From Lake Ontario there were but two practicable routes over which supplies and furs could be carried, forts garrisoned and supply lines maintained. The French controlled the broad St. Lawrence to the north, with forts at Niagara on the lake and Frontenac, La Presentation, Montreal, and Quebec along the St. Lawrence River. The considerably more difficult route from Oswego to the Mohawk and Hudson was controlled by the British, but their post at Oswego stood far from Schenectady, deep in French traffic, alone and vulnerable. On this route Oneida Carry, located mid-way between Oswego and Schenectady, was the closest base they could hope to establish.
Not until 1755 were the British faced with the real necessity of protecting and storing military supplies on their way to Oswego. Oneida Carry then became a vital link in their system of water transportation and was singled out as being of the greatest consequence to British interests.
The first real attempts to improve the facilities at the Carry were started on May 27th , 1755. Governor Shirley's men started to make a channel up the shallows of the Mohawk to a convenient landing place, to clear Wood Creek of brush and logs, and to make a road across the Carry. William Johnson had been for some time, suggesting a strong fort be built at the Carrying Place. On May 27, the order was given to build two storehouses, one on each end of Carry. These were small storehouses, to be built of strong logs, covered and floored with bark, 35 feet long and 20 feet wide.
Captain Williams completed a fort on the Mohawk side of the Carry, in November of 1755. This, the first military post on the Oneida Carry was named for him. This fort was located on the riverbank a quarter mile downstream from the site where Fort Stanwix was later built.
Fort Williams was a stockade of high, pointed logs in the shape of a pinwheel, or a square with extended corners, enclosing two blockhouses and a storehouse. Though there was no ditch around it, it was flanked and had half-bastions. Four cannon were strategically mounted at the corners to protect the 150 men it could accommodate. On a small island opposite and behind the fort, was open space for the men to camp in tents.
On October 29, 1755, Shirley wrote instructions to Captain Petri to take his men, build a fort on the upper landing of Wood Creek, to be called "Wood Creek Fort". Work started soon after, and by the time the weather stopped construction, a triple stockade of oak timbers in the shape of a star, with four buildings inside had been completed.
Wood Creek Fort now stood on the rise above the swamp along Wood Creek, . It was capable of holding a garrison of 60 to 70 men. The outside line of pickets was from 15 to 18 feet high, with a double row inside as tall as a man. Though the plans called for them, no loopholes, flankers, or bastions of any kind were built. There was no mounted cannon. Though the post was officially named Wood Creek Fort, among the men it was known as Fort Bull, after the name of its commander.
To the casual visitor the small town of Crown Point, New York, may seem to be just another pleasant hamlet. As one passes through this area it is easy to dismiss the signs pointing East toward the lake to the Crown Point State Historic Site. For the peacefulness and quiet beauty of this area belie the fact that at one time Crown Point was one of the most important places in Northern New England.
Literally carved out of the wilderness, Crown Point was a virtual hub of activity. Standing on the lakeshore at a place where the waters of the lake came close together-this place was the center of civilization for the white man in the area. Accessable only by water, the place was fortified first by the French in 1734. This impressive fortress-Fort Ste. Frederic- was by 1742, the strongest work held by the French with the exception of Quebec. Until 1759 Ft. Ste. Frederic was the seat of French power on the lake.
After the French left the Crown Point in that year, destroying their fortifications behind them, the area became the center of English activity on Lake Champlain. General Jeffrey Amherst built the fortress shown on these pages- a very expensive undertaking for the Crown. This impressive bastion- though never completely finished- was to be 3 to 4 times larger than the French fort, and would eventually be the largest British fortress in colonial America. The entire fortification complex, including redoubts, blockhouses and redans, covered over 3.5 square miles. This place- midway between Albany and Montreal, became the center of communication between New York and Canada.
Fort Loudoun was built on the Little Tennessee River in 1756-57 by the colony of South Carolina to protect the southern frontier of the English from the French, who were threatening to occupy the Tennessee Valley. It was located, at the request of the Cherokee Indians, in the heart of the rugged Overhill Cherokee country, more than one hundred miles from the nearest English outpost, Fort Prince George in the South Carolina foothills. For three years Fort Loudoun helped to keep the Cherokees loyal to their English allies, while English soldiers in the north were winning victories that eventually gave England control of eastern North America.
