Fort Mansfield was a coastal artillery installation located on Napatree Point, a long barrier beach in the village of Watch Hill in Westerly, Rhode Island, United States. Fort Mansfield and similar forts stretching from Galveston, Texas to Maine can be traced back to a joint Army-Navy Board created in 1883 known as the Gun Foundry Board. Its 1884 report wa…Fort Mansfield was a coastal artillery installation located on Napatree Point, a long barrier beach in the village of Watch Hill in Westerly, Rhode Island, United States. Fort Mansfield and similar forts stretching from Galveston, Texas to Maine can be traced back to a joint Army-Navy Board created in 1883 known as the Gun Foundry Board. Its 1884 report warned of the defenseless condition of the USA's coasts and recommended a system of fortifications to protect harbors and coastal cities from invasion. In 1885, this Board was replaced by what has become known as the Endicott Board which issued formal recommendations for a major coastal defense network in 1886. Fort Mansfield was one of numerous coastal artillery installations constructed in the Harbor Defenses of Long Island Sound as part of the coastal defense network for New York City. It was named in honor of Joseph K. Mansfield, who served as an engineer officer during the Mexican–American War and was eventually promoted to Inspector General of the Army; he was killed at the Battle of Antietam in the Civil War.
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