of the Pacific coast, is situated on the northwest rim of the city,
north of Golden Gate Park (and north of the exposition grounds of
1915) and connected with that park by a beautiful boulevard one
mile long. The grounds comprise more than fifteen hundred acres,
developed for military purposes in the most modern fashion. From
almost any part of the grounds or the approach thereto enchanting
views of the wonderful bay of San Francisco are to be obtained.
A description of the view of the presidio as you approach the place
on the boulevard from Golden Gate Park has been given by Ernest
Peixotto in his “Romantic California,” which may well be repeated
here:
In the meantime the city boasts one splendid driveway that, with
a connecting link completed, will rank with the famous roadways
of the Old World.
Only a decade or two ago the Presidio (it still bears its Spanish
appellation) was an isolated military post separated from the
city by several miles of barren, sandy thoroughfares. Now some
of the handsomest homes crown the hill tops about it, and owe
their chief attraction to the glorious views of bay and shore
that they command. To start some fine afternoon toward sunset
from one of these homes and take a drive around the cliffs is an
experience not soon to be forgotten.
A few blocks run brings you to a stone gateway, its posts
topped with eagles; you turn sharply to the right through a
grove of eucalypti, swing round a curve and then you stop the
motor. From the red Macadam roadway upon which you stand, the
hills fall gently in a broad amphitheatre to the barracks and
parade grounds laid out symmetrically along the shore, and
teeming with soldier life. Beyond, the waters of the bay mirror
the azure of the sky--a blue, tinged with green, like those
half-dead turquoises that they sell in the marts of Tunis. The
North Beach hills, thick-studded with the modest homes of the
city’s alien population, gleam white against the Contra Costa
Mountains--verdant in winter, tawny and dry in summer--with the
lumpy silhouette of the Monte Diablo, the Devil’s Mountain,
poking over the shoulder as if it, too, wished a peep at so fair
a prospect.
Across the stretch of intervening water, stern-wheeled river
steamers ply northward to San Pablo Bay; on through the Carquinez
Straits and up the Sacramento River, their silhouettes varied
once in a while by some grim battle-ship or cruiser steaming to
the Navy Yard at Mare Island, headquarters, home and hospital for
all our ships in the Pacific. Anchored in the middle of the bay,
Alcatraz lies terraced with batteries, low, forbidding, while to
the north rise the hills of Marin County bathed in purple shadows
and clustered around the base of Tamalpais. The whole scene is
suffused with the rosy flush of the westering sun that gilds the
islands, warms the greens of the eastern sky, and blushes the
hills with its ardent glances.
One turns from the picture with regret, only to follow on to new
vistas. You wind through groves of evergreens and eucalypti out
into the open meadows, a riot of flowers in springtime, that top
the cliffs above the Golden Gate. The famous straits lie just
below, Fort’s Point antiquated bastions on their hither shore
fronting the white-washed walls of the harbor-light on the Point
Bonita bluffs opposite.
To take up the thread of our historical narrative, the presidio
remained a possession of Spain’s until 1824 when Mexico finally
became free from its mother country and the flag of Mexico took the
place of the banner of Castile and Aragon at the Golden Gate.
In 1846 the American flag was raised in all of the presidios of
California, an interesting chapter of national expansion far
too large for abridgment here. In 1849 commenced the era of San
Francisco’s prosperity and presidio’s importance with the discovery
of gold in California and the onset of the hordes of goldseekers
who came through the Golden Gate.
The presidio was visited by Richard H. Dana in 1859 and is
described by him:
I took a California horse of old style and visited the
Presidio. The walls stand as they did, with some changes made
to accommodate a small garrison of United States troops. It has
a noble situation and I saw from it a clipper ship of the very
largest class coming through the Gate under her fore and aft
sails. Thence I rode to the fort, now nearly finished, on the
southern shore of the Gate, and made an inspection of it. It is
very expensive and of the latest style. One of the engineers
is Custis Lee, who has just left West Point at the head of his
class, a son of Colonel Robert E. Lee who distinguished himself
in the Mexican war.
The fort with the “expensive equipment” to which he refers is Fort
Winfield Scott, which was seven years building and cost $2,000,000.
It is now out of date, but is a picturesque feature of the harbor
and is of service to the presidio authorities of the present in
various minor capacities.
