Anette Wade

ENG 241

Historical Site Visit Report

Dr. Thomas L. Long

The Casemate Museum

When I was asked to write a historical site visit report, I could only think of one very unusual yet very historic place: Fort Monroe, formerly known as Fortress Monroe. This preference, no doubt, derived from people's recollection of figures of speech in the bible and in literature: "The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer" (2 Sam. 22) or "This fortress built by Nature for herself" (Shakespeare, King Richard II). My particular attention, however, was focused on the Casemate Museum, where I visited on June 2 in order to collect relevant information for students of American literature and culture.

First, I will explain the original meaning of the casemate, which is a room or chamber inside the walls of a fort, in this case designed to house 32-pounder cannons that protected the entrance to Hampton Roads. Brigadier General Simon Bernard designed Fort Monroe and construction was begun in 1819, completed in 1834. However, over the years, these casemates at Fort Monroe served a number of purposes. They were used as warehouses, storage facilities, offices, meeting rooms, living quarters, classrooms, and officers' clubs. Today many of these casemates serve as the Army's Coast Artillery Museum--the Casemate Museum. It houses an ever-growing institution that portrays the history of Fr. Monroe, Old Point Comfort, and the Coast Artillery Corps.

The museum was opened in June 1951 to allow the public to see the cell in which Jefferson Davis (former president of the Confederate States of America) was imprisoned following the Civil War. Since its existence, the museum was expanded four times to house all kinds of historic artifacts. In the museum itself are quite a few items to be seen; however, none of these items is as interesting as the history of the prisoner, Jefferson Davis.

Much literature produced at that time and in the surrounding towns revolved around Jefferson Davis, falsely accused of plotting the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Davis was imprisoned at Fort Monroe on May 22, 1865. He was unwillingly shackled into a cell in Casemate No. 2, overlooking a moat over 100 feet wide and eight feet deep. Lieutenant Colonel John J. Craven, Chief Medial Officer of Fort Monroe, was assigned doctor to Davis. On May 24, Craven recommended that the ankle irons be removed fromm Davis, but no action was taken on Dr. Craven's recommendation. However, by the power of the newspapers, the shackling story leaked out to the newspaper correspondents and was published in two Philadelphia papers, where it aroused such disapproval among prominent Northerners of unquestioned loyalty that the War Department hastily ordered to remove the shackles. These correspondents played an important influence on the well being of Davis. Through their eagerness to report and through the care of Dr. Craven, after four and a half months Jefferson Davis was moved to Carroll Hall, a brick building.

For a detailed account of the early months of Jefferson Davis's imprisonment, interested students can read the article by Chester D. Bradley, "Dr. Craven and the Prison Life of Jefferson Davis" in the Virginia Magazine of History and Biography (Jan. 1954): 50-94. The doctor kept a diary, making daily notations of the health of and treatment to the prisoner, and after his retirement published a sympathetic book, Prison Life of Jefferson Davis (1866). This book, which had a wide sale, helped to prepare public opinion in the North for the ultimate release of Jefferson Davis. On May 13, 1867, Davis was released at Richmond Courthouse on a bail bond for $100,000 signed by Horace Greeley, Commodore Vanderbilt, and others, including some distinguished citizens of Richmond. In 1869 all charges against him were dropped.

All of this information can be readily obtained at the Casemate Museum, which is open to the public daily, admission free. My visit to this historic site was very interesting and I hope to have inspired others to see it.