Fort Hampton (1)

 (1808-1819) - A U.S. Army Second System coastal fort established in 1808 by Captain Charles C. Gratiot, U.S. Corps of Engineers, on the eastern end of Bogue Banks in Carteret County, North Carolina. Named for Colonel Andrew Hampton, who fought in the battle of Kings Mountain in 1780 during the Revolutionary War. The fort was abandoned in 1819 and destroyed in 1825.

Second System (1808-1816)
Fort Hampton was a small Second System coastal fort designed to protect the Beaufort Inlet on the central North Carolina coast. Construction on the fort was begun in the summer of 1808 under the supervision of Captain Charles C. Gratiot, U.S. Corps of Engineers and was probably completed in the second half of 1809. The fort was a small horseshoe shaped structure with a two story brick barracks and a brick magazine along the back. The structure was 122 feet wide and 93 feet deep. The rounded parapet was a concrete like material made with sea shells, sand and water called tabby.

War of 1812 (1812-1814)
At the beginning of the War of 1812 there was concern that the British might attempt an attack through the Beaufort Inlet and the garrison at Fort Hampton was strengthened by North Carolina Militia pending the arrival of regular troops. The attack did not come and Beaufort thrived as an alternate port to the blockaded Charleston and Chesapeake Bay. There was a British landing further north at Ocracoke in July 1813 which again caused concern but the British did not did not attack Beaufort or Fort Hampton. The garrison was strengthened with about 140 regular troops under Lieutenant John S. Smallwood, 43rd U.S. Infantry, in April 1814. No attack came and the war ended in December 1814.

The fort had deteriorated during the war and was seriously threatened by beach erosion. Reductions in the Army after the war reduced the garrison to a small detachment and by the end of 1819 it was completely abandoned. In 1825 a storm washed what remained of the fort into the sea.

Current Status
Site destroyed on Fort Macon State Park, Carteret County, North Carolina

Sources:
 * , page 616, 619
 * , page 21-33

Links:
 * North American Forts - Fort Macon
 * Fort Hampton History