Fort Augusta

Last updated
Fort Augusta
Sunbury, Pennsylvania, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, USA
USA Pennsylvania location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Fort Augusta
Location of Fort Augusta in Pennsylvania
Coordinates 40°52′33″N76°47′31″W / 40.8757°N 76.7920°W / 40.8757; -76.7920
TypeFort
Site information
Controlled by Northumberland County Historical Society
Site history
Built1756
In use1756-1780
Battles/wars French and Indian War
American Revolutionary War
Garrison information
Past
commanders		 Colonel William Clapham
Colonel James Burd
Colonel Samuel Hunter
Garrison16 officers and 337 men
Designated1948 [1]

Fort Augusta was a stronghold in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, in the upper Susquehanna Valley from the time of the French and Indian War to the close of the American Revolution. At the time, it was the largest British fort in Pennsylvania, with earthen walls more than two hundred feet long topped by wooden fortifications. With a garrison of over 300 troops and walls specially constructed to resist artillery, it presented a formidable defense and was never attacked. It served as a refuge for local settlers during the French and Indian War and during the American Revolutionary War. It was abandoned in 1780 and dismantled in 1796. [2]

Contents

History

Plan of Fort Augusta on the east bank of the Susquehanna River as it was laid out on June 25, 1756 at the former location of Shamokin Otzinachson - a history of the West Branch Valley of the Susquehanna- its first settlement, privations endured by the early pioneers, Indian wars, predatory incursions, abductions and massacres, (14597569229).jpg
Plan of Fort Augusta on the east bank of the Susquehanna River as it was laid out on June 25, 1756 at the former location of Shamokin

Construction

The fort was erected by Colonel William Clapham in 1756 at a site now within the limits of the city of Sunbury, on the site of the Lenape village of Shamokin, [3] which was abandoned only a few weeks before construction of the fort began. [4] : 73  Named for Augusta of Saxe-Gotha, the mother of King George III, Fort Augusta was the largest of the provincial forts. It was first constructed as part of the British defense against French and Indian raids from the upper Allegheny region. [3] The fort was positioned so as to prevent Native American war parties from descending the Susquehanna River, to serve as a refuge for civilians under attack, and as a staging area for military expeditions against enemy forces. [5] : 180  Later, it served as an American fortress to aid in protecting settlers of the upper Susquehanna from Britain's Indian allies to the north. [6] : 59  [7]

The plan of the fort had been previously drawn up by Governor Robert Hunter Morris, who wrote to Clapham on 12 June recommending "a square with one ravelin to protect the curtain where the gate is, with a ditch, covered way, and glacis." [6] : 54  In early July, Clapham marched with his troops from Fort Halifax, while eighteen canoes and bateaux carried supplies downriver, encountering numerous falls and rapids which hindered their progress. [6] : 55  [8] On 14 August, Clapham wrote to Governor Morris: "We have the walls of the fort now above-half finished and our other works in such situation that we can make a very good defense against any body of French and Indians that shall seat themselves before us without cannon." [6] : 55 

Clapham had largely completed Fort Augusta by late August. [9] : 488  It was the largest British fort built in Pennsylvania, with earthen walls more than two hundred feet long topped by wooden fortifications. [10] [11] Buildings included a bakery, smoke house, beef cistern, pork cistern, and a powder magazine with an underground powder keg. The wall facing the river was composed of upright logs, and the rear wall was made up of lengthwise logs. Beyond the main wall was a dry moat that was half as deep as the wall was high. In front of the main gate, a small bridge over the moat could be raised in the event of an attack. Triangular bastions on each corner permitted a crossfire covering the entire extent of the wall. A well was located in the westernmost bastion. Blockhouses connected by a stockade formed a covered way to the river. [12] Clapham took particular care to reinforce the fort's main walls so that they would resist artillery. [6] : 55 

The fort was garrisoned by sixteen officers and 337 men [3] and had twelve cannons and two swivel guns. [13] : 673  It served as a base for the Third Battalion, Pennsylvania Regiment of Foot, known as the Augusta Regiment, which was originally formed to build and garrison Fort Augusta. [14] Modifications and improvements continued to be made for months, and in late October, Clapham described the final stages of the fort's construction: "In eight or ten days more the ditch will be carried quite around the parapet, the barrier gates finished and erected, and the pickets of the glacis completed." [6] : 55  Construction of the fort was completed in 1757 under the command of Colonel James Burd. [15]

