Archaeology Magazine - November/December 1985 - 58

In the Field

The

Rumble

P. Delgado
by James
The outbreak of civil war on the eastern
seaboard of the United States in 1861
had immediate repercussions on the
western shore of the continent. The infant state of California, vital to the
interests of the Union because of its
mineral and agricultural wealth, was
thought to be in a perilous situation due
to the war. Isolated from the protection
of Federal might, and governed by proSouthern Democrats, California was
considered vulnerable to a Confederate
onslaught from within or without.
Of particular importance was the port
of San Francisco, principal harbor on
the coast and center of the region's maritime commerce. Fear of Confederate
attack and of a rebellion by disloyal citizens prompted several preventive measures: completion and arming of existing
defenses at Fort Point on the southern
shore of the Golden Gate and on Alcatraz Island; dispatch of an ironclad Monitor, U.S.S. Camanche, to San Francisco
Bay; arrest and imprisonment of outspoken Southern sympathizers; and
erection of temporary seacoast defenses
inside the harbor. These measures were
taken to fight a battle that never oc1curred, an enemy who never came.
Until recently, only the towering walls
of Fort Point, now a National Historic
Site, stood to remind visitors of San
Francisco's Civil War past. Then in 1982
National Park Service archaeologists
discovered the intact walls of one of the
"emergency" fortifications. Sepulchered
beneath tons of sand and rock and the
manicured lawns and curving pathways
of Fort Mason, at the northernmost
58

ARCHAEOLOGY

Distant

Thunder

The view of Black Point Battery (the
Golden Gate in the background) shows
the faces of the ready magazines
between gunpits 9 and 10.
point of San Francisco, lay the rotting
timber gun platforms and battered brick
walls of the small, 12-gun Black Point
Battery.
Now professional archaeologists and
student laborers have exposed nearly
one-half of the structure and recovered
thousands of artifacts offering an archaeological and anthropological assessment of the only known intact temporary
Civil War fortification west of the Rockies. Soon the Black Point Battery will
stand open to the air once again, as a
tangible reminder of a time when an
enemy flying the Stars and Bars could
command the fear and respect of a city
far removed irom the theater of war.
the Golden Gate
Fortifying
When the opening shots of the Civil
War were fired the Golden Gate was
guarded only by two uncompleted fortifications partially covering the entrance
to the important harbor. This lack of
readiness worried both pro-Union citizens and the military, and the presence
of a vocal pro-Confederate faction exacerbated their concern. The existing fortifications were rushed to completion,
arms were massed and stored on impregnable Alcatraz Island, and appeals
were made to Washington for additional
defenses. Military and civil authorities
arrested anyone heard espousing the
Southern cause, and the detainment of
dozens of prisoners in hastily constructed cells on Alcatraz added to the

effectiveness of the "Rock" as a symbol
of Federal power.
But the lurid imaginings of the press
concerning a Confederate invasion
backed by a fifth column continued to
influence public opinion. Both military
and public pressures were exerted for a
congressional appropriation to bolster
the city's defenses. In the expectation
that funds would soon arrive, the Commander of the Department of the Pacific, General George Wright, in 1861
ordered his engineer, Colonel René E.
De Russy, to prepare a plan for "field
works to command the approaches to
the city, should a landing be attempted
by the enemy."
Throughout 1861 and 1862, however,
Wright's appeals for money fell on deaf
ears as the demands of a hard-pressed
army and navy in the East occupied the
attention of Congress and fears of an
attack on the West declined. Then the
highly publicized activities of Confederate raiders against merchant shipping
created new anxieties, and in 1863 an
allocation of $400,000was made available
for fortifications on San Francisco Bay.
On August 18, General-in-Chief Henry
Wager Halleck wired Wright that the
batteries would be built on the northern
shore of the Golden Gate, on Angel
Island, and at Black Point.
Black Point, so called because of its
stands of dark laurel trees, had been
fortified by the Spanish authorities of
Alta California until the 1830s, but by
the time of the American conquest in
1846-47 all traces of their Batería San
José had vanished. In 1850 Point San
José Military Reservàtion was created
by Executive Order. Without funds to
build a post, however,the Army did not
occupy the site. In their stead came a
handful of squatters, prominent citizens
whose substantial residences, with outbuildings and gardens, stood along the
crest of Black Point.

The trigger guard
(above) is from a
Springfield rifle,
Model 1873. The
iron pintle , or
pivot pin, (below)
was used to
attach a cannon
to its platform
and is 18 inches
square with 40inch bolts.
Length of trigger
guard , 17
centimeters.

Archaeology Magazine - November/December 1985

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Archaeology Magazine - November/December 1985