into Chesapeake Bay. On the 13th, he burnt Frenchtown, at the far north end on Elk River, a port on the Philadelphia-Washington sea and land route. He ranged up and down for 12 days, raiding and looting without encountering resistance. Hampton, Virginia was raided, and 600 runaway slaves given sanctuary. Slaves were drawn to British descents on the coast, eager to escape from the Land of the Free. Virginia had taken the unusual step of organizing a state army, as distinct from a militia, in this year, fearing slave revolt. The state army was only temporary, as it was deprecated by the federal authorities...."
1812 And All That An introduction to the War of 1812: an episode in the history of bungling, with its effects on the Indians

http://mysite.du.edu/~jcalvert/hist/1812.htm

"According to Charles Napier, a young British officer who later gained fame in India, "Every horror was committed with impunity: rape, murder, pillage; and not a man was punsihed!" The British blamed the excesses on the Chasseurs Britanique-French Prisoners of war who had enlisted in British service to avoid confinement...."p. 49
The War of 1812: a short history,by Donald R. Hickey, University of Illinois Press, 1995
http://books.google.com/books?id=3GLq_jMv5ToC&lpg=PA49

Assault on Hampton pp. 361-365
The Naval War of 1812: a documentary history, Volume 2, by William S. Dudley, Michael J. Crawford, Naval Historical Center (U.S.), Government Printing Office - History, 1985
http://books.google.com/books?id=v-b7pScuxEYC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA361

"...Wellington’s victories placed thousands of French soldiers in British custody through their capture or desertion. Presented with this considerable reserve of potential manpower, the British Government chose to form hundreds of amenable French prisoners into independent companies to garrison overseas posts threatened by the North American war, thought to be “the best means of applying these people to the public service in the most eligible manner.”[2] Of four companies ultimately raised, the first two saw service in North America....While their atrocities, particularly their sacking of the town of Hampton, Virginia on 26 June 1813 are justly regarded as some of the most vicious crimes committed by either side during the War of 1812, they were not without cause. Rather, they were the direct outcome of an unfortunate combination of poor troops and even worse command decisions. This article examines the psychological, command and operational factors that led to their infamous conduct.....Therein, the Frenchmen committed “every horror … with impunity, rape, murder and pillage….” In fairness they were not alone; naval boat crews also indulged somewhat, and Napier admitted his own men chafed to be allowed to participate. Still, the Frenchmen acted with singular malice;..."
The Crimes of Independent Companies of Foreigners in North America, 1813, by Gareth Newfield
http://www.warof1812.ca/foreigners.htm

Operations at and near Hampton during War of 1812
The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 37, No. 1 (Jan., 1929), pp. 1-11
Published by: Virginia Historical Society
http://www.jstor.org/pss/4244241

THE BRITISH AT HAMPTON CHAP XVII, The history of the United States: from their colonization to the ..., Volume 3, by George Tucker, 1858

Historical collections of Virginia: containing a collection of the most, by Henry Howe, 1852
http://books.google.com/books?id=KkAVAAAAYAAJ&dq=Rip%2BRaps%2BVirginia&pg=PA252

PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK OF THE WAR OF 1812.BY BENSON J. LOSSING,1869. CHAPTER XXX. PREDATORY WARFARE OF THE BRITISH ON THE COAST.
"The British resolve on vigorous War. – Blockade of Chesapeake and Delaware Bays. – The Blockading Squadron. – Defenses of Norfolk and Hampton Roads. – Discretion of the Blockaders. – Patriotism on the Shores of Delaware Bay. – The British threaten and hesitate. – Attack on Lewistown. – Cockburn’s Operations. – Cockburn’s Desires restrained by Fear. – The British capture Frenchtown. – Havre de Grace threatened. – Preparations for the Invaders at Havre de Grace. – Cockburn assails the Village. – Flight of the Inhabitants. – Landing of the British at Havre de Grace. – Their cruel Conduct. – Destruction of private Property. – A Visit to Havre de Grace. – Historical Localities there. – John O’Neill, his Sword and Dwelling. – The "Pringle House." – Its Owner a Veteran of the War. – Plunder and Destruction of Villages by Cockburn. – The blockading Force strengthened. – Norfolk menaced. – Stirring Scenes in Hampton Roads. – Skirmish in Hampton Roads. – A British Fleet enters the Roads. – Admiral Shubrick’s public Life. – Virginia Militia near Norfolk. – Craney Island. – American Forces there. – General Taylor. – Artillerists on Craney Island. – Landing of the British. – Preparations for Battle. – Advance of the British on Land. – A sharp Conflict. – Advance of the British on Water. – The British Flotilla driven back. – Attempt to seize Norfolk and the Navy Yard abandoned. – Hampton. – Americans at Hampton. – Landing of the British near Hampton. – Armed Boats appear in Front. – The British Invaders confronted. – A severe Skirmish. – Struggle for the Possession of Hampton. – Americans driven from Hampton. – The Village given up to Rapine and Pillage. – A Committee of Investigation. – Official Correspondence concerning Outrages. – A Visit to Norfolk and its Vicinity. – Old Fort Norfolk. – British Consul at Norfolk and his Residence. – Thomas Moore and the Lake of the Dismal Swamp. – Craney Island. – The Fortifications on Craney Island. – A Slave’s Freedom purchased by his Wife. – A Visit to Hampton and its Vicinity. – Landing-place of the British. – Commodore Barron’s Daughter. – Colonel James and his Family. – Destruction of Hampton. – Cockburn in the Potomac and on the Coast of North Carolina. – Alarm in South Carolina. – Secret Organization among the Slaves. – A revolutionary Hymn. – The Grave of Osceola. – Cockburn on the Coast of Georgia. – Decatur runs the Blockade at New York. – He is driven into the Thames. – Blockading Squadron off New London. – Alarm of the Inhabitants. – Decatur finds a Place of Safety. – A Torpedo Vessel off New London. – Alarm and Precautions of the British. – Other Torpedo Vessels. – Vigorous blockade of the Coast of Connecticut. – The local Militia. – Colonel Burbeck. – Decatur endeavors to get to Sea. – The Blue-lights and the "Peace Party." – A Challenge. – Tour in New England. – Cemetery at New London and its Occupants. – Commodore Rodgers. – New London Harbor and Fort Trumbull. – Block-house erected in 1812. – The old Court-house and its Associations. – Peace."
http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wcarr1/Lossing2/Chap30.html

"On the 22d of June, 1813, the British forces made an attack on Craney Inland, with a view to take possession of Norfolk, which the commanding officers had promised, in case of success, to give up to the plunder of the troops.* The British were repulsed; but enraged by defeat and disappointment, their course was directed to Hampton, which they entered the ... of June. The scene, that ensued, exceeds all power of description; and a detail of facts would be offensive to the feelings of decorum, as well as of humanity. "A defenceless and unresisting town was given up to indiscriminate pillage; though civilized war tolerates this only, as to fortified places earned by assault, and after summons. Individuals, male and female, were stripped naked; a sick man. was subbed twice in the hospital; another sick man was shot in his bed, in the arms of his wife, who was also wounded, long after the retreat of the American troops; and females, the married and the single, suffered the extremity of personal abuse from the troops of the enemy, and from the infatuated negroes, at their instigation." The fact that these attrocities were committed, the commander of the British fleet, admiral Warren, and the commander of the British troops, sir Sidney Beckwiih, admitted, without hesitation, but they resorted, as on other occasions, to the unworthy and unavailing pretext of a justifiable retaliation. It was said, by the British general, "that the excesses at Hampton were, occasioned by an occurrence, at the recent attempt upon Craney Island, when the British troops in a barge, sunk by the American guns, clung to the wreck of the boat; but several Americans waded off from the island, fire upon and shot these men." The truth of the assertion was denied; the act, if it had been perpetrated by the American troops, was promptly disavowed by their commander; and a board of officers appointed to investigate the facts, after stating the evidence, reported "an unbiassed opinion, that ihe charge against the American troops was unsupported; and that the character of the Americiii soldiery for humanity and magnanimity, had not been committed, but on the contrary confirmed." The result of this enquiry was communicated tn the British general; reparation was demanded; but it was soon perceived, that whatever might personally be the liberal dispositions of that officer, no adequate reparation could be made, as the conduct of his troops was directed and sanctioned by his government....."pp. 96-97
footnotes-
*See the letters from general Taylor to admiral "Warren, dated the 29th of June, 1813; to general sir, Sidney Beckwith, dated the 4th and 5th of July, 1S13; to the secretary of war, dated the 2d of July, 1813; and to captain Myers, of the last date.
See, also, the letter from major Crutchfield, to governor Barbour, dated the 20th of June, 1813; the letters from capt. Cooper to lieutenant governor Mallory, dated in July, 1813; the report of Messrs. Griffin and Lively, to major Crutchfield, dated the 4th of July, 1813; and col. Parker's publication in the Knquirer.
See admiral Warren's letter to gen. Taylor, dated the 29th of June, 1813; sir Sidney Beckwith's letter to general Taylor, dated the same day; and the report of captain Myers to general Taylor, of July 2d, 1813.
See the report of the proceedings of the board of officers, appointed by the general order, of the 1st of July, 1813.
See general Taylor's letter to sir Sidney Beckwith, dated the 5th of July, 1813; and the answer of the followiug day. ..."
British at Hampton, Virginia page 96-97 , Niles' weekly register, Volume 8 By Hezekiah Niles, William Ogden Niles, 1815
http://books.google.com/books?id=_q8RAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA96
also at
Life and writings of Alexander James Dallas,by Alexander James Dallas, George Mifflin Dallas, 1871
http://books.google.com/books?id=W2wFAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA360