A description of the fort is written on the back of the plan of Fort Augusta in the Pennsylvania Archives:

"Fort Augusta stands at about forty yards distance from the river, on a bank twenty-four feet from the surface of the water; that side of the fort...which fronts the river, is a strong palisado, the bases of the logs being sunk four feet into the earth...They are squared--some of the lower ends three feet in diameter...and are mostly white oak. There are six cannon mounted, one in...each bastion fronting the river, and one in...the flank of each of the opposite bastions; the woods cleared to a distance of three hundred yards." [6] : 79 

French and Indian War

Model of Fort Augusta in 1939 Model of Ft. Augusta on grounds of Sunbury's Radio Station, River Front Drive, Sunbury, Pa (68820).jpg
Model of Fort Augusta in 1939

During the French and Indian War in 1756, several hundred French and Indian troops traveled the Great Shamokin Path in an effort to destroy Fort Augusta, the main stronghold of the English at the junction of the East and West branches of the Susquehanna River. This army was gathered from the French posts at Duquesne, Kittanning, Venango and Le Boeuf and assembled at the mouth of Anderson Creek, near the present location of Curwensville, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania. Here, crude boats, rafts and bateaux were constructed for passage down the Susquehanna River for the proposed attack. They dragged along with them two small brass cannon, but after reconnoitering found the distance too great for the guns to shoot from the hill opposite the fort, and the attack was abandoned. A British defeat at Fort Augusta would have altered the course of the French and Indian War. [16] : 69  [17]

The fort saw no action during Pontiac's War, which was fought in the Great Lakes region, and the garrison was evacuated in June, 1765. An Indian trading post, opened in May 1758, remained in operation. [9]

American Revolutionary War

During the American Revolutionary War, Fort Augusta became the headquarters of the military department of the upper Susquehanna, 1778-1780. Following the Wyoming Massacre on 3 July 1778, Indian raids killed or captured nearly a fifth of the soldiers in local forts, and over three thousand settlers across the West Branch Susquehanna Valley fled to Fort Augusta in a mass exodus known as "the Great Runaway." [18] : 424  [19] The fort at that time had a garrison of fewer than one hundred troops, and Colonel Samuel Hunter, the commander, made an urgent plea for reinforcements. Congress ordered eight hundred and fifty militia to defend the fort. [6] : 121–123 

Abandonment and dismantling

A 1780 map showing Fort Augusta above and to the left of the center of the page. A new and accurate map of the Province of Pennsylvania, in North America - from the best authorities. LOC 2010587014.tif
A 1780 map showing Fort Augusta above and to the left of the center of the page.

After 1780, the fort was abandoned, [16] : 369  although the colonel's residence was occupied until 1784 by the fort's last commander, Colonel Samuel Hunter (1732-1784), who died there and was buried nearby. [6] : 79–80  The fort was dismantled in 1796, [17] except for the colonel's residence, where Colonel Hunter's family lived until 1848, when it was burned down by a disgruntled servant. [12]

Archaeology

A Works Progress Administration (WPA) investigation of the fort was conducted in 1938, [20] however the excavation records have been lost. Excavations in 1978-1979 uncovered portions of the palisade wall and the dry moat, and 18th-century artifacts such as animal bones, musket balls, gun parts, buttons, cannon balls, and colonial ceramics as well as older Indian objects were recovered.

Investigations in 1981, 1992, and 2005-2006 defined and located parts of structures mentioned in historic documents, including the probable location of the fort’s northeast bastion. [21] Excavations in this area uncovered the remains of a log footer, the dry moat, and various military artifacts.