Opposite Fort Winfield Scott, across the Golden Gate, which is here
at its narrowest width of one mile, can be seen the white buildings
of Fort Baker. Other defences of San Francisco, visible from the
presidio, include Fort Miley, on Point Bonita; Point Lobos, and
Alcatraz Island, a picturesque body of land whose Spanish name
memoralizes the pelicans which once made the place their home.
During the Spanish-American War the presidio was a scene of
activity as the point of departure of our soldiers for the
Philippines. The national cemetery for the burial of soldiers who
have died on duty in the Philippines is situated here, too, and
each returning transport brings back its sad burden, far lighter
now than in the days when the islands were first feeling the weight
of American rule.
Connected with the history of the presidio is a pretty story which
Bret Harte has woven into a familiar one of his poems. It concerns
the pathetic love of Dona Concepcion Arguello, daughter of the
Spanish Commandant Don Luis Arguello, for Rezanov, chamberlain
of the Russian emperor, who came, during the days of Spain’s
possession of this land, to negotiate for Russian settlements in
California. Rezanov won the heart of his host’s daughter and sailed
away to gain the consent of his emperor to marriage with her.
Years passed and no word came from Rezanov. At length Sir George
Simpson, the Englishman, in his trip around the world, brought
word that Rezanov had been killed by a fall from his horse while
crossing Siberia on his homeward journey. Dona Concepcion, who had
faithfully waited his return, became a nun and when she died was
buried near the old Mission church in the Presidio grounds.
FORT ADAMS AND NEWPORT’S DEFENSIVE RUINS
NEWPORT--RHODE ISLAND
There is an odd little cluster of islands on the eastern side of
the entrance to Narragansett Bay. The most important of these
is Aquidneck and on the southern extremity of Aquidneck Isle is
situated Newport. At the southern extremity of Newport is Brenton’s
Point and on Brenton’s Point is Fort Adams. This is the proper way
to build up a climax!
Picture to yourself a sunny Fourth of July in 1799; this is the day
on which Fort Adams is to be dedicated with imposing ceremonies.
From out of the little many-spired city across the sparkling blue
waters of Newport Bay winds a little procession around the shore
road which leads to the fort. First of all, comes the company of
soldiers which is to garrison the post. It is Captain John Henry’s
company of artillery. After this comes the major-general of the
State militia with his staff in gorgeous gold braid. Following him
is the famous Newport Artillery Company with two brass field pieces
making a brave show. Then there are the Newport Guards with two
brass field pieces. Finally there is a company of citizens.
[Illustration: LIME ROCK LIGHT HOUSE, NEWPORT HARBOR, LOOKING
TOWARD FORT ADAMS]
They are all assembled at the fort. Major Tousard, of the corps
of engineers of the army of the infant republic, is speaking: He
says: “Citizens: Happy to improve every occasion to testify my
veneration for that highly distinguished citizen who presides over
the government of the United States, I have solicited the Secretary
of War to name this fortress, Fort Adams. He has gratified my
desire. I hope that the brave officers and soldiers who are and
shall be honored with its defence will by valor and good conduct
render it worthy of its name, which I hereby proclaim Fort Adams.”
A salute was fired from the four brass field pieces and the great
cannon of the new fort. In the distance Fort Wolcott on Goat Island
fired guns and the standard of the young United States was unfurled
at the head of the flag-staff. Thus was christened one of the most
important of American coast defences.
For twenty-five years thereafter Fort Adams was maintained
with a small garrison supplied from Fort Wolcott, under whose
jurisdiction it was. In 1824 the present Fort Adams was commenced,
a star-shaped fortress of grey granite, with outworks, upon an
initial appropriation by the Federal government of $50,000. It was
finished, under successive appropriations, in 1841. The garrison
was withdrawn from 1853 to 1857 and between the years 1859 and
1862, since when it has been continuously occupied. The present
area of Fort Adams reservation is about 200 acres, and it contains
modern works which need no description.
If one should go back in point of Time beyond the gay little
ceremony which marked the beginning of Fort Adams, he would find
that Brenton’s Point had been a site for martial works before this.
