Escape! - Fort Warren - Georges Island - Boston, MA
Posted by: 
NorStar
N 42° 19.282 W 070° 55.737
19T E 341052 N 4687260
Ft. Warren, used during the Civil War as a prison for Confederate soldiers, politicians and Union deserters, was a secure facility with changeable currents in the channels and often stormy weather.
Waymark Code: WMPM8B
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 09/18/2015
Views: 4
In Boston's harbor, on Georges Island, is this historical sign at at a location where a prisoner tried to escape from Fort Warren during the U.S. Civil War. It is located and maintained within the Boston Harbor Islands Recreation Area, which is jointly maintained primarily by the National Park Service and Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation.
The fort was built in the mid 1800s and was used as a prison camp for Confederate soldiers, politicians, and Union deserters. This sign, placed in a relatively out of the way part of the lower defense for the fort, is where a prisoner attempted to escape the fort. The sign has the following text:
"[Picture of channel and nearby Lovell's Island]
Lovells Island (background) loomed temptingly close for Civil War prisoners on Georges Island, but the fast currents, cold water and unpredictable weather of Boston Harbor made escape perilous.
Escape!
Despite the prison's island location, a few Civil War prisoners tried to escape - in the end, always unsuccessfully. Among them was Pvt. Charles Sawyer, a Union deserter who widened this narrow musketry 'loophole' (opening to right), supposedly py piling hot coals on the granite edges until they cracked. Sawyer managed to squeeze himself out through the opening on October 1863. Avoiding sentries, he swam into the channel, where he was caught when a passing schooner picked him up. Afterwards, the opening was blocked with cement and an iron bar, both visible today."
Agency Responsible for Placement: Other (Place below)
Agency Responsible for Placement (if not in list above): National Park Service/Mass. Department of Conservation and Recreation
County: Suffolk
City/Town Name: Boston
Relevant Web Site: [Web Link]
Year Placed: Not listed
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