Fort Crown Point | |
Location | Crown Point, New York, NY |
---|---|
Coordinates | 44°01′45″N73°25′52″W / 44.02917°N 73.43111°W |
Area | 11,800 acres (4,800 ha) |
Built | 1759 |
NRHP reference No. | 68000033 |
NYSRHP No. | 03102.000305 |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | November 24, 1968 [1] |
Designated NHLD | November 24, 1968 [2] |
Designated NYSRHP | June 23, 1980 |
Fort Crown Point was built by the combined efforts of British and Colonial troops from New York and the New England Colonies in 1759 at a narrows on Lake Champlain on the border between New York and Vermont. It was erected to secure the region against the French in upstate New York near the town of Crown Point, and it was the largest earthen fortress built in the American colonies. The fort's ruins are a National Historic Landmark administered as part of Crown Point State Historic Site.
The French built a fortress at Crown Point in the 1730s with 12-foot (3.7 m) thick limestone walls named Fort Saint-Frédéric. British forces targeted it twice during the French and Indian War before the French destroyed it in the summer of 1759. [3]
The Crown Point fort was constructed by the British army under the command of Sir Jeffery Amherst following the capture of Carillon, a French fort to the south which he renamed Ticonderoga. Amherst used the construction of the fort as a means of keeping his men working through the winter of 1759 after pushing the French into Canada. Israel Putnam supervised much of the construction; he become a general in the American Revolutionary War. According to archaeologist David R. Starbuck, Crown Point was "the greatest British military installation ever raised in North America." [4]
The fort was never directly assaulted. It was completed after the threat of French invasion had ended and was used largely for staging rather than as a military position. On April 21, 1773, a chimney fire broke out in the soldier's barracks. It quickly spread, burning for days. [5] In May 1774, British military engineer John Montresor described the fort after the fire: "the conflagration of the late fort has rendered it an amazing useless mass of earth only". [6] Montresor proposed expanding and improving one of the outworks rather than attempting to repair the main fort.[ citation needed ]
After the French and Indian War, the British left a skeletal force at the fort. They quickly yielded to Capt. Seth Warner and 100 Green Mountain Boys on May 12, 1775 in the battle of Crown Point at the start of the Revolutionary War. The Americans captured 111 cannons from the British at Crown Point, and transported 29 to Boston for the defense of Boston Harbor.[ clarification needed ]
The fort was used as a staging ground by Benedict Arnold during the Revolution for his navy on Lake Champlain. That was destroyed in 1776 during the Battle of Valcour Island, and the fort was abandoned to the British in 1777 after the failure of the patriot Invasion of Canada. The British abandoned the fort in 1780, and the United States had no need for it and left it to deteriorate.
The large earthen walls are still visible today. The fire of April 1773 had entirely destroyed the log and earth fortress. The stone ruins of two barracks buildings at the site are being preserved. The fort was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1968. [2] [7] [8]
Fort Ticonderoga, formerly Fort Carillon, is a large 18th-century star fort built by the French at a narrows near the south end of Lake Champlain in northern New York. It was constructed between October 1755 and 1757 by French-Canadian military engineer Michel Chartier de Lotbinière, Marquis de Lotbinière during the action in the "North American theater" of the Seven Years' War, known as the French and Indian War in America. The fort was of strategic importance during the 18th-century colonial conflicts between Great Britain and France, and again played an important role during the American Revolutionary War.
Field Marshal Jeffery Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst, was a British Army officer and Commander-in-Chief of the Forces in the British Army. Amherst is credited as the architect of Britain's successful campaign to conquer the territory of New France during the Seven Years' War. Under his command, British forces captured the cities of Louisbourg, Quebec City and Montreal, as well as several major fortresses. He was also the first British governor general in the territories that eventually became Canada. Numerous places and streets are named after him, in both Canada and the United States.
The Battle of Valcour Island, also known as the Battle of Valcour Bay, was a naval engagement that took place on October 11, 1776, on Lake Champlain. The main action took place in Valcour Bay, a narrow strait between the New York mainland and Valcour Island. The battle is generally regarded as one of the first naval battles of the American Revolutionary War, and one of the first fought by the United States Navy. Most of the ships in the American fleet under the command of Benedict Arnold were captured or destroyed by a British force under the overall direction of General Guy Carleton. However, the American defense of Lake Champlain stalled British plans to reach the upper Hudson River valley.
Crown Point is a town in Essex County, New York, United States, located on the west shore of Lake Champlain. The population was 2,024 at the 2010 census. The name of the town is a direct translation of the original French name, Pointe à la Chevelure.
