A visit to semi-restored Fort Stevens on the Point Adams along the southern mouth of the Columbia River transports one part way back in time. Here you see three or four distinct flavors of the month in terms of ideas on how to properly defend the nation.

Fort Stevens became the lynchpin of three forts developed in the latter half of the 19th century to defend the mouth of the Columbia River from would-be invaders, whether they be British, Confederate, German or Japanese. The other two forts forming the Columbiad triad forming on the north side of the river in Washington – Forts Canby and Columbia.

BACKGROUND TO FORT STEVENS

Your visit today takes you to a fort reflecting mainly the second-third iterations of the fort – Civil War, Endicott Plan, Taft Update, World War II Final. The visit demonstrates the rapidity of technological advance and the inherent problems with defense planning and spending – always planning for the last war, instead of looking ahead.

beginnings

In 1846, the United States came into full possession of the Pacific Northwest minus British Columbia. “54 – 40 or fight!” turned out to be simply a clever election slogan for James Polk. Cascadia amicably split along the 49th degree latitude with only the San Juan Islands at the northern end of the Puget Sound to raise any questions for the future.

Not until the Whitman Massacre – 29 November 1947 – and the ensuing Cayuse War, however, before American troops came to secure their treaty claims. But even with wars agains the local Native Americans in the 1850’s, Army posts were merely garrisons from where mobile troop columns could sally out from during the better weather of summer.

american civil war

Only with the American Civil War thing changed. Local commanders, like Colonel George Wright, had been clamoring for forts at the mouth of the Columbia River to deter would-be invaders from access to the interior – here, read potential British invaders. The huge river allowed sea-borne ships to move over 100 miles inland – to the rapids of the Cascades and the falls on the Willamette River.

Early in the Civil War, the possibility of British intervention on the part of the South was ever-present. The nearest British naval base was not far at Esquimalt on Vancouver Island – near Victoria. Congress appropriated $200,000 for the coastal defense of Oregon and Washington Territory.

Because of the width of the mouth of the Columbia River – opening to over ten miles on the inland side – three forts were planned for though only two forts were eventually built – the third fort would have to wait until the end of the century. Due to the geographical isolated nature of the site – guns had to be brought from the east around Cape Horn by ship – the forts were not able to mount a defense against would-be British or Confederate commerce raiders until early 1865. The war was over before the forts truly came on line and so was the urgent need.

post civil war

In the cash poor years following the Civil War, the forts were garrisoned for awhile. Every so often, the guns were test fired, until 1882, when the troops left leaving only a supply sergeant behind to watch over things.

From the late 1860’s until World War I, naval, armor and artillery technology advanced rapidly. By the time a naval ship was built, it was seriously out of date. So it was with the forts here on the Columbia. The range of ship-borne guns and the strength of the armor they carried made the forts seem inconsequential.

endicott board

The same problem on the Columbia, reflected nationally. In response, in 1885, Secretary of War William C. Endicott – under President Cleveland – headed up a special board recommending a vast update to the country’s seaboard fortifications. In particular, 27 existing forts were modernized with a later addition of forts to be added to the mouth of the Puget Sound in Washington. Plans called for both modernizing the forts and adding floating batteries – 677 new guns and 824 mortars – all at a cost of $125 million.

Plans are one thing. By 1895, Congress had only appropriated $10.6 million. The funds were enough here at the mouth of the Columbia to establish new gun and mortar batteries using steel guns instead of the Civil War iron relics which, however, continued to play a role until the end of the century.

defense strategy

There were three basic components to the defensive strategy of the Endicott forts. First, the gun batteries continued making up an integral part of the forts. The newer steel guns – more capable and durable – enjoyed longer ranges with greater hitting power. Mounted on disappearing carriages made them less vulnerable to enemy fire.

The second and third components were results of naval ships being able to carry only so much armor before the weight made them unseaworthy. Thick, stout armor placed alongside the sides of ships in differing patterns gave ship protection depending upon the particular philosophy of naval architecture in play. The bottom of hulls and top of decks received little or no armor. Ships were first and foremost designed to fight other ships.

Minefields placed in the water aimed against unprotected hulls as a second element. Mortars, with the ability to bring plunging fire down on lightly armored decks, made up the third component.

changes

The two World Wars brought huge new changes to the scene – the airplane and increased speed and maneuverability of naval vessels. Mortars were simply too slow to be able to respond to the naval speed. Airplanes could bring about the same effect of plunging fire by dropping bombs. The same airplanes could also drop bombs on the fort batteries.

These changes brought about the last iteration of the defenses of the Columbia. It was the airplane which brought about the eventual abandonment of all seaboard defenses. The same case here at the mouth of the Columbia, as well.