Around this fort and trading center the first English settlement west of the Smoky Mountain range developed as soldiers and traders brought their families there. The Cherokees granted seven hundred acres of land to the English king for the fort site and for the support of the garrison, the first land granted by the Cherokees west of the mountains. Thus, the building of Fort Loudoun prepared the way for colonial expansion across the southern mountains.
The fort was diamond-shaped with a bastion at each corner. Set upon a hill side, it included the southern slope of the ridge, and covered an equal area of the meadow below, an area of about two acres in all. The east and west bastions being the larger, were named bastion King and bastion Queen. The north bastion was named for the Prince of Wales, overlooked the Little Tennessee River. The south bastion was named for the Duke of Cumberland. The bastions were connected by a palisades of sharpened logs, as was customary in frontier forts of the day. Surrounding this was earthworks, and a dry moat. To finish the defenses of Fort Loudoun, twelve cannon were brought in upon horse-back. These were placed three on each of the four bastions in addition to the swivel guns.
As it turned out, the cannon were little used, except to celebrate the King's Birthday, or some victory of the Cherokee. It seems the greatest dangers of fort life at Fort Loudoun were hunger and boredom. The Cherokees, due to the insults delt them by the British, were less friendly every day. French agents were also at work in the Cherokee valley, stirring resentment of the English and the soldiers of Fort Loudoun. Early in 1759, relations between the Cherokees and the English became even more strained. The Indians made several attacks on isolated settlements of Virginia and the Carolinas. In retaliation, Covenor Lyttleton restricted trade with the towns of the attackers, and sent Capt. John Stuart with 70 provincials to reinforce Fort Loudoun. While the Cherokees suggested a mutual forgiveness, Lyttleton refused saying they could return to their towns if they were to escort the army to Fort Loudoun. Lyttleton began to suspect the Cherokees traveling with him of being unfriendly and placed them under guard. Reaching Fort Prince George, Lyttleton was met by Attakullakulla, who had received authority from Old Hop to treat for peace. Lyttleton demanded the twenty-four Cherokee "murderers"( those who had attacked frontier settlements after the last treaty), be surrendered to him. Even after Attakullakulla explained since the attackers were not Overhill Cherokee, he could not comply, Lyttleton held twenty-four of the delegation as "hostages".
A second agreement was that the Cherokee would expel the French agents and French Indians from their nation. In return the English would reopen trade with the Overhill Cherokee. With this he sent supplies to Fort Loudoun and returned to Charleston due to an outbreak of smallpox.
The Cherokee, probably unable to keep their part of the agreement, turned only four or five men over to the English. In January 1760, it was learned that a trader at Hiwassee had been killed, and that warriors from the middle towns were coming to release the hostages. In late January, there were several attacks on the settlements of South Carolina and Georgia, where some fifty whites, including women and children were murdered.
The Siege of Fort Loudoun
The first signs of hostility towards the garrison came late in 1759 when a party of Indians tried to kill or drive away the cattle of the fort. Capt. Demere had received advance warning and had the cattle slaughtered and salted down. Although there were still some chiefs friendly towards the garrison, food supplies were becoming depleted, with little hope of receiving more.
By early spring the siege had intensified. On March 20th the Cherokees began to fire upon the fort, and this kept up for four days. At that time the Indians gave up the attack, probably because they felt the garrison would soon surrender. On June 2nd the Cherokees seemed to abandon the siege. Maurice Anderson, a surgeon, and a soldier slipped out in search of food, but were killed within a few yards of the fort. When fifty soldiers rushed to their rescue,, Indian fire forced them to return to the fort.
Colonel Archibald Montgomery was sent relieve Fort Loudoun, but succeeded only in penetrating the Cherokee lands only so far as the middle towns. After some negotiations with the Cherokee, he burned the middle towns and returned to Charleston.
By July the only meat left was horse and a very little pork. The garrison felt "abandoned and forsaken by God and man”. By this time they had excepted the reports sent in by the Indians that Colonel Montgomery had given up his relief expedition.
The Surrender
By August 5th, several men had deserted, preferring the risk of torture to the slow death of starvation. On August 6th Capt. Demere called a council of his officers and it was decided to ask for terms. The following day Capt. Stuart, a favorite of the Cherokee, and Lt. James Adamson conferred with Oconostota and other chiefs at Chota. The agreement reached included the following five stipulations:
"1st, That the garrison of Fort Loudoun march out with their arms and drums, each soldier having as much powder and ball as their officers shall think necessary for the march and what baggage he may choose to carry.
