NORTHEAST THEATER CONTINUED

USS Constitution

During the War of 1812, the Constitution captured or burned many British merchant ships and defeated five Royal Navy warships, including the Guerrière, Java, Levant, Pictou, and Cyane. Shipbuilders gave the Constitution thick planking made of a dense coastal oak. As a result, cannonballs often bounced harmlessly off the sides of the tough frigate. While demolishing the Guerrière during the fall of 1812 she earned her much beloved nickname “Old Ironsides” when astonished British gunners cried out in frustration that “she has sides of iron.”

Today, the Constitution remains afloat and is still part of the U.S. Navy. This makes her the oldest commissioned warship afloat in the entire world. It has been two centuries since the Constitution fired a shot in war, but she still has a job to do and does it very well. Her full-time assignment is as a museum ship in Boston Harbor.

http://www.nps.gov/bost/index.htm

http://www.history.navy.mil/ussconstitution/history.html

USS Constitution Museum

For anyone visiting the Boston National Historical Park, Charleston Navy Yard, or Old Ironsides herself, the USS Constitution Museum is a must-see. Operated by a non-profit, non-governmental organization, the museum offers a wealth of historical artifacts and extensive library collections which can help put the old ship in perspective for visitors. The museum is located adjacent the USS Constitution in Building 22 of the Charlestown Naval Yard.

http://www.ussconstitutionmuseum.org/

Castle Clinton

During the early 1800s, New York City was one of the busiest ports in North America, if not the entire world. This made it an obvious target for an attack by Royal Navy ships or an amphibious assault by British troops. To protect the city and its vital harbor, the U.S. government built a series of fortifications on the southern end of Manhattan Island. Among these was a circular sandstone battery that eventually came to be called Castle Clinton in honor of DeWitt Clinton, who was mayor of New York City at the time of the war and later became governor of New York. The battery mounted more than two dozen powerful guns, which served as a considerable deterrent to naval attack by way of the Hudson. Other guns were stationed at Fort Wood which now serves as the base for the Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island.

Castle Clinton is now the visitor center and one of the major attractions of Battery Park at the lower tip of Manhattan Island. It is also the ticket office for visits to Liberty Island and the Statue of Liberty. The N 1 subway train or the M 6 bus will take you there.

http://www.nps.gov/cacl/index.htm

St. Andrews Blockhouse National Historic Site

When war with the United States loomed, the British began to fortify border areas of New Brunswick with heavy timber blockhouses. Protected by walls often several feet thick, the soldiers inside the blockhouses could fire at attacking troops through small gun ports and windows. The blockhouses were vulnerable to heavy artillery but could stand up indefinitely to small field cannon and musket fire. New Brunswick and its blockhouses were never seriously threatened by American attack during the war.

Of the dozen or so blockhouses that helped defend New Brunswick during the War of 1812, only one remains standing. Located on Joe’s Point Road along the waterfront in St. Andrews, it is administered by Parks Canada as the St. Andrews Blockhouse National Historic Site. The blockhouse is open to the public during the summer.

http://www.pc.gc.ca/lhn-nhs/nb/standrews/contact.aspx

Continue