Fort Independence
Granite harbor fort where a dueling legend of wine, drink, and a bricked-up soldier inspired a famous horror tale.
Location
About this audio guide
Fort Independence in Boston carries a duel from Christmas Day 1817, when Lieutenant Gustavus Drane killed a fellow officer over accusations of cheating at cards and walked free from a court martial. The guide follows the legend soldiers told afterward, of a drunken revenge exacted in the fort's casemates, and traces it forward to a young army private stationed here two decades later under a false name, Edgar Allan Poe. That soldier, hiding from gambling debts, spent five months on guard duty right where you are standing.
This audio guide was created using AI.
Similar places
Castle Island
Granite harbor fort built by masons over eighteen years, with a chained skeleton found sealed inside a wall.
Boston Harbor Islands National & State Park
Windswept island park of forts, trails and tidal shoreline reached by seasonal ferry from the city.
Fort Warren
Granite Civil War-era coastal fort guarding a harbor island, armed with massive fifteen-inch smoothbore cannons.
Charlestown Navy Yard
Historic shipyard pier where a Cold War carrier fire once sparked a sabotage scare before dawn revealed a leaking valve.
USS Constitution Museum
Museum of ship's timbers, sailors' letters and a dented hull fragment from the War of eighteen twelve.
USS Constitution
Wooden War of 1812 frigate whose thick oak hull turned cannonballs to scrap, earning her the name Old Ironsides.