Its strategic possibilities for defence were early recognized in
the Revolution, as, in the spring of 1776, a light breast-work was
thrown up here by the Americans behind which they mounted several
guns. In April, 1776, the _Glasgow_, a British war vessel of
twenty-nine guns, came into Newport Harbor and anchored near Goat
Island. On the following morning such a heavy fire was brought to
bear upon the ship from Brenton’s Point that it cut its cable and
made out to sea. A few days after this the _Scarborough_ and the
_Scymetar_ of His Majesty’s service were, likewise, badly battered
by fire from these earthworks.
Late in the summer of 1776 the British obtained possession of
Aquidneck Island. They made their head-quarters at Newport,
and erected a temporary barracks on Brenton’s Point where the
American battery had been. For three years they held possession
of Rhode Island and then were removed by orders from their
commander-in-chief, embarking October 25, 1779.
[Illustration: Parade, Old Fort Adams
Present-Day Aspect of Fort Greene
GLIMPSES OF NEWPORT’S HISTORIC DEFENCES]
The next visitors to Newport were the French. The French fleet,
under the command of Admiral de Ternay, appeared in Newport
Harbor August 10, 1780. General Rochambeau and his army shortly
put ashore. General Heath, in command of the American forces in
Rhode Island, was at the wharf to welcome Rochambeau. There were
speeches and the American officers wore cockades of black and white
as a courtesy to the allies, the cockade of the formal American
uniform being black and that of the French, white. It was not long
before the French had been made to feel at home and had settled
down to a long stay.
General Rochambeau’s defences consisted of a line of earthworks
completely enclosing Newport on the north, cutting off access to
it by land from any other part of the island. Traces of this line
can still be discerned by the inquiring visitor to Newport. Strong
temporary fortifications were thrown up at Brenton’s Point on the
future site of our Fort Adams, and on all of the islands of the
harbor were placed guns. The northern water-front of the city was
held by a strong redoubt, built by Rochambeau and known as Fort
Greene. This was at the site of the present Fort Greene Park, at
the head of Washington Street.
Rochambeau was the second visitor to these shores with a French
army. The first allies had not made a pleasant impression with
the Americans, it must be admitted, chiefly because of their
leader’s, D’Estaing’s, apparent unwillingness to come to grips
with the enemy except where such action might directly benefit his
own country. Doubtless he acted on orders from Versailles! But
General Rochambeau seemed to be under different instructions, for
he immediately placed himself under the authority of the American
leaders and ingratiated himself with the people. His stay at
Newport is a brilliant chapter in the social history of that city.
One of the pleasantest episodes of the French occupation of
Newport was the visit of Washington to his French associate in
arms. Rochambeau had chosen as his residence and headquarters the
comfortable and beautiful dwelling at the corner of Clarke and Mary
Streets known as the Vernon House. In March, 1781, Washington,
accompanied by his young aide-de-camp, Lafayette, came to Newport
and was received here with much formality. The interest with which
the French officers regarded their guest is evidenced in some of
the journals which they published at the close of the war on their
return to their own country. Amongst minor incidents, Washington
led a dance with the beautiful Miss Champlin, and French officers,
taking the instruments from the musicians’ hands, played a minuet,
“A Successful Campaign.”
A merry time this French occupation of Newport brought about, and
traditions of the gayeties and portentous politenesses of the
period are still retailed in the little city. A finer body of men
than the French army had probably never taken the field. Many had
been through the Seven Years War. Officers of the most cultured
circles of the Old World embraced a chance of campaigning in the
New World with the pleasure of school-boys in a new experience.
One of the officers of the French force was the Viscount de
Noailles, in whose regiment Napoleon was afterward a subaltern.
Another was Biron, a figure in the French Revolution, and who in
1793, having unsuccessfully commanded the republican armies in La
Vendee, was guillotined. There was the Marquis de Chastellux,--an
elegant,--whose petits soupers became the talk of every one
fortunate enough to be invited. Later Chastellux’s “Travels
in America” were to become a treasured gallery of pictures of
the nation when it was new. There were Talleyrand, Chabannes,
Champcenetz, de Melfort, la Touche, de Barras, de Broglie, Vauban,
and Berthier, the military confidant of Napoleon, and many others.