American State Papers --INDEX TO MILITARY AFFAIRS. VOLUME I.

Outrages at Hampton, Virginia, ... 375 to 382

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Antebellum summary(1852):
"Old Point Comfort, on which stands fortress Monroe, is 2 miles from Hampton, and about 12 in a direct line from Norfolk. It is a promontory, exactly on lat. 37°, and with the opposing point, Willoughby, forms the mouth of James River.
The name was given to it in 1607 by the first colonists of Virginia, who, on their exploratory voyage up the Jarnes, previous to landing at Jamestown, called it Point Comfort " on account of the good channel and safe anchorage it afforded." The prefix of " Old" was afterwards given to distinguish it from " New Point Comfort."
A fort was built on the Point a few years after the first settlement of the country. The following act for its erection was passed in March, 1629-30. " Matter of fortifications was againe taken into consideration, and Capt. Samuel Mathewes was content to undertake the raysing of a ffort at Poynt Comfort; whereupon, Capt. Robert Ffelgale, Capt. Thomas Purfury, Capt. Thomas Graies, Capt John Uty, Capt Tho. Willoby, Mr. Tho. Heyrick, and Leu't. Wm. Perry, by full consent of the whole Assembly, were chosen to view the place, conclude what manner of ffortc shall bee erected, and to compounde and agree with the said Capt. Mathewes for the building, raysing, and finishing the same," &c.
Count de Grasse, the admiral of the French fleet, threw up some fortifications on old Point Comfort a short time previous to the surrender at York.
The salutary experience, dearly bought in the lessons of the late war[1812-1815], when these waters were the resort of British fleets, has doubtless had much influence in prompting the erection of the fortresses of Monroe and Calhoun. The first is one of the largest single fortifications in the world, and is generally garrisoned by a regiment of U. 8. troops. The channel leading in from the Capes of Virginia to Hampton Roads, is at Old Point Comfort reduced to a very narrow line. The shoal water, which under the action of the sea, and reacted upon by the bar, is kept up in an unremitting ripple, has given the name of Rip Raps to this place. When the bar is passed, Hampton Roads affords one of the finest anchorages, in which navies could ride in safety. Fort Calhoun, or the castle of the Rip Raps, is directly opposite fort Monroe, at the distance of 1900 yards. The two forts are so constructed as to present immense batteries of cannon at an approaching hostile ship ; and the probabilities are, that long before she had completed the bondings of the channel, she would be a wreck, or a conflagration from the hot shot thrown into her. The Rip Raps structure is a monument of the genius of the engineers by whom it was planned. It is formed upon an island, made from the sea by casting in rocks in a depth of 20 feet of water, until, by gradual accumulation, it emerged above the tides. The present aspect of the place is rough and savage; the music of the surrounding elements of air and sea, is in keeping with the dreariness and desolation of the spot.
The beach at Old Point, affords excellent bathing-ground ; this, with a fine hotel, and other attractions, make the place much resorted to in the summer months. The officers' quarters occupy several neat buildings within the area of the fort, where there is a fine level parade-ground, ornamented by clumps of live-oak, which is the most northern point in the Union in which that tree is found.
George Wythe, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, was born in this county in 1726....." pp. 252-

Historical collections of Virginia: containing a collection of the most, by Henry Howe, 1852
http://books.google.com/books?id=KkAVAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA252

Civil War descriptions:

1861- ""The "Adelaide 'Ms a steamer plying between Baltimore and Norfolk. But as Norfolk has ceased to be a part of the United States, and is nowhere, the " Adelaide '' goes no farther than Fortress Monroe, Old Point Comfort, the chief somewhere of this region (P.294)...Such an Adelaide brought me in sight of Fortress Monroe at sunrise. May 29, 1861. The fort, though old enough to be full-grown, has not grown very tall upon the low sands of Old Point Comfort (P.295)...the physiognomy of Fortress Monroe is not so neat, well-shorn, and elegant as a grand military post should be. Perhaps our Floyds, and the like, thought, if they kept everything in perfect order here, they, as Virginians, accustomed to general seediness, would not find themselves at home.
But the new regime must change all this, and make this the biggest, the best equipped, and the model garrison of the country. For, of course, this must be strongly held for many, many years to come.
It is idle to suppose that the dull louts we find here, not enlightened even enough to know that loyalty is the best policy, can be allowed the highest privilege of the moral, the intelligent, and the progressive, — self-government. Mind is said to march fast in our time ; but mind must put on steam here-abouts to think and act for itself, without stern schooling, in half a century.
But no digressing ! I have looked far away from the physiognomy of the fortress. Let us turn to the
PHYSIOGNOMY OF THE COUNTRY...
The face of this county, Elizabeth City by name, is as flat as a Chinaman's. I can hardly wonder that the people here have retrograded, or rather, not advanced. This dull flat would make anybody dull and flat. I am no longer surprised at John Tyler. He has had a bare blank brick house, entitled sweetly Margarita Cottage, or some such tender
298 FORTRESS MONROE.
epithet, at Hampton, a mile and a half from the fort. A summer in this site would make any man a bore. And as something has done this favor for His Accidency, I am willing to attribute it to the influence of locality.
The country is flat ; the soil is fine sifted loam running to dust, as the air of England runs to fog ; the woods are dense and beautiful, and full of trees unknown to the parallel of New York ; the roads are miserable cart-paths ; the cattle are scalawags ; so are the horses, not run away ; so are the people, black and white, not run away ; the crops are tolerable, where the invaders have not trampled them.
Altogether the whole concern strikes me as a failure. Captain John Smith & Co. might as well have stayed at home, if this is the result of the two hundred and thirty years' occupation. Apparently the colonists picked out a poor spot ; and the longer they stayed, the worse fist they made of it. Powhattan, Pocahontas, and the others without pantaloons and petticoats, were really more service-able colonists.
The farm-houses are mostly miserably mean habitations. I don't wonder the tenants were glad to make our arrival the excuse for running off. Here are men claiming to have been worth forty thousand dollars, half in biped property, half in all other kinds, and they lived in dens such as a dray man would have disdained and a hod-carrier only accepted on compulsion....." pp. 294-298
Life in the open air : and other papers, Theodore Winthrop, 1861, pp. 294-301
http://www.archive.org/details/lifeinopenairoth00win

"1862 - "Fort Monroe, often called "Fortress" Monroe to indicate that it consists of a fort within a fort, is known as the "Gibraltar of America." Certainly it is a tribute to the political power of the dominant "House of Virginia" in the early days of our Republic, that the largest and strongest fortification of all should be erected for the defence of Norfolk and the James river. Incidentally it affords some protection to Washington and Baltimore; but that was not a controlling consideration in 1819, when construction began, nor in 1830, when the work was completed. Monroe is a five-bastioned fort of masonry work, and accordingly might be roughly described as a huge pentagon. The walls surrounding it extend for the almost incredible distance of two miles, while the enclosed area is eighty acres in extent. Two picturesque features are the clumps of live oaks growing on the parade, which are not found anywhere farther north, and the sea-water moat in which tide-gates hold the water at a constant depth of six feet.
Such a fort is impregnable when adequately garrisoned— Monroe requires at least fifteen hundred men to render her secure. A Secretary of War with southern sympathies had stripped the fort of soldiers, until little more than a caretakers' party remained. This tiny regular garrison was compelled to keep all its members under arms continually in order to man the guard-posts. Part of the moat had become an oyster-bed and was so filled up as to be fordable...." pp. 118-119
The old First Massachusetts coast artillery in war and peace, by Frederick Morse Cutler, 1917
http://books.google.com/books?id=dq9JAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA118

