Virginia Eastern Shore

Last Update: 21/JULY/2007

Compiled by Pete Payette - ฉ2007 American Forts Network

คค HARBOR DEFENSES of CHESAPEAKE BAY (partial - see also page 8)

คค Fort John Custis
(Eastern Shore of Virginia National Wildlife Refuge)
(1940 - 1948, 1950 - 1981), Kiptopeke, E.S.
Previous names include Fort Winslow and Fort Custis (1942). The name was formally revised in October 1942 to avoid confusion with Fort Eustis in Newport News. Batteries here were Battery Winslow / 122 (1943 - 1948), Battery 228 (1943) buried, and a railway battery (1942 - 1943) for eight 8-inch railguns (site at the US 13 toll booth). Battery 123 was planned but never built. One concrete fire-control tower still remains. Three steel-frame fire-control towers were once located on Wise Point, but were demolished sometime after the Chesapeake Bridge Tunnel complex was built in 1964. The U.S. Air Force took over as the Cape Charles Air Force Station (1950 - 1981). It is now a Federal Wildlife Refuge, with limited public access in season.

Nearby, Kiptopeke State Park features a row of nine World War II concrete ships that now form a breakwater. This was the original ferry terminal location before the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel was built. There is another steel-frame fire-control tower north of Kiptopeke State Park at Prickett's Harbor (Cheapside), There are possible concrete remains of a proposed observation station (Battery 124 - Fort Monroe) in the town of Cape Charles, several miles north.

Three steel-frame fire-control towers next to the Cape Charles lighthouse on nearby Smith Island still remain. The lighthouse was built in 1894, replacing earlier lighthouses in 1828 and 1864. There are also two steel-frame towers on nearby Mockhorn Island (a Virginia State Wildlife Preserve). See also Defenses of Chesapeake Bay - Fire-control towers by Chris Wiles.

คค Fishermans Island Military Reservation
(Fishermans Island National Wildlife Refuge)
(1917 - 1919, 1942 - 1949), Fishermans Island
Originally here was a U.S. Marine Hospital / Public Health Service Quarantine Station (1890 - 1919). Two two-gun 5-inch gun batteries (Batteries L and M) were built 1917 - 1919 (no remains). The Army post was then called Fishermans Island Camp. The reservation was officially established in 1919 in a land swap with the Treasury Department (for Craney Island, Portsmouth). The reservation later became a sub-unit of Fort John Custis from 1942 - 1949. New batteries built were Battery 227 (1943 - 1965), Anti Motor Torpedo Boat Battery 20 (aka New Battery Lee) (1942 - 1944), and Anti Motor Torpedo Boat Battery 24 (1943 - 1946). A mine casemate was also here, now buried. The U.S. Navy took control of the island from 1949 - 1969. The remaining abandoned guns were finally removed in 1976, and the steel-frame BC stations and searchlight towers were knocked down in place in 1986. The two six-inch guns from Battery 227 were sent to Fort Pickens, FL, one 90mm AMTB gun went to Battery Parrott at Fort Monroe, and one 90mm AMTB gun went to Fort Moultrie, SC. Public access is restricted. Inquire at the Eastern Shore Wildlife Refuge visitors center.

Accomack Plantation Fort
(1619 ? - unknown), near Dalbys, E.S.
A fort and palisaded settlement along Old Plantation Creek, near the former Accowmack Indian town.

Town Fields Barracks
(1770's), near Cheriton, E.S.
A local militia barracks and shore battery was once located here.

Cherrystone Point Battery
(1814), Cherrystone, E.S.
A local militia work on the Eastern Shore. It was not attacked by the British during actions in May 1814.

Pungoteague Battery
(1814), Pungoteague, E.S.
A local militia work on Pungoteague Creek. It was attacked and destroyed by the British in May 1814.

Onancock Barracks
(1770's), Onancock, E.S.
A local militia barracks was located here.

Gargatha Fort
(1668), Gargatha, E.S.
A colonial militia fort built during troubles with the Pocomoke Indians along the recently disputed border with Maryland. The border was not defined until 1667.

Fort Albion
(1813 - 1815), Tangier Island
A British eight-gun fort located on the south side of the island, with two strong redoubts 300-yards apart, Officers' quarters and enlisted men's huts around a parade ground, and a hospital for 100 men. Also known as Camp Chessenessix. Beginning in March 1813 it was garrisoned with the "Colonial Marines", former slaves that were armed by the British with promises of freedom. It was the British fleet's main base of operations in the Chesapeake Bay during the War of 1812. It was not evacuated until February 1815.