With such an infusion of genius and culture it is not remarkable
that the little city developed an exotic bloom and that the records
of this period in Newport are among the gayest in American social
history. Nor should one be surprised that the anxious mothers of
young daughters of Newport in that time (as we learn now from the
betraying evidences of long preserved letters) passed vigilant
hours of watchfulness in the sudden maelstrom of French gallantry!
The Chevalier de Ternay, commander at sea of the French forces,
died soon after the arrival at Newport and was buried in Trinity
church-yard where a slab was erected to his memory.
In 1781 the French marched out of Newport, joined Washington in
his campaign at Yorktown, and the result soon was the surrender of
Cornwallis and the virtual end of the War of Independence.
In May, 1794, Governor Fenner addressed the following letter to
George Champlin, of Newport:
Last evening I received a letter from Mr. Rochefontaine the
engineer dated New London ... informing me that he should
depart from New London for Newport this day and desiring me
to transmit to him my orders and the names of the gentlemen
appointed by me to be the agents for the fortifications and to
supervise their execution. I have to ask the favor of you to
undertake the business with Col. Sherburne until my arrival at
Newport, and to wait on the engineer and deliver him my letter of
appointment. Give him the necessary information and assistance.
Your compliance will render great service to the State and in a
particular manner oblige your ob’t servant,
A. FENNER.
The building of the new fort was assigned to Major Louis Toussard,
and soon it was ready for its dedication. At the time of this
ceremony the battery was completed and was mounted with 32-pounders
on sea-coast carriages.
Strangely enough it was as a protection from the very allies with
whom the United States had triumphed against Great Britain that
Fort Adams was called into being. It will be recalled by the reader
of history that at this period France under the Directory was in
constant embroilment with the United States. Citizen Talleyrand
was bent upon turning the new nation to France’s ends. In 1798 a
French cruiser actually had the impudence, after the capture of
several American vessels, to bring her prizes into an American port
to escape the more dreaded British. President Adams, as all know,
eventually brought the Directoire Exécutif and Citizen Talleyrand
to their senses in no uncertain fashion, but for a time affairs
between the two countries were in a very unsatisfactory condition.
To President Adams is due, too, the foundation of the present
American navy and the increasing importance of Fort Adams. He saw
the necessity in the future for a great naval base well located on
the coast. A commissioner sent out by him reported that the harbor
of Newport most fully answered the specifications he had in mind,
and from this time the works on Brenton’s Point acquired a new
value.
The greater part of the construction of the second Fort Adams,
which was begun in 1824, was done under the personal supervision of
General J. G. Totten of the United States army in coast defence.
It is said that during the progress of the work a full set of
plans of the fortress mysteriously disappeared and as mysteriously
reappeared after a long interval. Gossip also gratuitously asserts
that a copy of these plans could be found in the Admiralty office
of Great Britain. However that may be, the plans would be of little
value to any one to-day.
Associated with Totten was that General Bernard of the first
Napoleon’s staff who was raised from the ranks by the Corsican for
his skill as a military engineer. Bernard came to the United States
in 1816 and offered his services to the infant republic. While his
gifts have been generally conceded, his personality must have been
far from winning. Colonel McCree, chief of engineers, resigned
rather than serve with him, and harmony between the Frenchman and
Colonel Totten was only secured by an agreement through which work
was divided and each man was bound to accept the other’s plans.
There are passages beneath the walls of Fort Adams known only to
the engineers. These are always closed, for they are of no use in
piping times of peace and might become a trap for curious, unwary
visitors. A story is told of an exploring party years ago, before
the entrances were barred. This party penetrated far beneath the
fort. Suddenly their lantern went out and a scream and a splash
from the front showed that one of the party was in distress.
A beautiful girl had stepped over the edge of a subterranean
reservoir. What could be done! There was a rush and another splash.
One of the young men had jumped in the dark into the dank pool
beside the drowning girl. He was able to keep himself and his fair
charge afloat until a rope reached them. The hero of the tale was
the late Washington Van Zandt of the Newport family.
[Illustration: PANORAMA OF NEWPORT HARBOR, R. I., SHOWING FORT
ADAMS AT LEFT MIDDLE DISTANCE
Goat Island in Central Distance]
[Illustration: FORT DUMPLINGS, CONANICUT ISLAND, A REVOLUTIONARY
RELIC NEAR NEWPORT]
During the War of 1812 Fort Adams saw no active service, and this
is true, too, of the Civil War.