"Mr. F. P. Blair, jr., from the Committee on Military Affairs, made the following
REPORT.
The Committee on Military Affairs, in obedience to a resolution of the House of Representatives, directing them to 'examine the whole system of permanent defences of the country, for the purpose of ascertaining what modifications of the old plans, if any, are required to repel the improved means of attack, and to report by bill or otherwise" have given this subject a careful consideration, and instructed .me..to submit the following report and accompanying bill...." p.1
"...The object to be attained by Fort Monroe, in conjunction with Fort Calhoun, intended to mount 232 guns, is to prevent an enemy from entering Hampton roads, a safe and convenient roadstead. This object is important, because this bay is perfectly landlocked, and has sufficient depth of water for the largest vessels, and is, withal, so near the capes of the Chesapeake that it furnishes the best station which an enemy could occupy for annoying our commerce, and for committing depredations upon the shores of that extensive estuary. Hut these •works do not command the entrance into the Chesapeake; nor is Hampton roads the only safe anchorage for a hostile fleet. Their possession, therefore, does not exclude an enemy from these waters, though they will compel him to resort to less convenient positions from whence to carry on his enterprises. A hostile squadron reaching the Chesapeake, and finding the entrance into Hampton roads guarded by sufficient works, though much less extensive than those at Fort Monroe, would necessarily consider whether the possession of that roadstead is so important as to justify the debarkation of a large body of land troops, and to attempt to carry the works by regular approaches, and this in the face of the strenuous efforts which would be made to relieve it by all the aids afforded by the most improved facilities of communication, and by the light and heavy steam batteries which, upon the approach of war, would be launched upon the Chesapeake, and which, during periods of calm, or in certain winds, could approach the hostile ships and drive them from their anchorage, or compel them to surrender, and most of which, from their draught of water, could take refuge in the inlets that other armed vessels could not enter. And even if the •works were carried, they could not be maintained without the most enormous expense, nor, in fact, without efforts which no government three thousand miles off could well make, and all this, while Lynnhaven bay, York bay, the Rappahannock, Tangier island, the mouth of the Potomac, and many other places, furnish secure anchorage, and are positions from which an enemy, having the superiority, could not be excluded, and while, in fact, a great part of the Chesapeake may be considered as affording good anchorage ground for large ships. Neither of them is equal to Hampton roads, but most or all of them furnish stations for occupation and observation which would render it unnecessary to purchase the superior advantages of Hampton roads by the sacrifice and hazard which would attend the effort. The occlusion of this roadstead does not secure Norfolk, important as it is from its commerce and navy yard. It only prevents the access of ships-of-war to it. And against these there is an interior line of defence, which may he considered as accessory to, and, if necessary, independent of, the other. And a land force, deeming the destruction of the navy yard at Norfolk a sufficient object to justify such an expedition, would not sit down before Fort Monroe, if its scale of defence were far inferior to what it now is, but would debark at Lynnhaven bay, where there is no impediment, and march in five or six hours through an open country to Norfolk...."p. 73
Permanent fortifications and sea-coast defences: To accompany bill H.R. 416, by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Military Affairs, Frank Preston Blair, Govt. print. off., 1862
http://books.google.com/books?id=G_DHuvB5YugC&pg=PA73

early 1900s
"Old Point Comfort stands for a great variety of things. The name suggests honeymoons, Southern hospitality, and health. The army post there at Fort Monroe is picturesque and interesting, but not hospitable, especially to would-be foreign invaders, but when you meet the people of the place you can not forget for a minute that you are in Virginia. Seen from the water as you approach, the Point promises all of these things, and then gives you more....." p. 288

Getting the Point of Old Point Comfort, The Trident of Delta Delta Delta, Volume 27, G. Banta Pub. Co., 1917, pp. 288-293
http://books.google.com/books?id=XwTPAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA288

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Tales of Old Fort Monroe.
by Casemate Museum (U.S.)
Newport News, Va., 1957-
# Subjects        Fort Monroe (Va.) -- History.
# Virginia -- History.
Description:    15 nos. in v. : ill., ports. ; 29 cm.
Chester D. Bradley, curator of the Casemate, is the author of a series of monographs titled "Tales of Old Fort. Monroe,"

--no. 1. Robert E. Lee at Fort Monroe

--no 2. Black Hawk at Fort Monroe

--no 3. Edgar Allen Poe at Fort Monroe

--no. 4. General Simon Bernard: aide to Napoleon, designer of Fort Monroe

--no. 5. Is it a fort or a fortress?