2nd. That the garrison be permitted to march for Virginia or Fort Prince George, as the commanding officer mat think proper, unmolested, and that a number of Indians be appointed to escort them, and to hunt provisions for the march.
3rd, That such soldiers as are lame, or by sickness disabled from marching, be received into friendly Indian towns and kindly used until they recover and then be returned to Fort Prince George.
4th, That the Indians provide the garrison with as many horses as they can conveniently for the march, agreeing with the soldiers and officers for payment.
5th, That the fort, great guns, powder, balls, and spare arms be received to the Indians without any fraud on the day appointed for the march of the troops."
Massacre
Two days after the agreement was reached, the garrison marched out of the fort and began the trip to Charleston, accompanied by a large party of Indians, including Occonosota, who had become the most influential chief after the death of Old Hop. Although they had had little time to recover from months of near-starvation, the soldiers marched some fifteen miles the first day and made camp near the and made camp near the mouth of Cane Creek on the Tellico River.
During the night all of the Cherokees slipped away, but early the next morning, just after reveille, the guards reported that the camp was surrounded by Indians. Captain Demere gave the alarm; both sides opened fire; and within minutes, Capt. Demere, all of the junior officers except Capt. Stuart, and some twenty of the men were killed. Seeing that they were hopelessly outnumbered, the others surrendered and were marched off to the Cherokee towns as prisoners. There some of them were tortured and killed; others were later ransomed by South Carolina and Virginia. A few chose to remain with the Cherokees. Capt. Stuart, the only officer to survive the massacre, was taken back to one of the Indian towns and bought from his captor the next day by Attakullakulla, who had become his particular friend.
After the defeat of General Edward Braddock on July 9, 1755, the Virginia frontier lay open to Indian attack. These frontiers were protected from Indian raids by several companies of rangers. These forces were supplemented in local crises, by what militia could be raised. Small stockades, blockhouses, and fortified farmhouses were the main defenses on the frontier. The success of the Indian raids was proof of how inadequate this arrangement was. Still, it was nearly a year before construction of a substantial fort would begin.
On August 14, 1755, Virginia governor Robert Dinnwiddie appointed George Washington Colonel of the Virginia Regiment and Commander in Chief Virginia forces. He ordered Washington to make the town of Winchester his headquarters.
When Washington arrived at Winchester on September 14, 1755, the village was in turmoil. The villagers were leaving and settlers from the outlying farms were coming in seeking protection. Scouts were reporting a party of one hundred Indians were in the area, and seventy people had been killed, their farms destroyed. In the midst of this, Washington had to begin to the task of building a colonial army.
With the coming of spring in 1756, the Indian raids once more began to increase. It was at this time Washington wrote Governor Dinnwiddie an appeal for funds to build a string of forts on the frontier, with a strong fort to be built at Winchester. In March the house of Burgesses past a act to supply funds, but almost two months would pass before Washington was able to begin construction. On May 18th, Washington wrote Adam Stephen at Fort Cumberland stating:
"I am also detained here to construct and erect a fort, which the Governor has ordered to be done with expedition - as it will be necessary to have a number of Carpenters, & C. to carry on the work with spirit, and vigour: you are desired to send down all the men of Captain George Mercers Company; those that are there of Captain Bells - all the men that are really skilled in masonry: and if all those do not make up fifty -- you are to complete the party to that number out of the best Carpenters in other companies."
Construction of the new fort to be named Fort Loudoun, began in May of 1756. It would not be a large fort, enclosing only a half acre within the stockade. It was a square fort with four bastions, the batteries mounted twenty-four guns. The length of each curtain was ninety-six feet with bastion faces and flanks twenty-five feet long. Inside the walls was a well, and barracks sufficient to house four hundred and fifty men. Fort Loudoun housed an expressive array of guns for its defense. The fort had six 18-pounders, six 12-pounders, six 6-pounders, four swivel guns and two howitzers. Inside the walls the well was said to be over one hundred feet deep, blasted from solid rock. Washington named the fort in honor of John Campbell, fourth Earl of Loudoun, the incoming commander of all colonial forces in North America. Located near the present town of Winchester, Virginia, it was built at the crossing of old east-west Indian trails, and the wagon road to Philadelphia, which ran north and south. It commanded the lower Shenandoah Valley, and served both as a center of defense, and as a supply base for the western Virginia frontier.
Washington named the fort in honor of John Campbell, fourth Earl of Loudoun, the incoming commander of all colonial forces in North America. The site of the fort was northernmost of two hills in the town of Winchester. The hill to the south had the name of "Potato Hill", while the other came to be known as "Fort Hill". The fort was not completed by the spring of 1758, though it had been operating in the rough well before that date.
