Description: Fort Hamilton was established in 1825 in Kings County, Brooklyn. It is one of the three oldest Army posts in the country. Initially, the site was used as a battery, and was known as “Narrows Fort”. On July 4, 1776, the fort was used by the armies of American General Henry Knox to shell the British ship H.M.S. Asia as it approached the harbor. The Americans withdrew upon the British landings of August 1776 and the site was used by the British until 1782. A blockhouse and 30-gun earthworks were constructed in 1812 on Denyse Heights near the site and were collectively known as Fort Lewis. A permanent granite fort, named for the first Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, began construction in 1825 and was completed by 1831 to protect the Narrows. Between 1841 and 1842, new gun emplacements were built under the supervision of Captain R.E. Lee. By the dawn of the twentieth century, new "disappearing" carriages and breach loading 12-inch guns were installed, along with massive concrete walls. By 1924, coastal defense had moved to Fort Tilden and Fort Hamilton became an infantry post. Most of the coastal guns were removed by 1941. The current Fort Hamilton, located at the base of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge in Brooklyn, New York, is the only active-duty military installation in the New York City metropolitan area. Its purpose is to provide premium base operations and area support for the Northeast region, as well as community housing, and protocol/foreign liaison support for the Army, the Department of Defense, and the United Nations. The fort covers an area of 177 acres. Notes: - In 1921, the status of the batteries at the fort was as follows: Battery Piper had 4 12" mortars (originally an 8 gun battery, 4 moved to Tilden), Battery Doubleday had 2 12" disappearing guns, Battery Brown had 2 12" disappearing guns, Battery Neary had 2 12" non-disappearing guns, Battery Gillmore had 2 10" disappearing guns, Battery Spear had 3 unknown guns, Battery Burke had 2 unknown guns, Battery Livingston had 2 6" pedestal guns (2 vacant), Battery Mendenhall had 4 demonstration guns, Battery Johnston had 2 6" pedestal guns, Battery Griffin had 2 3" pedestal guns and 2 demonstration guns, and there were 2 3" anti-aircraft guns that were being dismounted in 1935.