Visiting Fort Clinch on Northern Amelia Island in Florida

Another fort!!!?????  I'm not sure.... if I really want to go.... to another fort.  Eric and I just visited Fort Fisher and Fort Frederica in the last three weeks.  I'm  a bit "forted out."  But we're here on the north end of Amelia Island, and Fort Clinch is sooo close.   If I visit this fort, I will be done touring forts in northern Florida.  OK....  Let's go.  After a look around, I can check Fort Clinch off my list.

Oh yeah...  Eric and I have also visited Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina, Fort Oswego in Oswego, New York and Fort Henry in Kingston, Canada.  I think after visiting Fort Clinch, I'll be done with forts for a while.

Construction of Fort Clinch 

started in 1847.

Cannon are mounted on
the terriplein.

Numbers on the rail help the

artillerymen sight the

cannons.

Holes near the cannons...

... are used to supply cannonballs

 to the artillerymen during battle.

Stairs lead to the

outer walls.

A stairway leads to the

embrasures.

Riflemen were assigned to man

these gun ports & shoot at

the attacking enemy.

The riflemen can move around

& change the angle of fire.

Soldiers need to be housed and fed.  They need clean clothes.  Machinery and wagons need to be repaired.  Horses need to be stabled, fed, watered and shod.  Soldiers drill and practice to defend the fort against all enemies.  

This building housed the

 Storehouse, Hospital,

Quartermaster & Sutler.

A set of leather straps is attached 

to rope for hoisting cannonballs

Barrels, chains & ropes

Uniforms, shoes &

kitchenware

The Enlisted Men's Quarters 

The Mess Hall 

One of the barracks
rooms

Officers' Quarters

The Officers' Mess

The Kitchen, Bakery & Laundry

Pots & pans for large 

scale cooking 

The Laundry

One of the fort's
latrines

The Stockade & the

Commander's Office

The Stockade could hold

all the soldiers in a brawl.

The fort is patrolled &

tended by devoted

re-enactors.

Fort Clinch was under construction when General Robert E. Lee ordered the fort abandoned by Confederate troops early in 1862.  Union troops took possession of Fort Clinch and finished it. Northern ships were sent to southern Georgia and Florida to blockade southern ports.  These ships relied on locals to supply and fuel the Union fleet for the duration of the Civil War. 

In 1867, Fort Clinch was deactivated.  The outbreak of the Spanish American War in 1898, brought the fort back to life.  During World War II, the Coast Guard, Army and Navy conducted joint surveillance and communication operations at Fort Clinch.  The Coast Guard searched the beaches for German spies and saboteurs.

I'm glad that Eric kept driving while I hemmed and hawed about our third fort visit in less than one month.  Fort Clinch was worth the visit.  This well maintained fort that shows what life was like as a soldier in a fort during the Civil War.