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DEFENSES OF CHARLESTON-continued.

a battery for heavy guns and sea-coast mortars. Timber platforms for the mortars have been procured.

No appropriation having been made, no work was done at this fortification during the last fiscal year beyond its protection, preservation, and repair, as far as was possible with the general appropriation made for this purpose, and no other work is contemplated during the current fiscal year for the same reason.

No appropriation asked for next fiscal year.

Castle Pinckney. Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, in charge of Col. Q. A. Gillmore, Corps of Engineers.-This work, situated on Shute's Folly Island, about 1 mile east of the city of Charleston, is one of the interior works in the system of defense of the harbor. The work was commenced in 1829. In its present condition it is useless for defensive purposes, and is now in charge of the Light-House Board for light-house purposes.

An expenditure of about $20,000 will be required to adapt this work to the reception of an armament.

No appropriation was made for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1886.
No appropriation asked for next fiscal year.

DEFENSES OF SAVANNAH.

Fort Oglethorpe, Savannah River, Georgia, in charge of Col. Q. A. Gillmore, Corps of Engineers.-This work, commenced in 1842, is situated about 4 miles from the city of Savannah, and forms the inner line of defense for that city.

Modifications of this work, approved January 11, 1870, so as to fit it for the reception of heavy guns, were commenced in the fiscal year ending June 30, 1873, but they were suspended some years since for want of appropriations. The plans of the work require revision.

During the past fiscal year the bridge across the ditch was repaired; the entrance gate and fort-keeper's house were whitewashed, the casemates cleaned, and the grass cut from the parapets and parade.

No appropriation having been made, no work was done at this fortification during the last fiscal year beyond its protection, preservation, and repair, as far as was possible with the general appropriation made for this purpose, and no other work is contemplated during the current fiscal year for the same reason.

No appropriation asked for next fiscal year.

Fort Pulaski, mouth of Savannah River, Georgia, in charge of Col. Q. A. Gillmore, Corps of Engineers.-This casemated work, commenced in 1829, is located on Cockspur Island, covers the ship-channel leading from Tybee Roads into the Savannah River, and constitutes the principal defense of the city of Savannah against naval attack.

From 1872 to 1875 the work of remodeling the demilune was carried on at intervals and nearly completed. Its gun platforms were built of timber, and two 15-inch guns were mounted on the north face.

The work done during the past fiscal year consisted in repairing and painting the doors, window sashes and blinds of the casemates occupied or reserved for quarters. The entrance gate was painted and all the iron work about it cleaned and tarred. The gun casemates were cleaned, and all unserviceable material collected and stored. Weeds and grass were cut on the slopes of the main work and demilune and on the parade of the fort. Loose shot and shell were piled and painted. A

DEFENSES OF SAVANNAH-continued.

contract was made for repairing twenty permanent platforms for 8-inch and 10-inch Rodman guns on the barbette of the main work.

No appropriation having been made, no work was done at this fortification during the last fiscal year beyond its protection, preservation, and repair, as far as was possible with the general appropriation made for this purpose, and no other work is contemplated during the current fiscal year for the same reason.

No appropriation asked for next fiscal year.

New fort on Tybee Island, mouth of Savannah River, Georgia, in charge of Col. Q. A. Gillmore, Corps of Engineers.-Plans have been prepared for defensive earthen works to be constructed on the north point of Tybee Island, for the double purpose of preventing the occupation of Tybee Roads by hostile vessels and defending the channel of approach to the Savannah River.

The land necessary for the work was acquired by the United States in 1875.

The northeast shore of this reservation is protected from the inroads of the sea by three spur-jetties composed of log mattresses overlaid with brush and loaded with stone. These works were built in 1882.

Nothing was done at this place during the past fiscal year beyond. concluding a contract for some additional work on the spur-jetties referred to. The necessary funds having been supplied, this work will be done in the early part of the present fiscal year.

No appropriation for their construction has yet been made.
No appropriation asked for next fiscal year.

DEFENSES OF CUMBERLAND SOUND.

Fort Clinch, Amelia Island, Florida, in charge of Col. Q. A. Gillmore, Corps of Engineers.-This casemated work, commenced in 1847, defends the entrance into Cumberland Sound, and is in an unfinished condition. A plan for modifying the work has been prepared by the Board of Engineers for Fortifications, which contemplates an armament of rifled guns and the construction of an exterior earthen battery for 12-inch rifled guns.

During the past fiscal year, repairs were made to four permanent front-pintle platforms for 15-inch Rodman guns, and to eighteen permanent front-pintle platforms for 8-inch or 10-inch Rodman guns, or corresponding rifles. These platforms are now in serviceable order.