Excavations in 1992 concentrated on the powder magazine, a 10-foot by 12-foot underground brick-lined storage area built in 1758, which was repaired. [22] During the mid-19th century, a wooden building stood over the underground chamber and at one time it was enlarged and strengthened to serve as the first jail in Northumberland County. [23]

Hunter House Museum

Today, on the site of the old fort, the Northumberland County Historical Society has its headquarters in the Hunter House Museum in Sunbury, Pennsylvania. [24] The museum contains historical and archaeological artifacts dealing with Fort Augusta and items of local history. It also contains Fort Augusta's well and the original powder magazine, [3] as well as a genealogical library of material on early families in Northumberland County and surrounding counties. A model of the fort, built in 2013, stands in the front of the museum as a replica of the original model, which was built in 1939, and taken down in 1974. [25] The model of the fort was reconstructed and rededicated on 10 November 2013. [26]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sunbury, Pennsylvania</span> City in Pennsylvania, United States

Sunbury is a city and the county seat of Northumberland County in Pennsylvania, United States. Located in the Susquehanna Valley, Sunbury is positioned on the east bank of the Susquehanna River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shamokin Dam, Pennsylvania</span> Borough in Pennsylvania, United States

Shamokin Dam is a borough in Snyder County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,647 at the 2020 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lewisburg, Pennsylvania</span> Borough in Pennsylvania, United States

Lewisburg is a borough in Union County, Pennsylvania, United States, 30 miles (48 km) south by southeast of Williamsport and 60 miles (97 km) north of Harrisburg. The population was 5,158 as of the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Union County. Located in central Pennsylvania's Susquehanna River Valley, on the West Branch Susquehanna River, it is home to Bucknell University. Its 19th-century downtown is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Lewisburg is the principal city of the Lewisburg Micropolitan Statistical Area, and is also part of the larger Bloomsburg–Berwick–Sunbury Combined Statistical Area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Branch Susquehanna River</span> River in Pennsylvania, United States

The West Branch Susquehanna River is one of the two principal branches, along with the North Branch, of the Susquehanna River in the Northeastern United States. The North Branch, which rises in upstate New York, is generally regarded as the extension of the main branch, with the shorter West Branch being its principal tributary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shamokin (village)</span> Historic Native American village in Pennsylvania

Shamokin was a multi-ethnic Native American trading village on the Susquehanna River, located partially within the limits of the modern cities of Sunbury and Shamokin Dam, Pennsylvania. It should not be confused with present-day Shamokin, Pennsylvania, located to the east. The village was the focus of missionary efforts, and then was the staging area for raids on English settlements in Pennsylvania during the French and Indian War. It was burned and abandoned by the Lenape in May, 1756. A few months later, Fort Augusta was constructed on the site of the village.

Fort Venango was a small British fort built in 1760 near the present-day site of Franklin, Pennsylvania. It replaced Fort Machault, a French fort built at the confluence of French Creek and the Allegheny River. In August 1759, near the end of the French and Indian War, after the French surrender of Fort Niagara to the British, the French burned Fort Machault and retreated north. Fort Venango was built during summer 1760. It was attacked and destroyed in June 1763 during Pontiac's War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Loudoun (Pennsylvania)</span> 18thCentury fort in Pennsylvania

Fort Loudoun was a fort in colonial Pennsylvania, one of several forts in colonial America named after John Campbell, 4th Earl of Loudoun. The fort was built in 1756 during the French and Indian War by the Second Battalion of the Pennsylvania Regiment under Colonel John Armstrong, and served as a post on the Forbes Road during the Forbes expedition that successfully drove the French away from Fort Duquesne. The fort remained occupied through Pontiac's War and served as a base for Colonel Henry Bouquet's 1764 campaign. In the 1765 Black Boys Rebellion, Fort Loudoun was assaulted by angry settlers, when their guns were confiscated after they destroyed supplies intended for Native Americans. The garrison retreated to Fort Bedford and the fort was abandoned.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Shamokin Path</span> Historic trail in Pennsylvania

The Great Shamokin Path was a major Native American trail in the U.S. State of Pennsylvania that ran from the native village of Shamokin along the left bank of the West Branch Susquehanna River north and then west to the Great Island. There it left the river and continued further west to Chinklacamoose and finally Kittanning on the Allegheny River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shikellamy State Park</span>

Shikellamy State Park is a 132-acre (53 ha) Pennsylvania state park located at the confluence of the West Branch Susquehanna River and Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania. The park is divided into two sections. The older part, on a bluff on the western bank of the Susquehanna River, is the 78-acre (32 ha) Shikellamy overlook in Union Township, Union County. The newer part is the 54-acre (22 ha) marina on the southern end of Packer Island in Upper Augusta Township, Northumberland County. Packer's Island lies between the city of Sunbury and the borough of Northumberland at the confluence of the two branches of the river.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Burd</span>

James Burd was a colonial American soldier in the French and Indian War, during which he played an important role in fortifying the Pennsylvania frontier.

