The federal government acquired land on the southern tip of Gerrish Island in 1873 to construct a battery of cannon to augment the defenses of Portsmouth Harbor that included Forts McClary and Constitution. Battery Berry was a typical 4th System 12 gun battery of earthworks and concrete. Only the parapet, platform and 2 magazines were completed. Work on the site was sporadic over the span of 6 years and the cannon were never installed. Non- completion was likely due to construction coinciding with the depression of 1873 and funding dried up. Consequently, the battery was never completed as planned and languished for 20 years before another round of construction would begin.
The battery was to be commissioned in honor of Hiram G. Berry of Thomaston (now Rockland), Maine. His name was given to a gun battery at Fort McKinley on great Diamond Island in Casco Bay. A carpenter, navigator, legislator and mayor, Hiram became a colonel of the 4th Maine Infantry. Having served with distinction in the battles of Bull Run, Yorktown, Fair Oaks, Seven Days, 2nd Bull Run and Chantilly, Hiram was killed in action leading a bayonet charge at the battle of Chancellorsville. He achieved the ranks of Brigadier General and Major-General.
The battery was to be commissioned in honor of Hiram G. Berry of Thomaston (now Rockland), Maine. His name was given to a gun battery at Fort McKinley on great Diamond Island in Casco Bay. A carpenter, navigator, legislator and mayor, Hiram became a colonel of the 4th Maine Infantry. Having served with distinction in the battles of Bull Run, Yorktown, Fair Oaks, Seven Days, 2nd Bull Run and Chantilly, Hiram was killed in action leading a bayonet charge at the battle of Chancellorsville. He achieved the ranks of Brigadier General and Major-General.