These files are made available through the kind cooperation of Bolling Smith of the Coast Defense Study Group.
Our ‘Defenceless’ Coasts was first published in Scribner’s Magazine in January 1887. Written by F.V. Greene, Captain, U.S. Engineers, it begins:
“The question is not a new one. It was vigorously debated after the War of 1812; and in 1816 a competent board of engineers was appointed, who laid down the fundamental principles on which a system of coast ‘defences’ suited to our needs should be constructed…”
Written in 1886 by 1st Lieutenant Solon F. Massey, the companion Massey Policy Essays begin:
“Assuming the present ‘defenceless’ condition of the sea-board of the United States, what military policy and action should obtain in the event of a sudden declaration of war by a foreign power…”
Use the buttons at bottom-right to switch between the two documents.