Bermuda’s First Forts
In October 1619, Captain Nathaniel Butler, the third governor of Bermuda, arrived in the ship, Warwick, and reported to the board of the Bermuda Company the following year on the first fortifications of the island, as follows.

“Right Honourable Company, I begin this letter where my last one ended, at the time when the Garland left here; at that time, since I found the most important job was some new works of fortification, and renewal of the old ones, I immediately set to work on that. As a result, in this past year [1620] I have completed the following pieces. First, I have excavated a platform on the rock flanking the King’s Castle. On this I have placed five good cannon, three of which were hoisted out of the wrecked ship Warwick, after a lot of hard labour…In hopes that no one will dare to be critical of it, I have given distinction to the whole structure by naming it Southampton Fort.”

“When this was finished, I began to restore the burnt redoubt in the King’s Castle. Under it I have cut out of the main rock a suitable platform, where I have mounted seven heavy guns on new carriages. I have been bold enough to name this Devonshire’s Redoubt.”

“Between Tucker’s Town and the town of St. George’s there were several works of fortification: first, the King’s Castle, where sixteen cannon were mounted on three platforms. Nearby on a high rock to the south was Charles’ Fort, where there were two cannon, one of which protected the landing-place for the Castle, and the other looked out to sea. Then over against the King’s Castle, and flanking it, was Southampton Fort, where there were five cannon. Between Southampton Fort and the King’s Castle the channel led to the Castle Harbour, which was thus guarded strategically by twenty-three pieces of strong artillery.”

“Turning northeast from this point was Cooper’s Island, the site of Pembroke Fort, on which there were three cannon. Then passing on further to the north was the harbour mouth of St. George’s, which was guarded by Paget’s Fort and Smith’s Fort, lying opposite to one another, with the channel passing in between them; in Smith’s Fort were five cannon, in Paget’s Fort there were six. About a mile and a half further inwards in that harbour was the town of St. George’s; this was protected by Warwick Fort, on which three large cannon were positioned. Lastly, on the north side of St. George’s Island was a small fort named St. Catherine’s, which guarded a sandy bay, which was the bay where the first people that ever landed here first set foot; here there were mounted two cannon, making the total number of major cannon, at the town and on the forts, to be fifty.”

Governor Butler left behind a splendid account of the first decade of the settlement of Bermuda, after the arrival of 50 colonists in July 1612. The King’s Castle, Devonshire Redoubt and Southampton Fort survive almost as built in the period 1612–22 and are part of Bermuda’s “World Heritage Site”.