The population of the town of Winchester increase rapidly after the erection of Fort Loudoun. By the time it was used as the rendezvous point for the Virginia forces in 1759, it contained two hundred houses. Contemporary reports indicate that Fort Loudoun was never directly attacked even though skirmishes with the Indians occurred frequently in the general vicinity of the fort.
Around the first of August, General Stanwix's chief engineer, Captain Harry Gordon arrived with a small crew of artisans. Actual construction began on September 3rd . Within a few weeks, the area swarmed with activity. On what is now Mount Washington, miners began digging for coal and limestone. Far up the river, trees were being felled and the logs turned into boards and timbers, first in two-man sawpits, then in a sawmill. Along the Monongahela, bateaux were being built to carry supplies from Virginia. The smoke from lime and brick kilns drifted across the point, and mingled with the smells of bake ovens, blacksmiths' forges, tar kettles, and Indian camp fires. Working from daylight to dusk, seven days a week, the tremendous job of dirt-removal progressed. The huge outlines of Fort Pitt began to take shape.
The fort was built in the shape of a pentagon, with five bastions. The bastions being of unequal size. The curtains were not all of equal length, and varied from 188 to 272 feet. The distance between the bastions, measured from 416 to 476 feet. The ramparts enclosed a full two acres of ground.
Fort Pitt was protected by an astonishing system of outworks. A complex of ditches, walls, ramparts, ravelins, and redoubts expanded the total area of the fort to almost 18 acres! On the landward side, a deep ditch, known as the "Isthmus", extended from the Alleghney almost to the Monongahela. This ditch, with a fortified embankment known as the "Epaulement:, provided extra protection on the landward and Monongahela sides of the fort.
Fort Pitt itself lay close to the shore of the Monongahela, leaving about five acres free for buildings on the Alleghney side, within the protection of the Epaulement and a stockade extending around the Point. This area was known as the Lower Town.
Probably due to the fact of the nearby timber being in short supply, General Stanwix directed that Fort Pitt should be a "dirt fort". The walls and bastions were built of earth. It was constructed almost precisely as the Romans built their forts, right down to the sodded slopes and brick or masonry revetments.
Fort Pitt was, in effect, a great five-sided ditch, with the earth of the ditch thrown up to form a rampart over twenty feet high and sixty feet wide. On the landward side, the ramparts were supported by strong brick retaining walls, with the tips of the bastions further reinforced by cut stone. On the less vulnerable river sides, the walls and bastions were sodded. They were covered with squares of turf laid perpendicularly to the slope of the wall, and secured with long wooden pins. On top of the ramparts, a sodded parapet 18 feet thick was erected for protection of artillery and soldiers firing small arms. Behind this parapet ran a level space 20 feet wide, providing a platform for cannon and the necessary room for recoil after firing.
A sentry walking his post on the high, windy ramparts of Fort Pitt, looked down on a kind of walled city inside the great pentagon of earth and masonry. Around the central parade could be housed from 700 to a 1,000 men. Two-storied barracks, one of brick 190 feet long quartered the officers, and two others of frame construction, provided lodgment for the men. Both the brick and the wooden ones of weatherboard and shingles, were provided with chimneys that served four rooms and furnished cooking facilities. In the brick barracks there was " a closet in each room, and other accommodations for the officers". The fort commandant's house was a fine brick building with cut-stone steps. All these long, narrow buildings could be seen grouped symmetrically around the parade, parallel to the curtain walls. But hidden away in the immensely thick ramparts were large storehouses, magazines, and casements. Most provisions and all the ammunition was stored underground. Underground was also the guardhouse and dungeons, where prisoners awaited trial in the darkness.
Colonial troops commanded by 22 year old Colonel George Washington were defeated in this small stockade at the "Great Meadow". This opening battle of the French and Indian War on began a seven year struggle between Great Britain and France for control of North America. Great Britain's success in this war helped pave the way for the American Revolution.
Fort Necessity National Battlefield is located in southwestern Pennsylvania about 11 miles east of Uniontown. The park comprises approximately 900 acres in three separate sites. The main unit contains the visitor center, the reconstructed Fort Necessity and the Mount Washington Tavern. The Braddock Grave unit is approximately 1.5 miles west of the main unit and the Jumonville Glen unit is approximately seven miles northwest of the main unit.