The fort continued as an Army post until 1947. At that point, Fort Stevens became the Army Corps of Engineers base of operations for maintaining passage over the river bar and river channel dredging. The Corps moved their operations to nearby Astoria and the the State and volunteers slowly restored the old fort.

VISITING THE FORT

FORT STEVENS MUSEUM

Located in a building formerly the War Games Building is somewhat appropriately the fort museum. Pay your $5 day-$30 annual entry fee to the State Park. Drive in from the community of Hammond to the Fort Stevens Museum. The exhibits go a long way to explaining the fort. There are tours of the fort in the summer originating here, too. Much of the land here making up the State Park, the federal government still owns, leasing the ground out for use as a park.

There are two guns outside the museum which demonstrate changes in artillery through the lifespan of the fort – a 200 pound Parrott from the Civil War era and a 155 mm post-WWII piece.

After visiting the museum, it is time to visit the various gun batteries making up the heart of the fort. Starting first walking to the east.

CIVIL WAR FORT

The original fort erected in 1864 was levelled in the period between World War I and II. What you see today is a faithful reproduction on the original site. There is a moat on the land side of the old fort with a drawbridge and sally port. Before the Civil War, forts were built of masonry. The war showed masonry to be ineffective. A far better alternative was an earthen fort. Fort Stevens, the only earthen fort of the time built on the west coast.

Nine sides make up the fort. Twenty-eight cannons festooned the river side parapet. Two replica 10-inch Rodman cannons give a bit of idea of the defenses mounted here. There were seventeen other Rodmans and nine 200-pound Parrott rifled guns pointing out into the river.

Built and occupied in 1864 by troops of California volunteers, the cannons arrived early in the next year. With the war’s end, the garrisoning of the fort continued. The cannons occasionally were test fired during the long years before the Endicott renewal of the late 1890’s. Otherwise, marine air, heavy rains and fog ate at the old fort.

BATTERY FREEMAN

The fruits of the Endicott Board took awhile to wash ashore here at the mouth of the Columbia. The main modernization of the fort took place in 1897, essentially in the form of a new fort. One of the eight new concrete batteries was erected directly in the middle of the old fort – Battery Freeman.

Named for Constant Freeman, an artillerist serving from the Revolution through the War of 1812 when after, honorably discharged as a lieutenant colonel given a brevet promotion to colonel on the way out. Freeman then served as auditor of Treasury for the Navy Department until his death in 1824.

battery within a fort

The battery consisted of two 6-inch M1900 guns mounted on M1900 barbette carriages – carriages mounted on a raised platform (barbette). Each single 3-inch M1898 M1 gun mounted on a masking parapet mount. These mounts allowed guns to be lowered out of view when not in action. However, once the gun actively engaged, it was vulnerable to observation and fire.

The two 6-inch funs served from 1905 until 1917 and removed for use in new batteries established near the entrance to Willapa Bay to the north. They served from the left side of the battery to augment the larger batteries to the west. The 3-inch gun on the right to help Battery Smur protect the minefields in the river until 1920. Mechanical problems with the guns caused thier removal from all seaboard fortifications at that time. To make way for a parade ground in 1941, Battery Freeman and the Civil War earthworks were razed.

BATTERY SMUR AND THE MINEFIELDS

Just to the east of the Civil War fort was a bunker from where the Mine commander operated from. Mines in the river fields electronically detonated from inside this bunker, made bomb and gas proof.

Initially, minefields lie on both the North and South Channels of the river – North field controlled from Fort Columbia and the South from Fort Stevens. At the start of World War II, Fort Columbia controlled all mines in the river and the bunker served as storage.

mine warfare

Mine warfare aimed for the unprotected hull of ships. They can be detonated on contact or proactively electrically. Contact mines could not be used In active shipping lanes, especially with tides and river flow causing exact mine placement to be variable, these mines were unfeasible.

Explosive charges were loaded into the mines in a small building farther to the west. Mines carried charges of 200 pounds of TNT – before 1912, dynamite – loaded in 100 pound increments. Mines placed out in groups of nineteen. Minefields were most effective 2000 feet from the channel mouth’s inner limit, 8000 feet from the farthest searchlights and placed between a depth of 20 to 250 feet deep. One problem was the current in the channel could not exceed three knots, which could be a problem in the late spring, early summer.

Searchlights kept the minefields observable at night – there are two former searchlight emplacements nearby.

The “little battery”

Also, to protect the minefields from possible enemy efforts to sweep up the mines, Battery Smur – the “Little Battery” – went up in 1900. Two 3-inch rapid fire guns mounted on masking pedestals bolted to concrete emplacements. The guns lasted until 1920. The battery casement used to store mine fuses during World War II.