New sills were laid in the inner and outer doorways leading to the north, northeast, and northwest bastions. The roads across the parade were cleared of brush, weeds, and grass.

In the early part of the fiscal year the sea-wall of the fort seemed to be endangered by the encroachments of the sea upon the beach in front of the wall; the beach was also washing away near the ordnance sergeant's quarters, west of the most westerly of the seven spur-dikes built a few years ago for protecting the site of the fort and the adjacent beach. Those portions of the beach exposed to the direct action of the surf at high tides were successfully protected by putting down compressed brush-mattress work loaded with stone.

No appropriation having been made, no work was done at this fortification during the last fiscal year beyond its protection, preservation, and repair, as far as was possible with the general appropriation made for this purpose, and no other work is contemplated during the current fiscal year for the same reason.

No appropriation asked for next fiscal year.

DEFENSES OF SAINT AUGUSTINE.

Fort Marion, Saint Augustine, Florida, in charge of Col. Q. A. Gillmore, Corps of Engineers, until August 5, 1884; since that date in charge of Capt. William T. Rossell, Corps of Engineers.-This work is intended to defend the harbor and city of Saint Augustine. It was built by the Spaniards, and was called by them San Marco. It was essentially completed in the year 1756, its construction having extended through a period of more than one hundred years. It is built of coquina, a natural shell concrete found in the vicinity. No money has been expended by the United States for the maintenance of the work, or in arresting the progress of ordinary deterioration and decay, for the reason, doubtless, that the water battery constructed in front of it in 1842-'43 will, if suitably armed, furnish a sufficient defense for this locality. The main work is not suitable for an efficient defense.

During the past fiscal year a neat and substantial picket fence has been built around the reservation.

A project has been submitted and approved for beginning the work of restoration under the appropriation of $5,000 made by act approved July 5, 1884.

Should it be desired to restore old Fort San Marco, both main work and demilune, to the condition substantially in which it was left by the Spaniards, it can be done, so far as it is possible to attain this object, and omitting all preparations for an armament, for an aggregate sum of about $15,000.

Amount appropriated by act of July 5, 1884
Appropriation asked for next fiscal year

DEFENSES OF KEY WEST.

$5,000 10,000

Fort Taylor and batteries, Key West, Florida, in charge of Capt. Thomas Turtle, Corps of Engineers, until September 1, 1884; since that date in charge of Capt. Wm. T. Rossell, Corps of Engineers.-These works, comprising a main casemated work of brick upon a submarine foundation and earthen battery northeast of the main work, and one to southeast of it, with two Martello towers of brick on the south shore of the island, are for the defense of the important harbor of Key West.

The main work was commenced in 1884; the citadel is complete, but the cover face on the land faces of this is in a very incomplete condition, and only the former portion is at present of any defensive value. The barracks and quarters within the fort are in very bad order and becoming worse through decay and neglect. The walls are much in need of repointing, or some similar repairs, and upon this work $11,000 could be profitably expended. All the casemate platforms are generally in good condition, and the barbette platforms on the sea-faces, except those for the 15-inch guns, which, being of wood, are decayed, so as to be of no use whatever.

During the past fiscal year the cisterns have all been cleaned and repaired, and now contain potable water. The copper pipes and gutters were repaired and painted. The most exposed faces of Fort Taylor have been stuccoed. The office building has been repaired, leaks in two magazines of the main works stopped, and the magazines of the sand batteries put in fair condition.

The exterior earthen batteries are suffering the inevitable deteriora tion due to their incomplete condition; the platforms, a combination of concrete and wood, are, because of the decay of wood, utterly useless

DEFENSES OF KEY WEST-continued.

in their present condition. The estimated cost of these batteries is $240,338, which, on account of deterioration, should be increased to $250,000.

The Martello towers, in fair condition, were constructed in the early part of the war of secession, on private land, the title to which has never been acquired by the United States.

No appropriation having been made, no work has been done at these fortifications during the fiscal year beyond the guarding of the property and the protection of the works from depredation, and none is contemplated for the ensuing fiscal year, because of lack of funds, other than such work of protection, preservation, and repair as the general appropriation will permit.

Appropriation asked for the next fiscal year: For acquisition of sites of the two Martello towers, by purchase or condemnation.....

DEFENSES OF THE HARBOR OF DRY TORTUGAS.

