Battery Russell - Hammond, OR - People-Named Places on Waymarking.com

Battery Russell

Battery Russell was built at Fort Stevens between Mar 1903 and Aug 1904 and was transferred for service 12 Aug 1904 at a cost of $125,000. The Battery was deactivated 29 Dec 1944.

The surrounding fort was an active military reservation from 1863–1947. The fort is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Constructed in 1863-64 during the Civil War as an earthwork battery, located on the south shore of the mouth of the Columbia River. It was originally called Fort at Point Adams. It was later named Fort Stevens in 1865, in honor of the former territorial governor of Washington, Isaac I. Stevens. Fort Stevens was the primary military installation in what became the Three Fort Harbor Defense System at the mouth of the Columbia River. The other two forts in the system were Post at Cape Disappointment, later Fort Cape Disappointment and later Fort Canby built at the same time as Fort Stevens and Fort Columbia (built between 1896 and 1904) both on the Washington side of the river.The fort was built to defend the mouth of the Columbia from potential British attack during ongoing regional tensions related to the Pig War of 1859–70 in the San Juan Islands, and remained relevant during the 1896-1903 Alaska Boundary Dispute when British-American tensions were high and once again on the brink of wa

On the nights of June 21 and 22, 1942, the Japanese submarine I-25 fired 17 shells at Fort Stevens, making it the only military installation in the continental United States to receive hostile fire during World War II (the oil fields in Santa Barbara, California that were also shelled by the Japanese military, was not considered a military installation). The attack caused no damage to the fort itself. Fort Stevens and its gun batteries including Battery Russel protected the river until shortly after World War II.

Battery Russell is preserved within Fort Stevens State Park, part of Lewis and Clark National and State Historical Parks. The 3,700 acres (15 km2) park includes camping, beach access, swimming at Coffenbury Lake, trails, and a military history museum.



Bvt. Major General David A. Russell

Battery Russell was named for Bvt. Major General David A. Russell (December 10, 1820 – September 19, 1864) was a career United States Army officer who served in the Mexican-American War and the American Civil War. He was killed in action as a brigadier general in the Union Army.

Russell was born in Salem, New York, the son of David Abel Russell who was a member of the House of Representatives from 1835 to 1841. The senior Russell secured an appointment to the United States Military Academy for his son during his final year in Congress. The junior Russell graduated near the bottom of his class in 1845. His first assignment was with the U.S. 1st Infantry Regiment.

He transferred to the U.S. 4th Infantry Regiment where he served in Mexico. He was brevetted for gallantry and meritorious service at the Battle of Paso Ovejas and the Battle of Cerro Gordo. He was promoted to first lieutenant in 1848.

After the war, the 4th Infantry was sent to the Pacific Northwest. Russell fought in the Rogue River War and the Yakima War. He was promoted to captain in 1854.

In 1861, the 4th Infantry was recalled to the East and placed in the defenses around Washington, D.C. Russell joined the volunteer army and accepted a commission as colonel of the 7th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. Russell then served in the Peninsula Campaign and the Seven Days Battles. He was brevetted lieutenant colonel in the regular army for gallant and meritorious service.

In 1862, Russell was promoted to major in the regular army and assigned to the U.S. 8th Infantry Regiment. Still in command of the 7th Massachusetts, he fought in the Battle of Antietam. Later in 1862, Russell was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers and commanded a brigade during the Rappahannock campaign. He later fought at the Battle of Fredericksburg. Russell was primarily in reserve during the Battle of Gettysburg, but was brevetted colonel in the regular army shortly afterward.

In 1864, Russell fought in the Overland Campaign. He was mortally wounded later that year in the Shenandoah Valley during the Battle of Opequon, otherwise known as the Third Battle of Winchester, when he was struck by a shell fragment. He was brevetted major general in the regular army in the field.

He is buried in Salem, New York, in Evergreen Cemetery.

Year it was dedicated: 1904 Location of Coordinates: Park Headquarters Related Web address (if available): [Web Link] Type of place/structure you are waymarking: Building

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Date Logged Log User Rating   02/05/2014 dkestrel visited it