Fort Madison and Fort Severn: Jefferson's Second Seacoast Defense System as Employed in Annapolis, Maryland

Author(s): Mechelle Kerns Galway

Year: 2013

Summary

Due to President Thomas Jefferson’s call for seacoast defense, known as the "Second System," the capital city of Annapolis, Maryland saw the construction of two forts during the period of 1808 to 1810.  By the War of 1812, Annapolis had Fort Madison, a traditional star-shaped fortification and Fort Severn, a round gun battery to protect the Chesapeake Bay Severn River approach, Annapolis Roads, and the city.  This paper outlines the history of both forts, the research findings on the construction, armaments, and life cycles of the forts and the Phase I Archaeological Survey (April and May 2012) to locate the remains of Fort Madison that stood until the 1930s.

Cite this Record

Fort Madison and Fort Severn: Jefferson's Second Seacoast Defense System as Employed in Annapolis, Maryland. Mechelle Kerns Galway. Presented at Society for Historical Archaeology, Leicester, England, U.K. 2013 ( tDAR id: 428267)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

min long: -129.199; min lat: 24.495 ; max long: -66.973; max lat: 49.359 ;

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 104