$9,000

Fort Jefferson, Garden Key, Tortugas, Florida, in charge of Capt Thomas Turtle, Corps of Engineers until September 1, 1884; since that date in charge of Capt. William T. Rossell, Corps of Engineers.-This casemated work, commenced in 1846, perfectly commands the admirable harbor lying in the heart of this group of keys.

During the past fiscal year some slight repairs have been made to the quarters occupied by the ordnance sergeant.

The sewer has been cleaned, and some repairs made on the temporary partitions that were falling.

The wharf is in a very dilapidated condition and almost useless for the purpose of landing material. The quarters are suffering from neglect, and the unfinished barracks should be completed. Pending the adoption of modifications which the most modern conditions demand, no appropriation is at this time recommended. The lower tier of casemates, in which guns in casemate are alone mounted, are generally in good condition, and the barbette platforms, for the guns of the lesser calibers, are also in good condition generally, though some of them are incomplete.

The wooden platforms for 15-inch guns are thoroughly decayed and are of no use.

The scarp of the work is, in places, incomplete; the parapet is not wholly embanked, and the traverses, most of which are incomplete, are suffering from deterioration through loss of material; being formed of sand and mostly unprotected, or incompletely so, the winds blow it away.

The galleries forming passages between the gun batteries of the barbette tier require renewal of planking throughout, and it is in great part blown away by the hurricanes.

No appropriation having been made, no work was done at this fortificacation during the last fiscal year except caring for the property and protecting the work and buildings from depredations, and none is contemplated for the ensuing year.

No appropriation is asked for next fiscal year.

DEFENSES OF PENSACOLA HARBOR AND NAVY-YARD.

Fort Pickens, Pensacola Harbor, Florida, in charge of Maj. A. N. Damrell, Corps of Engineers, until August 30, 1884; since that date in charge of Capt. R. L. Hoxie, Corps of Engineers.-This casemated work, com

DEFENSES OF PENSACOLA HARBOR AND NAVY-YARD-continued.

menced in 1828, with Fort Barrancas and the proposed new batteries near the site of Fort McRee, constitutes the defenses of the town and harbor of Pensacola and the navy-yard at Warrington. It is situated near the west end of Santa Rosa Island, and is at present the only work of defense of the entrance and main channel to Pensacola Harbor.

Plans for the modification of this work and the construction of exterior sand batteries for heavy guns were prepared by the Board of Engineers for Fortifications when Bastions C and D were modified, but since 1876 no appropriations have been made for this work, and operations have therefore been confined to the preservation and repair of the buildings and works, and to the care of the public property appertaining to the same. The plans of the work and exterior batteries require revision.

The condition of the fort and buildings remains the same as reported the previous year.

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No appropriation having been made, no work was done at this fortification during the last fiscal year beyond its rotection, preservation, and repair, as far as was possible with the general appropriation made for this purpose, and no other work is contemplated during the current fiscal year for the same reason.

No appropriation asked for next fiscal year.

Fort Barrancas and redoubt, Pensacola Harbor, Florida, in charge of Maj. A. N. Damrell, Corps of Engineers, until August 30, 1884; since that date in charge of Capt. R. L. Hoxie, Corps of Engineers.--These works, commenced in 1839, are situated on the north bank of the entrance to Pensacola Harbor, opposite Fort Pickens, and are intended for defense of this entrance and protection from land attacks.

For many years operations at this work were confined to necessary repairs to masonry, slopes, and wood-work, until 1874, when the construction of four front pintle platforms for mounting new ordnance was commenced; but work was suspended before much progress was made, none of the platforms having been completed. Since that time operations have again been confined to ordinary repairs.

Plans and estimates for the construction of an exterior battery on the bluff west of the fort have been prepared by the Board of Engineers for Fortifications, but so far no appropriations have been made and no work has been done. The plans require revision.

No appropriation having been made, no work was done at this fortification during the last fiscal year beyond its protection, preservation, and repair, as far as was possible with the general appropriation made for this purpose, and no other work is contemplated during the current fiscal year for the same reason.

No appropriation asked for next fiscal year.

Fort McRee, Pensacola Harbor, Florida, in charge of Maj. A. N. Damrell, Corps of Engineers, until August 30, 1884; since that date in charge of Capt. R. L. Hoxie, Corps of Engineers.-This fort, situated on the west side of the main ship-channel to Pensacola Harbor, commenced in 1836, has been a ruin since the late war, and the greater portion has been washed away by the encroachment of the sea upon its site.

Plans for the construction of batteries for the heaviest modern guns and mortars near the site of the old fort, to co-operate with Fort Pickens and the works at Barrancas in the defense of this important harbor, have been prepared by the Board of Engineers for Fortifications, but as

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