The vicinity of Newport held many fortified points during the
Revolutionary War and some of the remains of these can be seen
to-day. One of the most interesting of these relics is “Dumplings,”
at the southern tip of Conanicut Isle. A belligerent little round
stone tower, it has as pugnacious an appearance to-day as it had
when a few hardy Americans garrisoned it against the English; and
it is a favorite picnic point for parties from Newport or from
the summer colonies on the west side of Narragansett Bay. Other
ruined defences (grass-grown and decayed) are to be found on
Conanicut whose history is so obscure that even legend has little
to say about them; but they are all a part of the expression of
the doughty spirit which moved Newport and its vicinity during the
Revolution.
Goat Island in Newport Harbor, now the home of the Fort Wolcott
torpedo station, and a naval hospital, was, we are told by Edward
Field, in his interesting monograph, “Revolutionary Defences in
Rhode Island,” the site of a fortification as early as 1700. This
early fortification was known as Fort Anna; later Fort George;
then, Fort Liberty; and, at the time of the Revolution, Fort
Washington.
FORT MONROE
OLD POINT COMFORT--VIRGINIA
Morning bugle call, the evening gun, grey ships of war stealing in
from a misty sea with long plumes of soft black smoke, military
uniforms on the streets and trig bright houses are, probably, the
average civilian’s impressions of a stay at Old Point Comfort
where is located Fort Monroe. “Fort” or “Fortress,” for the place
changes its sex indifferently according to the state of mind of
the speaker, it probably satisfies the popular conception of a
mighty stronghold of defence more completely than any other such
establishment in the United States. And, indeed, it is a great
defensive work, guarding one of the most vital points of entrance
in this country, menacing hostile approach to the very capital of
the country itself.
[Illustration:
By courtesy of the War Department
FROM THE RAMPARTS OF FORT MONROE, LOOKING TOWARD HAMPTON ROADS
(Taken during the Jamestown Celebration by the United States War
Department and Reproduced by Special Permission.)]
At the southern limit of the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay is
a long sandy peninsula whose extremity in times of flood is cut off
from the mainland by a narrow wash of water, and on this sometimes
isolated tip of the peninsula is situated Fort Monroe. The grounds
of the reservation, which includes all of the residence portion of
the little community, too, embrace about 280 acres of almost always
dry land. The walls of the fort itself encircle the greater part
of this number of acres.
From the summit of these walls one looks out upon a wide prospect
of waters. To the south is Hampton Roads, into which empty the
waters of the James, the Elizabeth and the Nansemond Rivers. To
the east lies the wide expanse of the lower Chesapeake Bay, giving
access to the Potomac and the network of other rivers which the
bay holds as tributaries. From all directions except from the west
pours in upon Old Point a vivifying draught of pure salt air. From
the west,--from the mainland,--come all manner of humidities,
unpleasantness and mosquitoes, but this is only one of four points
of the compass.
It is a healthy place, this Old Point Comfort, so healthy, indeed,
that in a grave government report of 1877 the army surgeon at the
post tells his superiors in Washington that there is a legend in
the army that the air of the place conduces to fecundity in the
families stationed there. He adds that from his own professional
practice and his observation of the number of children playing in
the streets he believes that there is more than fancy in the idea!
The visitor to Fort Monroe will almost invariably come by water,
though there is a roundabout way of reaching the post by way of
trolley from Newport News--through quaint old Hampton, past Hampton
Institute and over a long trestle to the reservation. He will
see, first, on putting foot upon the wharf and fighting off the
hungry hordes of hackmen and baggage smashers, the red walls of a
popular hotel. To the right is a triangular park, on the far side
of whose spread of green is a row of modern cottages of pretentious
architecture, which are given over to the superior officers
stationed at the post. Beyond the roofs of these can be seen, in
glimpses, the battlements of the old fort. Perhaps our visitor will
penetrate on farther back into the grounds, along the winding main
street, until he comes to the main entrance to the fort, faced by
an inn much used by officers and the military set. Here there are
cottages, of less imposing aspect than those facing the sea, which
are given over to the younger officers and their families. Here
also one has his first clear view of the fort walls.