Fort Standish (Plymouth, Massachusetts)

{{short description|Fort in Massachusetts}}

{{About|the fort in Plymouth, Massachusetts|other locations|Fort Standish (disambiguation){{!}}Fort Standish}}

{{Infobox military installation

| name = Fort Standish

| partof =

| location = Saquish Head, Plymouth, Massachusetts

| image =

| caption =

| pushpin_map = Massachusetts#USA

| pushpin_label_position = bottom

| pushpin_mapsize =

| pushpin_map_caption = Location in Massachusetts

| coordinates = {{coord|41|59|43.13|N|70|37|53.85|W|display=inline,title}}

| type = Coastal defense

| ownership = private

| controlledby =

| open_to_public = no

| condition = earthworks remain

| built = 1863

| builder =

| used = 1863–1870

| materials = earthworks

| demolished =

| battles = American Civil War

| events =

| current_commander =

| past_commanders =

| garrison =

| occupants =

}}

Fort Standish was a fort built in 1863 for the American Civil War on Saquish Head in Plymouth, Massachusetts.{{cite book|last=Heitman|first=Francis B.|title=Historical Register And Dictionary Of The United States Army: 1789-1903, vol. 2|year=1994| orig-year=1903| page=547| publisher=Genealogical Pub. Co.| location=Baltimore, MD| isbn=080631401X| edition=Reprint.}} It was named for Myles Standish, military leader of the Plymouth Colony in the 1620s, and augmented the nearby Fort Andrew on Gurnet Point. It was designed and constructed under the supervision of Major Charles E. Blunt of the United States Army Corps of Engineers. The fort had five gun emplacements with five 8-inch smoothbore guns, along with a bombproof shelter, two magazines, and a well. Outside the fort were a barracks, officers' quarters, and a mess hall.Manuel, p. 51{{cite web|url=http://pirs.mvr.usace.army.mil/fuds/e-h/ftstand/oe/asr/projfact/fact.htm |title=Project Fact Sheet, Formerly Used Defense Sites, for the former Fort Standish Military Reservation, Plymouth, MA; Project Number D01MA051901 |publisher=US Army Corps of Engineers |work=Defense Environmental Restoration Program for Formerly Used Defense Sites Ordnance and Explosive Waste |access-date=18 June 2020 |date=13 November 1995 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020503174253/http://pirs.mvr.usace.army.mil/fuds/e-h/ftstand/oe/asr/projfact/fact.htm |archive-date=3 May 2002 }} From January to June 1865 the fort was garrisoned by the 27th Unattached Company of Massachusetts militia.[http://www.civilwararchive.com/Unreghst/unmainf5.htm#1 Unattached Companies Massachusetts Vol Militia at CivilWarArchive.com, from Dyer's Compendium]

The fort was placed in caretaker status following the Civil War, remaining so at least through World War I. The military reservation was purchased by the federal government and declared inactive in 1870. Reportedly, the fort and/or the reservation were used in the Spanish–American War and World War I.Roberts, p. 411 The land was sold in 1925 to a private buyer.{{cite web|title=Massachusetts - Fort Standish (1)|url=https://www.northamericanforts.com/East/masouth.html#standish|publisher=American Forts Network|access-date=25 August 2013}}