I was in Williamsburg for a bit of a distraction trip for a few days. While there, I set aside a little time to see some historical sites. The list is long of places to see and I am only half way through the list, after many years of trying! Well, one of the must see locations on my list was Fort Monroe. This time, I decided I would scratch that one off the list!
We arrived in the morning and drove to the fort. Well, we thought we were, but ended up driving around it and up the peninsula! We realized the mistake, when we got to the RV park! This was not a total waste, as this took us to the 20th century bastions along the coast. These originally held the naval mortars and the old hidden twelve inch guns. All the guns are gone and the structures are closed to access. However, you can walk up to them and check them out.
We found out our error and drove into the east entrance of the fort. We found the main museum, then found out we had to go to another building on the outside of the fort. Fortunately, it was just a short walk across the bridge next to the museum. By accident, we parked in the place!
We checked out the museum at the front office first. This covers a bit of the forts construction, the slave/contraband experience during the US Civil War and important Black people in history related to the fort and college. We passed on the guided tours, as they were later in the day and this was only supposed to be a half day trip!
We walked back to the armory and worked through the various displays. There are some artifacts, models and pictures of the fort through its history. They set up a jail cell to simulate Jeffersons Davis’ confinement there after the US Civil War. There are a couple of films that talk about the fort at different times also. At the end of the building, you come to some casement guns on their carriages. Quite impressive. Probably, my favorite part of the museum.
Once we finished up with the interior walk, we headed to the wall and climbed up to the top and did the full loop. It is about a mile and a half walk. You get a good idea of the position and can see a large number of gun mounts (no guns unfortunately). There is also a pet cemetery up there, if you are into that sort of thing! We came across the twentieth century control tower (not open to the public), with is by the iron Jefferson Davis gate. The walls are all well maintained, so you get a great view of the fort. There are a number of buildings on the south side, that were built later, so they do block the view to a large part of Hampton Roads straights.
Once we walked the loop, we went to the marching ground area. More to see the original buildings. These are in use, so no real access there either. There is one of the fifteen inch Civil War cannons laying in the lawn to check out (it is very big). It was worth the trip to check out the largest fort in the US. As the museum is quite new, everything is in great condition. Hopefully, over time, they will open up some of the other areas and give me an excuse to go back!. With that, we saw everything that there was to see, so we walked back to the car and headed out for some lunch!
- Manteuffel