Recently, a 3-inch gun barrel was obtained from the Oregon Army National Guard Museum at Camp Withycombe near Portland. A local metal fabrication company built both carriage and shield for the gun and then set in place here at Smur.

The battery named for Elias Smur, a young officer who fell at the Battle of Cook’s Mills in Ontario, Canada on 19 October 1814, the last engagement along the Niagara frontier.

BATTERY PRATT

Back to the museum and walking west to the main gun batteries you pass the command post for Battery Pratt. The post provided fire control information to the other batteries, as well. Battery Pratt dates to 1900. Two 6-inch guns mounted here on disappearing carriages. “Disappearing” because the guns popped up and down – up above the concrete-earthen parapet to only aim and fire; the recoil would force them down to reload. The “disappearing” aspect made it harder for an enemy to zero in on the defenders.

The guns at Pratt both augmented the bigger guns of the West Battery and helped cover the minefields – their main function during World War II. The battery was active until the fort closed in 1947.

James B. Pratt, for whom the battery was named, was a first lieutenant with the 11th US Regular Infantry Regiment. He died at Bethesda Church 29 May 1864, one of the later actions in the Overland Campaign. A brevet promotion to the young man given to captain posthumously.

WEST BATTERY

BATTERIES LEWIS AND WALKER

The West Battery was the main component of the Endicott-period Fort Stevens. Built in 1898, the battery consisted of six 10-inch guns mounted on disappearing carriages. Larger guns – 12-inch – were considered, but construction for the ten inchers had already been started. The guns had a range of 26,246 yards with a shell of 510 yards.

In 1909, the battery became three separate batteries, each with two of the 10-inch guns. The east most battery named for Meriwether Lewis, the famous explorer. Next, the middle battery named for Colonel Leverett H. Walker who commanded Fort Stevens from 1906 until his death 29 October 1907. Walker was a West Point graduate from 1871 ranking 16th in his class. He lies at Arlington National Cemetery.

The guns at Lewis and Walker were removed at the start of World War I for possible use in France as railway guns. Removal did not take place until 18 June 1918. Sent to the Watervliet Arsenal in New York, the guns never made it overseas before the war ended.

battery mishler

Furthest to the west, is Battery Mishler. The two 10-inch guns here had all-around fire capability meaning the could cover both the mouth of the river – like the guns of Lewis and Walker – and the Pacific Ocean approaches to the river. Construction began in 1898 and the guns were in place by 1901.

To give 360 degree coverage, circular gun pits developed as opposed to those open to the back of the other batteries. Concussion effects from the firing of the gun could cause severe problems to gun crews. The men had to jump and exhale at the same time of firing to protect themselves. The only military death at Fort Stevens occurred here when one of the gun crew was too slow getting out of the way of a gun recoil.

Mishler’s guns deactivated at the end of World War I. The guns and carriages used as spare parts. During World War II, the battery was command post for the entire river mouth – both Army and Navy. Following the end of the war, the guns and carriages scrapped and the gun pits covered with a concrete roof with a radar station built atop in the 1950’s. Access to the interior of Mishler is by guided tour only.

The battery named for First Lieutenant Lyman Mishler, a West Point graduate of 1860. He initially served as an infantry officer in the 5th Regiment. Switching over to artillery, Mishler died at the battle of Valverde in New Mexico 21 February 1862 gaining a posthumous brevet promotion to captain.

BATTERY 245

The Endicott forts were seriously out of date as World War II went along, with a new iteration built. Replacing the turn-of-the-century guns, newer 6-inch batteries – 200 series – were installed around the country – Battery 245 resulted here.

The old 6-inch guns had a range of 17,000 yards – 9.6 miles. The two new Model 1 (T2) could fire up to 26,000 yards – 14.7 miles at a rate of five 105 pound shells per minute. Atop concrete barbettes with 360 degree coverage, the gun, placed inside armored shields covering all side except for the rear. In between the two guns, a fully sustainable casement held electrical generator, ammunition, control mechanisms and plotting rooms – one of the plotting rooms restored. Battery 245 worked in concert with batteries at Fort Canby – Battery 247 – and Fort Columbia – Battery 246. Fort Columbia displays two of these guns, though they originally served at Fort McAndrew – Battery 282 – in Newfoundland, Canada.

In place of the original guns, the Park obtained two naval 5-inch guns inside armored turrets. The original guns traveled south to San Francisco with the fort’s deactivation in 1947. The California battery only lasted until the end of the next year.

