The largest stone fort in the United States its at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay near virginia. Up next fort monroe director robin read gives us a tour showcasing the history from the colonial era to its completion. In 1834 and its role in the seven civil war. Welcome to the very Pleasant Place that we call point comfort. Actually we call it all played comfort and its been named that for a long time. It is here that over 400 years of history have occurred. In fact someone say even longer, some say even thousand or years. Youre actually inside a case mate. Case made is nothing more than a fault inside the fort wall xerox lean side the fault for wall. Kind of unique for a museum to this day in time we will walk you through the museum and talk to you about the interesting history that occurred here. Some of our stories will deal with the genie indians, they africans who first arrived here and there play during the civil war. Thousands of years ago, the natives of this land started to migrate, starting as far west as mexico. And the Mississippi River valley. They migrated as far south as south america. And central america. They migrated to port comfort where fort monroe is located today. They were hunters, they were gatherers and they lived a very successful and prosperous life. In 1607, the english had come and by that time the virginia onions had learned a master the art of cultivation. The english struggled for the first years that they too would prosper. In 60 1920 and 20 and odd negroes arrived here. A point calm thump comfort they were traded for goods. After that we see the laws and rules and regulations that would start to manage the africanamerican population here in hampton. Next, we look at the war of 1812 and find why this this fort is now in existence and how it came about. Why is the largest stone fort in the United States here today . The war of 1812 as a backdrop to that story. In 1812, the british invaded the United States. They arrived here at the Chesapeake Bay and there was nobody here to stop them. They moved all the way up to chesapeake day, they burned our capital city of washington d. C. And they were finally stopped at a place called baltimore. The reason . For henry. After the war of 1812, the president of the United StatesJames Madison said, we need to establish fortifications up and down the eastern seaboard. They recruited general simon bernard, the french engineer, who helped us established what we call the third system forts that we used today. Its an example of the largest and best of all of those ports. An 1819 it was decided was this location decided that port comfort was the location for fort monroe. They began construction almost immediately and it wasnt finished until 1834. The model that we see today is exactly what it would look like in 1834 when the first soldiers began to populate this fortification. And be that offense for the jury broader of the chesapeake. The frenchman, general simon b ernard, was an intelligent engineer. It created many facets to this fort and he made it one of the strongest strongholds in the United States. One of the things he did is that he had several angles on the fort. This moat was originally designed to allow them to move materials around the fort to help with construction. After it was completed, the moat made another level of defense for fort monroe. Foreman row is the largest stone fort in the United States even today. It started construction in 1819. It would take them till 1834 to complete construction. The original intention of the fort was to house 32 paths to artillery pieces to fire upon ships entering the Chesapeake Bay. It has water exposure and did not worry much about defense of the land behind it. 14 row would remain a force of it artillery might all the way up until the civil war. Were looking at a 32pound artillery tube. We know this tube was built in 1846. Every casemate would have one of these beasts inside of it to fire out the ports window at the approaching enemy, usually naval vessels. It would take anywhere from nine to 11 men to load and fire a 32pounder. It gets its name because it fired a 32pound cannonball. This would be the workhorse of the military during the war of 1812, all the way up to the American Civil War. In order to fire a 32pounder, you would need a crew of 911 individuals. Let me point out some of the positions. That they would hold. You had a number one and number two man. Their responsibility was to make sure that the firing mechanism of this game was in place. So they would punch the powder bag, set the fuse, and they would run the lanyard to fire the gun. At the front of the tube, you have the man who would load the projectiles. One would be responsible for cleaning the tube, ramming the projectile into the back, but also was there to help load the ammunition from the men carrying the projectiles and powder up from their supply. Two in the back, two in the front. You would have a gunner who would be responsible for pointing the gun toward whatever the military objective might be. Sometimes you would have another Commanding Officer to be responsible for the series of guns being fired at the same time. It would take anywhere from one minute to 75 seconds to load. And fire a 32 pounder. These 32 pounds that we are looking at today were the workhorse for the United States military all the way through the American Civil War. Fort monroe was one of the largest strongholds of the United States military. But it never fell into the confederate hands. The department of defense made sure that this fort was secure on the very eve of the American Civil War. What you should know about these 32pounders and and what you should know about fort monroe is that these guns were never fired in anger and this fort was never attacked. That speaks to its strength and how imposing it is to the enemy. What did slavery look like before the American Civil War . Slaves were used primarily for agriculture. This map gives us a clear indication of where that agriculture takes place. If you look at the eastern seaboard you noticed that the dark and ages areas indicate were more slavery was. Commonwealth of virginia were growing things like tobacco and cultivating cotton. You can see how intense and how