Book Review

Fort Montgomery: Through the Years...
By James P. Millard

Fort Montgomery at Rouses Point New York was sacrificed to provide stone for a bridge across Lake Champlain in the 1930s, leaving only a portion of this magnificent fort still standing.  That portion has been neglected over the years, and is now for sale on e-bay.  The fort was built as a defense of the Northern Frontier with Canada during the Third System, and carries with it all the attributes of a Third System coastal fort.  While the majority of the fort was destroyed, there is enough left to interpret the structure and to provide an understanding of the design and construction of this impressive fort.

Although not originally a fortifications enthusiast, Jim Millard became the champion of Fort Montgomery and through extensive study and research became the expert on the history of the fort as well.  During his research of all the fortifications at Rouses Point, he amassed an extensive collection of historical photographs of Fort Montgomery.  Those serve as the cornerstone of this highly enjoyable book.

Fort Montgomery Through the Years is a picture book with a capsule history of Fort Montgomery orienting the reader and providing valuable technical details about the fort.  The pictures are the true strength of the book.  The author has done a wonderful job of blending current photographs of the remains of the fort with older photographs of the fort in its full glory.  By taking current photos from the same vantage point of his historic photos and printing them side-by-side, he effectively orients the reader to what is left of the fort while showing its magnificence before it was emaciated and abandoned.

While this book is a prelude to the full history of the fortifications of Rouses Point that the author is currently preparing, it is a wonderful work in its own right.  The technical details of the fort are sound and reflect the extensive research done by the author, as well as the level of detail involved in his repetitive explorations of the site.  I consider it a “must buy” for anyone interested in this period of fortifications, or in the history of the northern frontier of the United States.

 John Weaver

Publishers Note: John Weaver is a leading authority on American fortifications of the Third (or Permanent) System. To learn more about John and his book A Legacy In Brick and Stone- American Coastal Defense Forts of the Third System, 1816-1867  click here to visit our Acknowledgements page.

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