--no. 6. Fort Monroe in the Civil War

--no. 7. Short History of the Civil War

--no. 8. U. S. Grant comes to Fort Monroe

--no. 9. Abraham Lincoln's campaign against the Merrimack

--no. 10. Old Point Comfort: America's greatest bastion

--no. 11. The Fanny: First Aircraft Carrier (1861)

--no. 12. The Monitor & the Merrimack (CSS Virginia)

--no. 13. Jefferson Davis: brief biography

--no. 14. On to Richmond! General McClellan's Peninsular Campaign

--no. 15. Abraham Lincoln at the Hampton Roads Peace Conference (1865)

this list also found at
TALES OF OLD FORT MONROE

http://www.longstreetscv.org/newsltrs/200805.htm
"As you know, there are discussions going on about the future of Fort Monroe. The Army is closing the base and planning to dispose of the property.
We all should be aware of the history of this wonderful site in order to be able to help preserve it from becoming used for commercial purposes.
Who is to take possession of the Fort? Will it be the City of Hampton, the National Park Service or the State of Virginia?
The following Information sheets and brochures in packets are available for purchase in the Casemate Museum at Ft. Monroe:"

1. Robert E. Lee at Fort Monroe

2. Black Hawk at Fort Monroe

3. Edgar Allan Poe at Fort Monroe

4.   George Simon Bernard:   Aide to Napoleon, Designer of Fort Monroe

5. Is It a Fort or a Fortress?

6. Fort Monroe in the Civil War

7. Short History of the Civil War

8. U. S. Grant Comes to Fort Monroe

9.   Abraham Lincoln's Campaign Against the Merrimac (CSS Virginia)

10.   Old   Point   Comfort:   America's Greatest Bastion

11.   The Fanny: First Aircraft Carrier (1861)

12. The Monitor & the Merrimack (CSS Virginia)

13. Jefferson Davis: Brief Biography

14. On to Richmond: General McClellan's Peninsular Campaign

15.   Abraham Lincoln at the Hampton Roads Peace Conference (1865)

*******************************************************************************

from Lossing PLAN OF OPERATIONS AT HAMPTON
http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wcarr1/Lossing2/Chap30.html
also ~ http://www.galafilm.com/1812/e/maps/map683a.html

circa 1917
*******************************************************************************

Historical collections of Virginia: containing a collection..., by Henry Howe, 1852
http://books.google.com/books?id=KkAVAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA252

Life in the open air : and other papers, Theodore Winthrop, 1861, pp. 294- 301
http://www.archive.org/details/lifeinopenairoth00win

"The object to be attained by Fort Monroe, in conjunction with Fort Calhoun, intended to mount 232 guns, is to prevent an enemy from entering Hampton roads, a safe and convenient roadstead...."p. 73
Permanent fortifications and sea-coast defences: To accompany bill H.R. 416, by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Military Affairs, Frank Preston Blair, Govt. print. off., 1862
http://books.google.com/books?id=G_DHuvB5YugC&pg=PA73

Fourteen months in American Bastiles, By F. K. Howard, 1863, pp. 11-16
http://www.archive.org/details/fourteenmonthsin00howa

A History of Old Point Comfort and Fortress Monroe, Va., from 1608 to January 1st, 1881, by Dalby, J. Arnold, 1881
http://www.archive.org/details/historyofoldpoin00dalb

Their Pilgrimage (Illustrated short story ~ Old Point Comfort), by Charles Dudley Warner, Harper's new monthly magazine, Volume 72, 1886, Part I p.659 & Part 2 p.885
Arrival at Fortress Monroe p. 661
http://books.google.com/books?id=Ls0aAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA661

Views of Fortress Monroe and vicinity, Fort Monroe, Va., by W. Baulch, 1892
http://www.archive.org/details/viewsoffortressm00fort

Visitors' hand book of Old Point Comfort, Virginia and vicinity, including Fort Monroe National Soldiers' Home, Charles Wyllys Betts, 1893
http://www.archive.org/details/visitorshandbook00bett
http://books.google.com/books?id=2CI9AAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover
The First Republic in America: AN ACCOUNT OF THE ORIGIN OF THIS NATION, WRITTEN FROM THE RECORDS THEN (1624) CONCEALED BY THE COUNCIL, RATHER THAN FROM THE HISTORIES THEN LICENSED BY THE CROWN, by Alexander Brown, Houghton, 1898
http://books.google.com/books?id=JcWKBTb8X90C&printsec=frontcover

