True Story about Poe

So, I did a little research into what incident occurred in 1817 that influenced Edgar Allen Poe to write "The Cask of Amontillado".

(See Post Above)

In 1827, Poe, that brooding genius of the macabre tale, spent five months as a soldier at Ft. Independence on Castle Island, off the coast of Boston. Down on his luck, the author had enlisted in the Army for "three squares and a flop".

While there, the great writer came across the episode that inspired him, in 1837, to pen "The Cask of Amontillado".

In 1817, Poe, who was a Boston native, was assigned to Fort Independence. There had been a captain at the fort named John Forster, or Foster, who had earned an unpleasant reputation as "a bully". He was cruel to his men, and to officers beneath his rank. In general, he was detested by one and all at the military post. There was an incident involving "poor young Massie", a new lieutenant at the fort. The captain accused Robert Massie, a fellow officer, of cheating during a game of cards. Words were exchanged, tempers flared, and the men came to blows. Both men felt their honor was at stake. A duel was arranged for Christmas morning, 1817. It was young Massie who had issued the formal challenge, and protocol governing such matters allowed the captain the choice of weapons. The captain, a master swordsman, chose the blade. When fellow officers heard of this, they protested. They demanded pistols be used by both men. The captain stuck to the sword. He had that right. Massie, no match of the older, experienced swordsman, was killed. On the surface, at least as far as the captain was concerned, it was a right and proper duel. As far as his fellow officers at Fort Independence were concerned, it was an act of murder. And they plotted a fiendish punishment for the killer. The captain loved wine. That was a well known fact. It was whispered in his ear that certain officers had stored some "fine French wine" in a dungeon beneath the island fort. As expected, the bully pulled his rank. He summoned the officers to his quarters and hinted it might be a good idea if they shared the wine with him. He indicated the wine was illegally stored at the fort, and that he was in a position to bring charges against them. In short order, the captain had more than his share of the "fine French wine". Feigning friendship, the officers brought three jugs of wine to the captain's quarters and let him drink most of the stuff. Next, they offered the captain his own jug of the wine. It was suggested he could come with them down under the fort, so he could learn where the wine was stored, and be able to find his own private bottle when he desired it. Needless to say, the captain could not resist the invitation. He was led to the lowest dungeon of the fort, struck on the head, and shoved into a tiny room, where he was shackled to the floor. Then, the area was walled off, and the "bully" was left to meet his Maker.

Poe heard the story a decade later, and used it as a basis for "The Cask of Amontillado".

At the time, it was only a rumor - a whispered tale that could not be verified. Had it been verified, the officers involved most certainly would have been charged with murder. All that was known back then was that the captain had disappeared in 1817, and no trace of him had ever been found. Let us now move ahead to the Twentieth Century. The City of Boston took possession of Castle Island, and decided to renovate the fort, so that the entire area could be used as a picnic grounds by the people of the city. Thus it was, in 1905, a group of workmen, while restoring the fort, came across what newspapers, at the time, called "a walled room". It was decided to see what was on the other side of the wall. A hole was made, and a laborer, carrying a lantern, crawled inside. By the light of his lantern, he spotted the twisted skeleton of a rather large man dressed in the rotting remains of an old Army uniform.

Edgar Allen Poe wrote: "I hastened to make an end to my labor. I forced the last stone into its position; I plastered it up. Against the new masonry, re-erected the old rampart of bones. For a half of a century no mortal has disturbed them. In pace requiescat!"