大沽炮台位于海河入海口两岸。它是天津人民反侵略斗争的历史见证。大沽口地势险要,历来被看作是 “海防要隘” 。明嘉靖二年(1523),大沽口开始建造炮垒,宿重兵以防沿海倭患。清朝中期以后,随着海上威胁增大,大沽口的战略地位更加重要。清嘉庆二十一年(1816),最早的2座砖木结构的圆形炮台,出现在大沽口南北两岸,炮台高1丈5尺、宽9尺、进深6尺。道光二十年(1840) 十二月十三日,清廷批准讷尔经额奏请,重筑大沽炮台和北塘海口炮台土坝,并建兵房。第一次鸦片战争的翌年,即清道光二十一年(1841),大沽口两岸添建炮台3座,使大沽炮台达到5座,土炮台12座,土垒13座。
        咸丰八年四月(1858年5月),第二次鸦片战争爆发,大沽炮台毁于敌人炮火; 八月,清政府又派钦差大臣僧格林沁重修炮台,共建大炮台6座,高3丈5尺不等。炮台分圆形、方形两种,皆上砖下石垒砌,外包三合土,用糯米汁浇灌,坚实牢固。其中,海口南岸3座,北岸2座,分别以“威、镇、海、门、高”5字命名。另在北岸石头缝处建炮台1座,称为“石头缝炮台” 。在后墙营门建小炮台25座。每座炮台配备大炮3门,驻兵400余人。在新增添的10门大炮中,最大的重达1.2万斤。炮台周围筑有堤墙,沿墙修盖土窨,墙上密布炮门射孔; 又在堤外挖沟,并置有木栅。同治九年(1870),直隶总督李鸿章在重新整修炮台的基础上,又增修1座平炮台。光绪元年(1875),清政府在整修炮台的同时,又新建了一些炮台。并“购买欧洲铁甲快船、碰船、水雷船” 。显然,清政府要把大沽口炮台作为京津的屏障。
        大沽炮台在历次抗击外来侵略的保卫战中,是扼要守险的堡垒。从第一次鸦片战争到八国联军侵华的60年间,大沽炮台曾4次遭受炮火洗礼。
        1901年,依照《辛丑条约》,大沽炮台被拆毁。现今地表显露清晰的是 “威” 字南炮台和“海”字老炮台遗址; 其他炮台地面建筑已经荡然无存。1988年1月13日,大沽炮台被国务院批准为国家重点文物保护单位。近年来,对“威”字炮台遗址进行了整修,并对游人开放。

        

·修筑大沽炮台 (国画 作者: 李永文)

        The Dagu Emplacement islocated at the bank of Haihe River,where it runs into Bohai Sea. The emplacement is the historic witness of the anti-invasionefforts of Tianjin people. The Dagu Emplacement hasalways been regarded as a strategically vital port for seadefense. In 1523,or the second year of Emperor Jiajingin Ming Dynasty,the government started to build cannonramparts at Dagu Emplacement and arranged a largenumber of forces to defend agaist Japanese invaders. Inthe middle of the Qing Dynasty,the strategic positionof the Dagu Emplacement got greatly enhanced becausethe threat from the sea had increased. In the 21 st year ofEmperor Jiaqing (year 1816),there appeared two-storiedsquare cannon ramparts of brick-timber construction inthe north and south coasts of Dagu Emplacement. Asone of its earliest,this type of cannon rampart was 15 chi(one chi is 1/3 meter) high,9 chi wide and 6 chi deep.On December 13,the 20th year of Emperor Daoguang(year 1840),the Qing Government approved the requestof Na`erjing`e to rebuild the Dagu Emplacement and theemplacement in the entrance of Beitang and to rebuildbarracks. In the next year after the First Opium War,thatis,the 21st year of Emperor Daoguang (year 1841),threenew cannon ramparts were built in Dagu Emplacement.Therefore,altogether the emplacement had five cannonramparts,12 earth cannon ramparts and 13 earthramparts.
        In May 1858,the Second Opium War broke out.The Dagu Emplacement was badly destroyed by thegunfire of the enemies. In August,the Qing Governmentsent the imperial envoy Sengge Renchin to rebuild it.Sengge Renchin rebuilt 6 big cannon ramparts withdifferent heights from 3 to 5 chi. All of the six cannonramparts were of round or square shapes and were builtin bricks in the upper part andstones at the bottom. Among thefive ramparts that were named "wei","zhen","hai","men" and "gao",three locatedon the south bank of the seaport,and two on the northbank. One more cannon rampart was built on a stonecrack on the north bank,which was named "the crackcanon rampart". 25 ramparts were built,each of whichwas arranged to 3 cannons and disposed with 400soldiers. Among the newly added cannons,the largestone weighed 12 thousand jin. Walls were built aroundthe ramparts,and cellars were constructed along thewalls. In 1870 (the 9th year of Emperor Tongzhi),LiHongzhang,governer-general of Zhili,constructed onemore flat cannon rampart while he also reconditionedthe original ramparts. In 1875 (the first year ofEmperor Guangxu),the Qing government once againreconditioned the ramparts,built several more rampartsand also "purchased European fast steel ships,torpedoships". Obviously,the Qing government decided to buildDagu emplacement into a shield screen of Beijing andTianjin.
        Dagu emplacement acted as an important fortress ineach and every defending war against foreign invasions.During the 60- year period between the first opiumwar and the invasion of the eight-country ally,Daguemplacement had been attacked four times.
        In 1901,Dagu emplacement was demolishedaccording to Xinchou treaty. Today,only the remains of"wei" rampart and "hai" rampart are still visible abovethe earth surface. The structures of the other rampartscould no longer be seen. On January 13,1988,the DaguEmplacement was listed as one of the national culturalrelics by the State Council. A series of maintenance hasbeen done on the Wei Emplacement since then.