Fort Hampton (Beaufort, North Carolina)

Beaufort · North Carolina · War of 1812

Quick BriefFort Hampton was a small masonry fort with a horseshoe-shaped parapet facing the channel, its seven-foot-high parapet made using oyster shell cement called tabby. Built to guard Beaufort Inlet during the War of 1812, the fort was garrisoned by local militia after the United States Army withdrew its regular troops in July 1812. The fort was lost to shore erosion and a hurricane in 1825.

Coastal defense

History & Significance

When tensions with Great Britain escalated in 1807, military officials began plans for a chain of coastal forts known as the Second System, and in November 1807 the North Carolina Assembly encouraged federal construction at Beaufort. In early 1808 the Army Engineer Department was authorized to build a small fort on the Bogue Point tract.

The parapet wall was fourteen feet thick at its base, tapering to eight feet, with a gun platform behind it designed to mount five 18-pounder cannons. When the United States entered the War of 1812 in July, the Army withdrew the garrison; Governor William Hawkins ordered four militia companies to occupy the fort, then the 10th U.S. Infantry garrisoned it from November 1812 to June 1813.

Following a British raid on Ocracoke Inlet in July 1813, North Carolina militia was reinstated, and the fort's armament was increased with two 6-pounder and one 4-pounder cannon to supplement the main battery. The fort was abandoned after the war and destroyed by shore erosion combined with a hurricane in 1825.