Souvenir of Fortress Monroe: photo-gravures, J. B. Kimberly, 1900
http://www.archive.org/details/souvenirofoldpoi00kimb

Old Kecoughtan, Elizabeth City County, VA - Old Records; Wm. & Mary Qtrly, Vol. 9, No. 2, 1901 College of William and Mary,
http://books.google.com/books?id=NDsSAAAAYAAJ&lpg=PA112
also at
Old Kecoughtan, Elizabeth City County, VA - Old Records; Wm. & Mary Qtrly, Vol. 9, No. 2, 1901

http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/elizabethcity/court/kecoughtan.txt

HISTORIC FORT MONROE, by John W. Ruckman, First Lieutenant 7th U. S. Artillery.
Frank Leslie's popular monthly, Volume 52, edited by Frank Leslie, 1901, pp. 291-302
http://books.google.com/books?id=v3YXAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA291

"Old Point Comfort" pp. 439-445 - The Lower Virginia Peninsula IX Government Reservations, J. E. Davis, The Southern workman, Volume 34, By Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute (Va.), Hampton Institute, 1905
http://books.google.com/books?id=ICYBAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA439

Fort Algernon and Fort George The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol 14, July 1906 page 119
http://books.google.com/books?id=otIRAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA119

Round about Jamestown: historical sketches of the lower Virginia peninsula, by Jane Eliza Davis, 1907
http://books.google.com/books?id=jKBBAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover
III OLD POINT COMFORT AND FORTRESS MONROE 23; IV OLD KECOUGHTAN 30; V THE VIRGINIA PENINSULA IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 38; VI PIRATES OF THE VIRGINIA CAPES 45; VII THE VIRGINIA PENINSULA IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 51; VIII THE VIKINGS OF VIRGINIA 58; IX HAMPTON IN THREE WARS 67; X HAMPTON SCHOOLS BETWEEN 1850 AND 1870 73; XII YORKTOWN THE WATERLOO OF THE REVOLUTION 91
http://books.google.com/books?id=jKBBAAAAYAAJ&pg=PP13

Laird & Lee's guide to historic Virginia and the Jamestown centennial ... Full statistics and itinerary .. (1907)
Subject: Jamestown Ter-centennial Exposition, Publisher: Chicago, Laird & Lee, 1907
http://www.archive.org/stream/lairdleesguideto00chic/lairdleesguideto00chic_djvu.txt

MOTORING TO THE JAMESTOWN EXPOSITION BY WILLIAM N PARKER PHOTOGRAPHS BY N LAZARNICK, Outing, Volume 51, 1908 (picture/mention of Ft Monroe)
http://books.google.com/books?id=ZYNjAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA179

Historical Sketch of the Coast Artillery School. By 1st Lieut. Robert Arthur, Coast Artillery Corps. Jour. U. S. Artill., July, Aug. and Sept.-Oct., '15. The International military digest annual, Volume 1915, By Cornélis De Witt Willcox, pp. 80-81
http://books.google.com/books?id=n4MDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA80

The old First Massachusetts coast artillery in war and peace, by Frederick Morse Cutler, 1917
http://books.google.com/books?id=dq9JAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA118

Getting the Point of Old Point Comfort, The Trident of Delta Delta Delta, Volume 27, G. Banta Pub. Co., 1917, pp. 288-293
http://books.google.com/books?id=XwTPAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA288

*History of Hampton and Elizabeth City County, Virginia at archive.org
http://www.archive.org/details/historyofhampton00tyle
also

"History of Hampton and Elizabeth City County, Virginia. Compiled by Lyon G. Tyler, M.A., LL.D. Published by the Board of Supervisors of Elizabeth City County, Hampton, Virginia, 1922
http://www.accessgenealogy.com/virginia/history_of_hampton.htm
* see Table of Contents below

History of Colonial Virginia: The First Permanent Colony in America, by William Broaddus Cridlin, Secrety of the Virginia Historical Pageant Assocaition; Registrar Virginia Society of Sons of the American Revolution,Printed by Williams Printing Company, Richmond, Virginia, 1922
http://www.newrivernotes.com/va/cridlin1.htm

The Story of an Old Town. Hampton, Virginia, by Gillie Cary McCabe,Published by the Old Dominion Press, Richmond, Virginia, 1929
http://www.newrivernotes.com/va/hampton.htm

