HAMPTON, Va. — I recently visited the Casemate Museum at Fort Monroe and chatted with Denise Dooley. She told me all sorts of interesting stories about Fort Monroe, including the story of Sergeant Patches.
"We have over 400 years of history here, at this spot today, we call it Old Point Comfort," says Dooley.
Built in response to attacks during the War of 1812, Fort Monroe was the gateway to the Chesapeake Bay.
Fast forward to the late 1800s, Fort Monroe gets a major upgrade from iron cannons to steel artillery.
"If you go down to our waterfront, you will see these big concrete bunker things. And those are called Endicott batteries," says Dooley.
Housed inside the bunker was a “disappearing” gun, engineered to lift up over the concrete wall, fire, then return inside the bunker. To fire this new weapon, they enlisted the help of Sergeant Patches.
"They had a little harness and they would put it on Patches, attach him to the harness and onto the lanyard. And then he would pull it and he would fire the 'disappearing' gun," says Dooley.
Did I mention that Sergeant Patches was a dog?
"He was a big dog. He was a Great Dane. So, it was big gun, big dog to do the job," says Dooley.
The Casemate Museum is open to the public Wednesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. It requires a free, timed entry-ticket that must be picked up at the Visitor & Education Center located at 30 Ingalls Road in Fort Monroe.
