Fort Hamilton Historic Fort Hamilton is located in the southwestern corner of the New York City borough of Brooklyn surrounded by the communities of Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights , and is one of several posts that are part of the region which is headquartered by the Military District of Washington . Its mission is to provide the New York metropolitan area with military installation support for the Army National Guard and the United States Army Reserve . History . On July 4 , 1776 , a small American battery on the site of today ' s Fort Hamilton ( the east side of the Narrows ) fired into one of the British men - of - war convoying troops to suppress the American Revolution . HMS " Asia " suffered damage and casualties , but opposition to the immense fleet could be little more than symbolic . The very significant event however marked one of the earliest uses of the site for military purposes . The War of 1812 underscored the importance of coastal defense and helped to promote a new round of fort building . The cornerstone for Fort Hamilton was set in place on June 11 , 1825 . Six years and a half million dollars later , the fort was ready to receive its garrison . Though references to the structure as Fort Hamilton occur as early as 1826 , it was not officially named for the former Senior Officer of the United States Army and first Secretary of the Treasury , Alexander Hamilton , until the twentieth century . In 1839 the Federal government gave permission to New York State ' s 27th Regiment to drill at the fort , thus qualifying it as the nation ' s first National Guard training camp . The following year , it allocated $ 20 , 000 to improve the fort ' s armaments , and Captain Robert E . Lee was assigned the task of improving the defenses of the fort as well as those of other military installations in the area . Lee served as Fort Hamilton ' s post engineer from 1841 to 1846 . Lieutenant Thomas " Stonewall " Jackson also served at Fort Hamilton and Captain Abner Doubleday served as the post commander in 1861 . During the Civil War , Fort Hamilton ' s garrison expanded . A ship barrier across the Narrows assisted Fort Hamilton and its sister forts on Staten Island , now called Fort Wadsworth , in protecting the harbor against the possibility of Confederate raiders . The forts also provided troops to help put down the New York Draft Riots of 1863 . Rifled cannon made vertical - walled masonry fortifications obsolete during the Civil War , and in the last decades of the nineteenth century great advances in military technology brought a whole new generation of long - range guns mounted in inconspicuous emplacements . In the two World Wars , Fort Hamilton served as a major embarkation and separation center . In 1948 , the last coast defense gun was removed from Fort Hamilton . Units . The following units were established at Fort Hamilton : In the 1970s , Fort Hamilton also served as the home for the United States Army Chaplain and Chaplain Assistant School as it moved from the recently closed Fort Slocum . Hundreds of army and National Guard Chaplains and their assistants were trained here for active duty and reserve ministries to soldiers and their dependents . The school was later moved to Fort Jackson , South Carolina where it now resides . Today . Fort Hamilton is the last active military post in New York City . At present , U . S . Army Fort Hamilton Garrison is the home of the New York City Recruiting Battalion , the Military Entrance Processing Station , the North Atlantic Division Headquarters of the United States Army Corps of Engineers , the 1179th Transportation Brigade and the 722nd Aeromedical Staging Squadron . Fort Hamilton also supports many reserve and National Guard units . In October 1997 , Fort Hamilton came under the command of the Military District of Washington and in October 2002 , under Army Transformation , Fort Hamilton became part of the Installation Management Agency - Northeast Region . Construction of the Verrazano - Narrows Bridge in the early 1960s did away with several historic structures , including Fort Lafayette , which was located near the Brooklyn shore where the bridge tower now rises from the water . During the same period , efforts toward saving the historical heritage of the Narrows increased . Part of the army ' s contribution to preserving this heritage is in the Harbor Defense Museum at Fort Hamilton . The original fort later became the Officers ' Club and now houses the Community Club . The caponier , a miniature fort guarding the main fort ' s gate , now houses the Harbor Defense Museum . Other notable landmarks include the Robert E . Lee House , where Lee , then a captain , resided while commander of the garrison , and Colonels ' Row , six historic townhouses that used to house senior officers . All of these structures are listed on the National Register of Historic Places . In the 2000s , the historic parade field that once lay behind the old New York Area Command ( NYAC ) Headquarters Building and the Military Personnel Office , former site of numerous ceremonies and festivities , was developed into swiftly built privatized housing . The historic flag pole and cannon are still present at the site , near the old headquarters building and across from the Post Exchange barber shop . In 2007 , the historic , brick barracks , located on the plot of land within Pershing Loop on the eastern portion of the base , which formerly housed the New York Area Command ' s Ceremonial Platoon and Military Police Company , was demolished . The ceremonial platoon , consisting of only infantrymen , once performed funeral honors and ceremonial functions ( such as deployment as color guards in New York City parades , or firing cannons to start the New York City Marathon ) , in the greater N . Y . area , including Long Island , New York City , as well as parts of New Jersey , along with the 26th Army Band unit that was similar to the Old Guard in Washington , D . C . The last of the NYAC Ceremonial Platoon left in 1995 - 1996 . In popular culture . Fort Hamilton is the setting for nearly all of Nelson DeMille ' s novel , " Word of Honor " .