WEST BATTERY COMMAND STATION – MINE BASE END STATION

Just south of Battery Walker is where the West Battery command station was located. The post set inside and atop a parados – a large embankment built up to protect the West Battery from possible attacks from the rear.

A depression position finder used in the fire control tower to determine range and position of enemy ships. Once know, the information passed on and updated to a fire control plotting room in each battery. The guns then aimed and fired. DPF’s were only as good as the operators and weather and lighting conditions.

japanese attack

When the fort was attacked by the Japanese submarine I-25 on 21 June 1942, the submarine’s location was passed on to the fort commander Colonel Carl S. Doney. Doney, a West Pointer from 1916, declined to allow the fort to respond to some 17 shells from the submarine. He claimed the submarine was out of range and by firing and turning on the searchlights, the fort would become more vulnerable.

A better theory points to tensions between Doney and the mainly National Guardsmen who manned the fort. Doney, a regular army officer, had little regard for the Guardsmen who reciprocated his feeling after this incident.

The I-25 would return later in the summer to attempt to start forest fires in southern Oregon via an amphibious plane it carried. Rain foiled that attempt. Late in 1943, the I-25 sank with all hands near Vanuatu, dispatched by the American destroyers.

BATTERY CLARK – THE THIRD COMPONENT

To the south of the large open area where World War II barracks were located is Battery Clark, named for the William Clark, the other half of the Lewis and Clark duo. Mortars made up the third component of the defensive thought here at Fort Stevens. Firing in a high-arcing ballistic trajectory, the 700 to 1046 pound shells with heavy hardened caps designed to penetrate ship decks before exploding, a mortar’s function was similar to dropping a bomb from an airplane – the next step in weaponry evolution.

At 45 degree elevation, the M1890 M1 mortars – mortar and carriage weighing 78.5 tone – could reach out to 12,019 yards, or about seven miles. Powder charges – the gun’s propellant – and barrel elevation determined range.

four to two

Two gun pits held the mortars – originally four mortars to a pit, an “Abbot quad”. Originally, there were plans for three mortar batteries here on the river mouth – this one and two others on the Washington side. This was the single mortar battery coming about initially. Because of poor initial fire control, salvo fire – all four mortars firing at once – thought to be the best method, but the concussive effects made that option untenable.

Not only concussive effects coming into play but simple crowding made four too many. The two forward mortars left each pit in 1922. These mortars moved across the river into a new Battery Guenther at Fort Canby.

Mortar crews could not see their targets. They fired at coordinates provided by their plotting rooms based upon the information given from the fire control posts. The shells had to not only hit their targets but also to hit at an angle of at least 45 degrees to be effective.

end of the mortar

The mortars were not always actively manned, sometimes only for summer practices by the Oregon Army National Guard unit, the 249th Coast Artillery Regiment. With another war on the horizon, the battery was fully manned in late 1941. The guns were ready when the I-25 showed up. The DFL information received, the mortars aimed, but the fort commander did not allow the fire command.

Shortly afterwards, the mortar batteries were scrapped. By the 1940’s ships simply moved too fast for the ponderous mortars to keep up with them. The mortar crews reassigned to other duties.

BATTERY RUSSELL

the man

Named for David Allen Russell, a West Point graduate of 1845. He was the son of a New York congressman. Russell served in the Mexican War with the 4th Regiment. Coming along with the regiment to the Pacific Northwest, he took part in both the Rogue and Yakama Wars serving also as commander at Fort Yamhill for a time.

Recalled to the east with the regiment in 1861, Russell gained a commission as colonel of the 7th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment leading them at Antietam. Promoted to brigadier general, he went forward leading a brigade until 19 September 1864 when he died from artillery shrapnel at the Battle of Oquepon.

the battery

This battery came later – 1903-1904. Two 10-inch guns on disappearing carriages – though 12-inch gun plans originally specified – faced the Pacific approaches to the Columbia mouth. The guns scheduled for replacement by eight 12-inch mortars before World War II intervened. The battery was inactivated in 1918 and only used for practice by regular and National Guard units between the wars. Reactivated in 1941, the battery served until the completion of Battery 245 in 1944.

For a long time, this battery was the only part of the former Fort Stevens open to the public since the fort was still in use by the Corps of Engineers until the 1970’s. There used to be clear lines of sight to the ocean from here, as well as the other batteries except Clark. Shifting sands with the construction of the South Jetty in 1895 – extended in 1913 – plus transplanting of trees to try and stabilize the new sands have changed the views dramatically.

POST CEMETERY

It was not long after the fort was established before the need for a post cemetery was acknowledged. The present cemetery dates to 1905 after an earlier form was moved further south because of the expansion of the fort. For more on the cemetery and some of those who reside, click here.