Fort Halifax was located along the Susquehanna River near the present day borough of Halifax, Pennsylvania, United States. It was a temporary stronghold in northern Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, from 1756 to 1757, during the time of the French and Indian War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Big Runaway</span> June-July 1778 mass exodus

The Big Runaway was a mass evacuation in June and July 1778 of white settlers from the frontier regions of North Central Pennsylvania during the American Revolutionary War. It was precipitated by a series of raids against local settlements on the northern and western branches of the Susquehanna River by Loyalist troops and British-allied Indians, which prompted Patriot militia commanderes to order the evacuation. Most of the settlers relocated to Fort Augusta near modern-day Sunbury, Pennsylvania at the confluence of the northern and western branches of the Susquehanna River, while their abandoned houses and farms were all burnt as part of a scorched earth policy.

Fort Antes was a stockade surrounding the home of Colonel John Henry Antes, built circa 1778 in Revolutionary Pennsylvania in the United States. The fort was built under the direction of Colonel Antes, who was a member of the Pennsylvania militia. It was on the east side of Antes Creek, overlooking and on the left bank of the West Branch Susquehanna River on a plateau in Nippenose Township south of modern day Jersey Shore in western Lycoming County. The local militia held the fort for a short period of time until it was ordered to abandon Fort Antes during the Big Runaway by Colonel Samuel Hunter. Despite being abandoned and attempts by the attacking British forces to burn it down, Fort Antes was one of only two structures in the valley to survive the Big Runaway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Hunter, Pennsylvania</span> Unincorporated community in Pennsylvania, United States

Fort Hunter is an unincorporated community in Middle Paxton Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the Harrisburg–Carlisle Metropolitan Statistical Area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Granville</span> 18th century fort in colonial Pennsylvania, U. S.

Fort Granville was a militia stockade located in the colonial Province of Pennsylvania. Its site was about a mile from Lewistown, in what is now Granville Township, Mifflin County. Active from 1755 until 1756, the stockade briefly sheltered pioneer settlers in the Juniata River valley during the French and Indian War. The fort was attacked on August 2, 1756, by a mixed force of French troops and Native Americans, mostly Lenape warriors. The fort’s garrison surrendered the strongpoint to these attackers, who celebrated their victory and destroyed the stockade.

William Clapham was an American military officer who participated in the construction of several forts in Pennsylvania during the French and Indian War. He was considered a competent commander in engagements with French troops and Native American warriors, but towards the end of his military career he was unpopular with troops under his command. Following his retirement from the army, he and his family were killed by Lenape warriors on his farm in 1763.

Fort Bosley was a fort fortified in 1777 in the Susquehanna Valley frontier to protect settlers. It was one of roughly a dozen frontier forts in the immediate Susquehanna Valley region. It was located near a grist mill built by John Bosley in 1773.

The Northumberland County Historical Society is a Pennsylvania nonprofit organization, which was chartered on October 26, 1925 and incorporated on May 21, 1998. Its leaders, members and volunteers are dedicated to the collection, preservation and exhibition of artifacts, documents, photographs, and other items which tell the story of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania and its people.

Fort Hunter was a military fort located in present-day Fort Hunter, Pennsylvania. It was initially a stockaded gristmill fortified by Samuel Hunter in 1755 and later enlarged and maintained by the Province of Pennsylvania during the French and Indian War. Fort Hunter was part of a defensive line of forts built in Pennsylvania during 1755 and 1756, at the start of hostilities with the French and their allied Native Americans. It was briefly used during Pontiac's War, then abandoned in 1763.

Fort Lebanon was a Pennsylvania stockade fort built in December 1755 and designed to provide protection for settlers' families during the French and Indian War. However, Native American war parties often attacked nearby farms and killed settlers, disappearing before the fort's troops could respond. The garrison was sometimes fewer than 25 men as troops were transferred for temporary duty elsewhere, meaning that the fort had little manpower for patrols or to pursue attackers. The fort was renamed Fort William in mid-1757. In May 1758, the garrison was transferred and the fort was never re-occupied.

