ARTILLERY OF CORREGIDOR – BIG GUNS ON AN ISLAND

12-inch gun of Battery Hearn
12-inch gun of Battery Hearn, one of the few guns having a 360-degree field of fire.

On the island of Corregidor at the entrance to Manila Bay, American coastal defense came to a high point in the big gun defense theory of protecting vital areas of a homeland.  Using some of the biggest guns in the American arsenal, the defenders held off the enemy for over five months.  The end came swiftly though, flaws in the system exposed terribly.  Capitulation meant the garrison force marched on to the horrors of Japanese prison camps.  With the fall of the island fortress, the theory of coastal defense would slowly re-evolve.

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FORT WALLA WALLA – CURTAIN CALL ON THE FRONTIER

Parade Ground and Administration Building at Ft Walla Walla VA Complex

Today’s fort is the fourth to go by this name.  The first fort was a fur-trading post opened by the North West Company. The post was built at the confluence of the Walla Walla and Columbia Rivers.  Established in 1818, the post ran until abandoned and burnt down during the 1855 Yakima War.  A steamboat landing settlement sprang up a few years later. The remains now all under the waters backed up from the McNary Dam some miles further down the Columbia.

Original Fort Walla Walla trading post at the confluence of Snake and Columbia Rivers.
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