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There are an untold number of forts that have been built in North America, so many so that it is hard to count them all. So, this gallery has been created to show some of the more famous ones that are restored, rebuilt, in ruins, still stand or serve as active forts.
This list is an endeavor to account for as many as can be possible, but because many have been destroyed, this can never be a complete list. Still, this list in the following section is presented to show as many as possible of both those existing and those lost; and this list will grow with time as we become aware of more forts in the passing of time.
(m4fo-wa-block-2012-1005.1154) Whidbey Island Block House, Puget Sound (1854)
Purpose of Forts
American history is replete with information about a variety of forts. Beginning with the European settlers, who upon arriving on the shores of North America began at once with the building of forts, at first, using wooden stakes or tree trunks to build a defensive fence structure to enclose their stockade; this type of fort is often referred to as a palisade fort.
Other types of forts were used in the American colonies to defend seaports form any who would invade their home, be it from a foreign navy or from Native American attacks. Too, as the colonies expanded and moved west, forts were used in strategic location in the frontier to protect other invaders. When fighting broke out in 1775 between the British empire and the American colonists, many of these existing forts became invaluable to the colonies as well as targets for the British war machine.
Conventionally forts were built to ensure that the settlement would remain safe and secure, to keep any enemy as far away as possible and to ensure a strong advantage in the case of attack or war.
Location of Forts
Forts were built in important locations or constructed at strategic points at either neat the shorelines or inland on land. These locations were often where waterways and/or roadways converged and they were built to defend these travel ways or to defend nearby towns and cities. Forts often dictated the military strategy of both sides.
Often, forts were built on both sides of the entrance of a river way to prevent ships from sailing up the river and attacking the cities therein.
With reference to land forts, unless the fort guards an extremely narrow entry way they cannot generally function well without the support of an army in the field. When the fort is supported by such an army, these forces performed a valuable role as the backbone around which the defence of a territory could be formed. Even when placed in an area of open fields, a fort still may perform the valuable task of forcing the enemy to advance through less favorable ground, rather than take the fastest route that is protected by the cannons in the fort.
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