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{{Infobox NRHP
| locmapin = Virginia#USA
▲ | refnum = 08000320<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref>
}}
'''Fort Huger''' is a historic [[archaeological site]] located near [[Smithfield, Virginia|Smithfield]], [[Isle of Wight County, Virginia]]. The site is the location of an abandoned [[American Civil War]] fort on the south side of the James River across from [[Fort Eustis]]
It was listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 2008.<ref name=nris/>▼
==History==
Fort Huger's site on Harden's Bluff (or Hardin's/Hardy's Point)<ref name=AFN1>[https://www.northamericanforts.com/East/vajames.html#huger Fort Huger (2) at American Forts Network]</ref> was selected by Virginia's state engineer Colonel [[Andrew Talcott]] in August 1861 to supplement [[Fort Boykin]], also on the south bank of the James, and the [[Fort Crafford|Mulberry Point battery]] on the north bank. The fort was also designed by him.<ref name=FWiki1>[http://www.fortwiki.com/Fort_Huger_(2) Fort Huger (2) at FortWiki.com]</ref> Construction began immediately under Capt. E.T.D. Myers and Capt. John Clarke. The fort was completed in March 1862 with positions for 15 guns, 13 of which were occupied. A Confederate Engineer Bureau report of March 12, 1862 lists one 10-inch [[columbiad]], four 9-inch [[Dahlgren gun|Dahlgren shell guns]], two 8-inch columbiads (all on [[barbette]] carriages) and six [[Heated shot|hot-shot]] 32-pounders on ship carriages. All of these weapons were [[smoothbore]]s. The fort included a hot-shot furnace and was enclosed at the back by an earthen wall facing a swamp. The garrison was Lt. Col. Fletch Archer's [[5th Virginia Infantry Battalion]].<ref name=CDSGN1/> This included two companies as artillery in the fort and three companies as infantry outside the fort.<ref name=FWiki1/> There was confusion of command at the fort between Archer and CSA Capt. De Lagnel, a former naval officer who commanded the fort's artillery companies. Generals [[John B. Magruder]] and [[Robert E. Lee]] wrote letters to address this confusion, essentially placing Archer in overall command and De Lagnel in charge of the artillery. Correspondence between Lt. Col. Henry Cabell and Brigadier General [[Lafayette McLaws]] indicated other deficiencies at the fort. There was no "clear zone" in the woods behind it that attackers would have to cross under fire, wooden structures in the fort might catch fire under bombardment, and there were no [[Bomb shelter|bomb-proof shelters]]. The lack of proper fortress carriages for the 32-pounders was also a deficiency, and the gun crews were not being drilled in reloading their weapons. In April 1862 Capt. J. M. Maury took command of the fort's artillery.<ref name=FHProj1>[http://www.archcon.org/investigations/fort-huger-project/ Fort Huger Project at Archaeological Consultants of Carolinas, Inc.]</ref>
On May 8, 1862, Fort Huger was attacked by a Union Navy squadron that also attacked [[Fort Boykin]]. The warships included USS [[USS Galena (1862)|''Galena'']], [[USS Aroostook (1861)|''Aroostook'']], and [[USS Port Royal (1862)|''Port Royal'']] under Commander [[John Rodgers (American Civil War naval officer)|John Rodgers]] as part of the [[Peninsula campaign]], an unsuccessful Union offensive from [[Fort Monroe]] to Richmond.<ref name=FHProj1/> Fort Boykin was soon silenced and abandoned, as its guns lacked the range to reply to the bombardment.<ref name=AFN2>[https://www.northamericanforts.com/East/vajames.html#boykin Fort Boykin at American Forts Network]</ref> The Union ran low on ammunition firing against Fort Huger and withdrew, but returned on the 16th reinforced by the ironclads [[USS Monitor|USS ''Monitor'']] and [[USRC Naugatuck|USRC ''Naugatuck'']]. This bombardment resulted in the Confederates spiking their guns and abandoning Fort Huger. A report by Union Navy Lt. John Waters after examining the fort showed that many of the concerns noted in mid-March were addressed, including clearing the woods behind the fort and building bomb-proofs.<ref name=FHProj1/>
==Present==
The site was acquired by Isle of Wight County Parks and Recreation in 2005 and opened to the public as a park in 2007. Archaeological investigations are ongoing.<ref name=FHProj1/> Five replicas of Civil War-era [[cannon]]s are at the fort.<ref name=CDSGN1/><ref name=AFN1/>
==See also==
* [[Seacoast defense in the United States]]
* [[List of coastal fortifications of the United States]]
*[[National Register of Historic Places listings in Isle of Wight County, Virginia]]
▲It was listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 2008.<ref name=nris/>
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
{{commons category|Fort Huger, Virginia}}
*[https://www.historicisleofwight.com/fort-huger.html Fork Huger Park - Isle of Wight County Museum]
*[https://www.co.isle-of-wight.va.us/departments/parks_and_recreation/index.php Isle of Wight County Parks and Recreation website]
==Further reading==
*Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Prepared by Edward K. Rawson, Comdr George P. Colvocoresses and Charles W. Stewart, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1901.▼
*King, Helen Haverty. Historical Notes on Isle of Wight County, Virginia. Donning and Company, Virginia Beach, Virginia. 1993.▼
*River of Lost Opportunities: The Civil War on the James River,
{{National Register of Historic Places in Virginia}}
▲Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Prepared by Edward K. Rawson, Comdr George P. Colvocoresses and Charles W. Stewart, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1901.
▲King, Helen Haverty. Historical Notes on Isle of Wight County, Virginia. Donning and Company, Virginia Beach, Virginia. 1993.
▲River of Lost Opportunities: The Civil War on the James River, 1861-1862. Ed Bearss, 1995.
[[Category:Forts on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia|Huger]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Isle of Wight County, Virginia]]
[[Category:1861 establishments in Virginia]]
[[Category:Parks in Isle of Wight County, Virginia]]
[[Category:American Civil War on the National Register of Historic Places]]
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