Fort Severn (Annapolis, Maryland)

Annapolis · Maryland · War of 1812

Quick BriefFort Severn was built in 1808 on the same site as an earlier American Revolutionary War fort of 1776, positioned at Windmill Point in Annapolis. Although intended to guard Annapolis harbor from British attack during the War of 1812, it never saw action. The Navy acquired the fort in October 1845 for the new onshore United States Naval Academy, which used the structure for classrooms until its demolition in 1909.

Coastal defense

History & Significance

Following President Thomas Jefferson's call for seacoast defense, known as the "Second System," Annapolis saw the construction of two forts during the period of 1808 to 1810. Fort Severn was built on a ten-acre site at Windmill Point, replacing a patriot fort constructed at the same location in 1776, and was much more substantial than the earlier fort, sporting a 10 or 11-gun circular masonry rampart.

Built at a time of worsening tensions between the United States and Great Britain, the War Department constructed Fort Severn as a defense for Annapolis, offering protection to the harbor from Windmill Point. In spring 1813, with the arrival of British naval forces in the Chesapeake, Maryland Governor Winder ordered a detachment of 1500 militia to Annapolis to supplement small detachments of troops at the forts.

The fort was never attacked and saw no military action during the War of 1812. In October 1845, Secretary of the Navy George Bancroft acquired Fort Severn from the War Department to establish the Naval School.

The Navy converted the fort into a classroom building for the new onshore United States Naval Academy, which began in October 1845 with 56 midshipmen and seven professors. The Naval Academy demolished the old Fort Severn structures in 1909 due to deterioration, replacing them with granite buildings.