Ticonderoga is a town in Essex County, New York, United States. The population was 5,042 at the 2010 census. The name comes from the Mohawk tekontaró:ken, meaning "it is at the junction of two waterways".
Fort Niagara, also known as Old Fort Niagara, is a fortification originally built by New France to protect its interests in North America, specifically control of access between the Niagara River and Lake Ontario, the easternmost of the Great Lakes. The fort is on the river's eastern bank at its mouth on Lake Ontario. Youngstown, New York, later developed nearby.
The Battle of Ticonderoga was a minor confrontation at Fort Carillon on July 26 and 27, 1759, during the French and Indian War. A British military force of more than 11,000 men under the command of General Sir Jeffery Amherst moved artillery to high ground overlooking the fort, which was defended by a garrison of 400 Frenchmen under the command of Brigadier General François-Charles de Bourlamaque.
Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Rogers was a British Army officer and frontiersman. Born in Methuen, Massachusetts, he fought in King George's War, the French and Indian War and the American Revolutionary War. During the French and Indian War, Rogers raised and commanded Rogers' Rangers, a ranger unit trained for carrying out asymmetric warfare.
Fort Saint-Frédéric was a French fort built on Lake Champlain to secure the region against British colonization and control the lake. It was located in modern New York State across the lake from modern Vermont at the town of Crown Point, New York. The fort, whose construction began in 1734, was never attacked, and was destroyed in 1759 before the advance of a large British army under General Jeffery Amherst.
Point State Park is a Pennsylvania state park which is located on 36 acres (150,000 m2) in Downtown Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA, at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, forming the Ohio River.
The Battle of Fort Niagara was a siege late in the French and Indian War, the North American theatre of the Seven Years' War. The British siege of Fort Niagara in July 1759 was part of a campaign to remove French control of the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley regions, making possible a western invasion of the French province of Canada in conjunction with General James Wolfe's invasion to the east.
Chimney Point is a peninsula in the town of Addison, Vermont, which juts into Lake Champlain forming a narrows. It is one of the earliest settled and most strategic sites in the Champlain Valley.
The New Hampshire Provincial Regiment was a provincial military regiment made up of men from the New Hampshire Militia during the French and Indian War for service with the British Army in North America. It was first formed in 1754 with the start of hostilities with France.
Crown Point State Historic Site is the site of a former military stronghold at the south end of the wider part of Lake Champlain. The location is in Essex County, New York, United States. The site is on a peninsula in the town of Crown Point, New York.
Île aux Noix is an island on the Richelieu River in Quebec, close to Lake Champlain. The island is the site of Fort Lennox National Historic Site of Canada. Politically, it is part of Saint-Paul-de-l'Île-aux-Noix.
Rogers Island is an island on the Hudson River, in Washington County, New York, that once formed part of the third largest "city" in colonial North America, and is considered the "spiritual home" of the United States Special Operations Forces, particularly the United States Army Rangers.
Fort Pownall was a British fortification built during the French and Indian War, whose remains are located at Fort Point State Park in Stockton Springs, Maine. The fort was named for Governor Thomas Pownall, who oversaw its construction. It never saw action, and was destroyed during the American Revolutionary War by the actions of both colonists and the British military to prevent its further use. The fort's remains were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1969.
The Crown Point Road, or the Crown Point Military Road, is a historic road built in 1759-60, mostly in what is now the United States state of Vermont. It was built by British Army and colonial militia forces to connect Fort Crown Point near the southern end of Lake Champlain to the Fort at Number 4 in what is now Charlestown, New Hampshire. It was the first major road in Vermont, spurring development along its route after the French and Indian War. Fragments of the road are still visible in largely period condition, or have been paved over, while others have disappeared into the forest. Sections of the road located in Weathersfield have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Fort William was a fort in St. John's built in 1698 to protect English interests on Newfoundland, primarily against French opposition. It was the original headquarters of the British garrison in Newfoundland. A second fort, known as Fort George was situated at the east end of the harbour connected by a subterranean passage with Fort William. On the south side of the Narrows, there was a third fortification called the Castle. Garrison headquarters were later moved to Fort Townshend, which was built between 1775-1779.
The Sainte-Thérèse Raid was a military raid on the town of Sainte-Thérèse in French Canada conducted by British elite forces known as Rogers' Rangers that took place during the French and Indian War from 3 to 18 June 1760. Led by Robert Rogers the raid was a pre-emptive strike ordered by Major General Jeffery Amherst as a prelude to his three pronged attack on Montreal the following month.
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