A view of the interior of Fort Gaines. The brick buildings are part of the original post, serving as barracks, kitchen facilities, and the other needs of the post.
Unlike many of the Third System forts, Fort Gaines has few casemates. Those present served as bombproof protection, instead of serving as gun emplacements, as found at Fort Pickens. The structure in the foreground is a cistern, which stored rainwater from the gutters of various structures for drinking water.
The ramp in the center provides access to the barbette level of the fort. The tunnel under the ramp gives access through the rampart to the bastion.
The view from a bastion shows one of the other bastions, and the rifle embrasures in the upper part of the wall. These would combine to sweep the area along this face with fire in the event of an infantry attack. You can also see the remains of the glacis, an earthern slope which protected the brick walls of the fort from direct cannon fire on the land sides of the fort.Continue
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