References

  1. ↑ Fort Augusta Historical Marker, Sunbury, Pennsylvania. Historical Marker Database
  2. ↑ Clarence M. Busch, Report of the Commission to Locate the Site of the Frontier Forts of Pennsylvania, Vol. 1, State Printer of Pennsylvania, 1896
  3. 1 2 3 4 Katherine Faull, "Fort Augusta," (page 1) in Sunbury: A History, Bucknell Environmental Center, Lewisburg, PA
  4. ↑ John Franklin Meginness, "Otzinachson: Or, a History of the West Branch Valley of the Susquehanna; Embracing a Full Account of Its Settlement--trials and Privations Endured by the Early Pioneers--full Accounts of the Indian Wars, Predatory Incursions, Abductions, and Massacres, &c." in American County Histories: Pennsylvania county and regional histories. H. B. Ashmead, 1857
  5. ↑ Waddell, Louis M. "Defending the Long Perimeter: Forts on the Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia. Frontier, 1755-1765.” Pennsylvania History, 62:2(1995):171-195.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Herbert C. Bell, History of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, Chicago: Brown, Runk & Co., 1891
  7. ↑ Amanda Rasmussen, "An Analysis of Archaeological Remains at Fort Halifax Park," doctoral dissertation, Department of Anthropology, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, 2016
  8. ↑ Katharine Faull, "Charting the Colonial Backcountry: Joseph Shippen's Map of the Susquehanna River," The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, vol CXXXVI October 2012 No. 4, pp. 461-465
  9. 1 2 Hunter, William Albert. Forts on the Pennsylvania Frontier: 1753–1758, (Classic Reprint). Fb&c Limited, 2018.
  10. ↑ Tucker, Spencer. The Encyclopedia of North American Colonial Conflicts to 1775: A–K. ABC-CLIO, 2008.
  11. ↑ James Herbstritt, Janet Johnson and Kurt Carr, "Digging Fort Hunter's History," Pennsylvania Heritage, Fall 2011
  12. 1 2 Katherine Faull, "Fort Augusta," (page 2) in Sunbury: A History, Bucknell Environmental Center, Lewisburg, PA
  13. ↑ Roberts, Robert B., Encyclopedia of Historic Forts: the military, pioneer, and trading posts of the United States, New York: Macmillan, 1988
  14. ↑ A Brief History of The Augusta Regiment
  15. ↑ This Week in Pennsylvania Archeology, "Excavations of a Frontier Fort," Friday, August 14, 2015
  16. 1 2 Major Israel McCreight, Memory Sketches of Du Bois, Pennsylvania: A History, Gray Printing Company, 1939
  17. 1 2 "Fort Augusta – 1756," The Society of Colonial Wars
  18. ↑ Marcus Gallo, "Fair Play Has Entirely Ceased, and Law Has Taken Its Place": The Rise and Fall of the Squatter Republic in the West Branch Valley of the Susquehanna River, 1768–1800," The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, vol CXXXVI October 2012 No. 4, pp. 405-434
  19. ↑ Katherine Faull, "The Great Escape," in Sunbury: A History, Bucknell Environmental Center, Lewisburg, PA
  20. ↑ Godcharles, Frederic A. "Valuable Recoveries at Fort Augusta – Work Done by WPA Project." The Pennsylvania Archaeologist, 1938, VIII (4): 75-78
  21. ↑ Delle, James A. Phase II Archaeological Investigations at Fort Augusta, Sunbury, PA; Preliminary Report on 2005 Excavations. Prepared for the Northumberland County Historical Society in cooperation with the Bureau of Historic Preservation.
  22. ↑ Warfel, Stephen. "Archaeological Investigations of the Powder Magazine at Fort Augusta." Northumberland County Historical Society Proceedings, 1993; 31:7-56.
  23. ↑ Katherine Faull, "The Powder Magazine," in Sunbury: A History, Bucknell Environmental Center, Lewisburg, PA
  24. ↑ Hunter House Museum
  25. ↑ Ashley Wislock, "Finishing touches placed at new Fort Augusta model in Sunbury," The Daily Item, Oct 29, 2013
  26. ↑ "Dedication of Fort Augusta model set for 3 p.m. Sunday," The Daily Item, Nov 8, 2013
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.