Defense Strategies

Defense Strategies. Point Lookout State Park. , Imagine defending this isolated peninsula during the Civil War. There were threats from within (from thousands of prisoners) and from without (by Confederate soldiers trying to free their comrades or gain territory). What's more, a pro-Southern population surrounded the Point., To meet the challenge, Union strategists devised a complex defense plan. They built three forts, a series of rifle pits, and a gun battery, positioning them to catch enemies in a murderous cross-fire. These defenses, bolstered by navy gunboats offshore, made Point Lookout virtually unassailable with the weapons of the day., Fort #1 (Central Fort) , A four-gun redoubt was constructed in the center of the peninsula to provide a cross-fire with the other two forts and a deterrent from a break-out of prisoners from the prison pen. Fort #1 was manned during the war., Fort #2 (Fort Lincoln) , Located on the Chesapeake Bay side of the Point. Fort Lincoln was a six-gun redoubt. It protected the main approach to Point Lookout from the north. Its location provided a cross-fire with Fort #1 against outside attack and prisoner breakout. Fort Lincoln defended the eastern shoreline from any waterborne attack. Fort Lincoln was manned during the war., Fort #3 , Fort Lincoln, Fort #3 was designed as a six-gun fort. The construction of Fort #3 began late and was never completed. It was never manned and did not have cannons mounted., The walls of all three forts were approximately 8-feet high and were surrounded by a 15-foot deep by 20-foot wide dry moat. The forts were laid out at a diagonal across ranging from northeast to southwest to afford a defensive cross-fire across Point Lookout.