Fort Sewall, an earthwork fortification at Gale's Head in Marblehead, was established in 1644 after the provincial government authorized its construction and supplied two guns, and it was repeatedly modified over more than three centuries to defend the narrow entrance to Marblehead Harbor and protect the town's valuable fishing fleet from pirates and from French or Dutch attack. By 1660 Marblehead had become a major fishing center in New England, and the town often devoted as much as half its budget to maintaining the fort, while the provincial government added guns and tax abatements for fishermen and traders. During the Revolutionary War, as English forces threatened rebellious patriots, women and elderly men manned the fort while the militia joined Colonel John Glover's Marine Regiment and sailors served in Marblehead's newly christened ships of "ye navy." In 1776 a British vessel intending to burn New England seaports approached Marblehead, but withdrew after seeing apparent activity around the fort's cannon, unaware there was no powder to fire them. After the Revolution, Marblehead ceded the fort in 1794 to the United States Government, which enlarged and improved it to its peak condition; federal officials, including President James Madison, recognized its importance, and Vice President Elbridge Gerry, a Marblehead patriot, had earlier loaned money to help the town maintain it during the American Revolution. During the War of 1812, a Marblehead pilot guided the U.S.S. Constitution through a rocky channel to safety under Fort Sewall's guns when three British frigates threatened the ship. Named for Marblehead native Samuel Sewall, Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Court, the fort later declined after postwar reductions in its garrison, was restored to fighting condition by 1863 during the Civil War because of fears of attack by European sympathizers of the Confederacy, passed to Marblehead's custody in 1890, saw brief renovation plans during the Spanish American War in 1898, and was ceded back to Marblehead in 1922 for public use forever.