populous the slave people were here in va at the time. Lets go through georgia. You can notice where they were growing rice and Different Things here. Once again we had a concentration of enslaved individuals. The Mississippi River valley is the same thing. Theyre growing cotton and other cash crops that allow whites to capitalize on that. Once again look at the concentration of enslaved people. In the Mississippi River valley. In may of 1861, there was a perfect storm. Several things came together to create what we call today the contraband decision. The first thing is that Abraham Lincoln promoted and assigned Major GeneralBenjamin Butler to take command of fort monroe. On the heels of that, the commonwealth of virginia was some sitting on the fence. Adjoining United States are joined the confederacy. That decision they would join the new confederate government and invite the National Capital to be removed to the city of richmond, virginia. Butler takes command and virginia leaves the union. During this, three brave individuals baker, calson, mallory, would steal a ship, go across the Chesapeake Bay, present themselves at the gate of the american soldiers and say we are a runaway slaves seeking to be refugees and protection. They were invited into the fort. The next day, butler interviewed the three individuals and he found out that these individuals were being used for the use of the Confederate Army to build trenches and to do chores around the confederate camp. That same day, the owners of these individual slaves came to retrieve them citing the fugitive slave act, which was the law of the land in the United States which said, if you had a runaway slave, you buy law had to return them to their owners. Benjamin butler being the lawyer that he was in his former life said this, so, youre quoting United States law. My understanding is that the state of virginia has left the union. United states law no longer applies to you. If you want to swear allegiance to the United States, you can have your slaves back, but if not i i am going to seize them as contraband of war because you are using them against my soldiers in the United States army. I will seize them and keep them and you can no longer have your slaves. This would create a mass of folks coming to fort monroe to seek freedom. What started out as three man became 10,000 by the end of the war in four short years. Jefferson davis is a contradiction. Jefferson davis, in his early life, was a graduate of the United States military academy. He served in the frontier with the added states army. He was secretary of war under president pierce. He and his wife were the host during James Buchanans administration in washington, d. C. When the south formed their own government, they invited Jefferson Davis to become their first and only president. Jefferson davis would accept that invitation and become president of the Confederate States of america. We are standing in the cell where Jefferson Davis was held at the conclusion of the civil war. An 1865 but Jefferson Davis received word from general robert e. Lee that they no longer could hold the army back from richmond. With that news, Jefferson Davis adjourned his cabinet and sent his family on the road for protection. Jefferson davis would soon follow. He would only catch up with his family right above the Florida State line. It is here where a federal mounted unit was able to capture him and his family. Jefferson davis was placed on a boat and moved back to fort monroe and incarcerated in this very cell. Some people ask why. The main reason is that Jefferson Davis was indicted on three federal charges. 1, treason. Two, complicit in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Three, the mistreatment of federal soldiers in prison by the Confederate States army. In order to answer to those charges in federal court, he had to be in the place where his last residency occurred, which would be richmond, the white house of the confederacy. It was here he would stay four months remain informed morale incarcerated for almost two years. He would never see his day in court. He would never be acquitted. He would retire, write his memoirs and live to the age of 80. With the understanding that Jefferson Davis was charged with three federal indictments, many folks in the United States, men of wealth and influence, decided that was not going to be the best way to heal the nation. To try Jefferson Davis and the fear that he might be acquitted would cast a shadow over on 3. 2 Million People going hum to war and over 750,000 losing their lives. At the conclusion of the American Civil War, the priority of our congress and the president was to reunite the country. To make us once again a strong union. For this reason many confederate officers would not be charged with treason. In fact you see many of those officers actually have roles and occupy positions within ulysses as grants administration. Patriots youre looking at the flag of the United States. This flag is from the American Civil War. This flag was outside his Jefferson Davis is sale to remind him on a daily basis of the crimes he had committed against his former government. It is behind this very door that he would look out and realize that the American Civil War was over and that the confederacy was no longer part of the historic narrative of the United States. We have taken a tour all the way through the civil war but there is so much more to see. And the late and early 20th century, fort monroe becomes an important Training Ground for the military. It is here that a most every artilleryist was trained. This fort would later become a very important defensive position for the Chesapeake Bay, showing some of the most modern weapons of our time. Later, fort monroe would become the center of training and command for the United States army. The rest of our museum talks about not only military history but the social aspects of port comfort here at fort monroe. Youll learn how the social aspects of virginia merged with the military aspects of fort monroe. This is a living and breathing and Viable Community and would stay that way all the way until its closure in 2011. You can watch this and other american artifacts programs by visiting our website, cspan. Org history