Image: Cushing-A-Firing

Description: This photo, likely dating to the early 1940s, shows Pit A of Battery Cushing at Ft. Andrews firing one of its M1890 mortars. The photo shows 12 loaded shell carts arrayed across the back of the mortar pit, where the crews have apparently been order to "Take Cover" during the firing. The pit is clearly marked as Pit "A", and since Pit A of Btty Whitman at Fort Andrews contained only M1908 mortars, this image must show Pit A of Btty Cushing, located east of Btty Whitman. Note the heavy earthen cover atop the rear wall of the pit. This is in fact part of a steep bank that rises 20 or 30 feet above the pit. Early observers of mortar practice at Ft. Andrews commented that such firings would often set fire to the grass and brush atop the pits.
Title: Cushing-A-Firing
Credit: The photo, likely taken originally by the U.S. Coast Artillery, was reprinted from "The Military History of Boston's Harbor Islands," Gerald Butler, Arcadia Publishing, Charleston, SC, 2000, with permission of the author.
Usage Terms: Public domain
License: PD
Attribution Required?: No