United States Army Hospital meteorological diary (RLC.Ms.592)

Historical note

In 1798, President John Adams signed into law the Act for the Relief of Sick and Disabled Seamen, which helped fund medical care and build additional hospitals for seamen. A year later, Congress extended the Act to cover every officer and sailor in the U.S. Navy. The Act led to the gradual creation of a loose network of locally controlled marine hospitals along coastal and inland waterways. Fort Wolcott was the primary fort protecting Newport, Rhode Island from 1703 until 1836. At various times it served the Rhode Island colonial militia, the British Army, the French Army, and the United States Army. Fort Wolcott was Newport's primary means of defense against sea attack until the new Fort Adams was garrisoned in 1841.