The first plantation: a history of Hampton and Elizabeth City County, Virginia, 1607-1887, Marion Lena Starkey, Houston Print. and Pub. House, 1936

Defender of the Chesapeake: The Story of Fort Monroe, by Robert Arthur and Richard P. Weinert Jr, Annapolis, MD, Leeward Publications, Inc., 1978
White Mane Pub. Co., 1989
"Fort Monroe, Virginia, has been a major post of the United States Army for over 166 years. The largest permanent seacoast fortification constructed before the Civil War, Fort Monroe witnessed the birth of Army professional service schools with the establishment of the Artillery School of Practice in 1824. During the Civil War, the Fort was a base of operations not only for expeditions against the Confederate coastal areas, but also for McClellan's Peninsular Campaign of 1862 against Richmond."

Historic American Buildings Survey/ Historic American Engineering Record, National Park Service Department of the Interior, 1987
www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/nnps/fort_monroe.pdf

"...During the War of 1812, British troops under Admiral Cockburn successfully stormed Fort Monroe and later used the lighthouse as a watchtower...."p. 86
Mid-Atlantic Lighthouses: Hudson River to Chesapeake Bay, by Ray Jones, Bruce Roberts, 2005
http://books.google.com/books?id=DCStXlqomnYC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA86

**Jamestown Colony: a political, social, and cultural history, by Frank E. Grizzard, D. Boyd Smith, 2007
http://books.google.com/books?id=555CzPsGLDMC&printsec=frontcover
**Bibliography

Kecoughtan References:
Alexander Brown. 1890. The Genesis of the United States (vol. 2). Boston: Houghton
Mifflin. Edward Wright Haile, ed. 2001. Jamestown Narratives: Eyewitness Accounts of the Virginia Colony: The First Decade: 1607–1617. Champlain, VA: Round House. Helen C. Rountree. 1989. The Powhatan Indians of Virginia: Their Traditional Culture. Norman and London: University of Oklahoma Press. Lyon Gardiner Tyler. 1906. The Cradle of the Republic: Jamestown and James River. Richmond, VA: Hermitage Press.
Kecoughtan Indian References:
David Beers Quinn, ed. 1967. Observations Gathered Out of "A discourse on the Plantation of the Southern Colony in Virginia by the English, 1606," Written by that
Honorable Gentleman, Master George Percy. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia. Helen C. Rountree. 1990. Pocahontas's People: The Powhatan Indians of Virginia Through Four Centuries. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. Captain John
Smith. 1907. The Generall Historie of Virginia, New England & The Summer Isles Together with The True Travels, Adventures and Observations, and A Sea Grammar (vol. 1). Glasgow, Scotland: MacLehose and Sons.

Related Arcadia Books:

http://www.arcadiapublishing.com/

The Civil War on the Virginia Peninsula, by John V. Quarstein, Arcadia Publishing, 1997

The battle of the Ironclads, by John V. Quarstein, Arcadia Publishing, 1999

World War I on the Virginia Peninsula,John V. Quarstein, Sarah Goldberger, J. Michael Moore, Arcadia Publishing, 1999

Fort Monroe:the key to the south, by John V. Quarstein, Dennis P. Mroczkowski, Arcadia Publishing, 2000

Fox Hill on the Virginia Peninsula, Fox Hill Historical Society, Arcadia Publishing, 2004

Fort Story and Cape Henry, by Fielding Lewis Tyler, Arcadia Publishing, 2005

Fort Monroe, Paul S. Morando, David J. Johnson,Arcadia Publishing, 2008

Hampton, by J. Michael Cobb, Wythe Holt, Arcadia Publishing, 2008

"...Say, pilot, what this fort may be.
Whose sentinels look down
From moated walls that show the sea
Their deep embrasures' frown?
The Rebel host claims all the coast,
But these are friends, we know,
Whose footprints spoil the "sacred soil,"
And this is? Fort Monroe!..."

1862 - Voyage of the Good Ship "Union,"The poetical works of Oliver Wendell Holmes, by Oliver Wendell Holmes, George Routledge and sons, 1896, p.272
http://books.google.com/books?id=el84AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA272

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The Light Infantry - Rifles Debate - 1835-1836 and 1850s

The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine, Volume 19, November 1879 to April 1880

http://books.google.com/books?id=8uoGAQAAIAAJ

OLD POINT COMFORT - background information for recommended OPC/FM events timeline..

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