Fort Hyndshaw

Last updated
Fort Hyndshaw
Route 209 in Middle Smithfield Township
Near East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania in US
USA Pennsylvania relief location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Fort Hyndshaw
Location of the fort in northeast Pennsylvania
Coordinates 41°05′10.3″N75°00′27.2″W / 41.086194°N 75.007556°W / 41.086194; -75.007556
TypeFort
Height70 feet (21 m) (at time of occupation)
Site information
Owner State of Pennsylvania
Open to
the public
Yes
ConditionDestroyed by nature
Site history
Built1756 (1756)
In use1757 (1757)
FateAbandoned
Events French and Indian War
Garrison information
Past
commanders
Captain James Van Etten
DesignatedJanuary 7, 1949 (1949-01-07)

Fort Hyndshaw was a fort in Middle Smithfield Township, Monroe County, Pennsylvania, built in 1755 and 1756 during the French and Indian War.

Contents

The need for fortifications

In response to an increasing number of attacks in Pennsylvania by French troops in the western part of the state and by Indian hostilities close to Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania Legislature placed Benjamin Franklin and James Hamilton in charge to erect a chain of forts along the Blue Mountain in the Minisink region . [1]

Franklin, via a letter dated January 12, 1756 to Captain James Van Etten, ordered him to "proceed immediately to raise a Company of Foot, consisting of 30 able Men, including two Serjeants, with which you are to protect the Inhabitants of Upper Smithfield assisting them while they thresh out and secure their Corn, and scouting from time to time as you judge necessary on the Outside of the Settlements." [2]

Origin of the name

The Fort was named after Lieutenant James Hyndshaw (1720-1770), who was born in Ulster County, New York and was married to Maria Dupui/DePuy, a niece of Nicholas DePuy, one of the earliest European settlers from Esopus NY in Northampton County [now Monroe County, whose home became Fort DePuy during the French and Indian War around the same time as Fort Hyndshaw. [3] Hyndshaw was second in command to Van Etten.

Structure and history

A 70-foot square blockade was built around Hyndshaw's home. The Fort was active for a little over a year, at which point it was apparently abandoned. Since the fort was made of wood, it deteriorated over time. [4] In 2003 a replacement historical marker was erected by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Province of Pennsylvania</span> British colony in North America (1681–1776)

The Province of Pennsylvania, also known as the Pennsylvania Colony, was a British North American colony founded by William Penn, who received the land through a grant from Charles II of England in 1681. The name Pennsylvania was derived from "Penn's Woods", referring to William's father Admiral Sir William Penn.

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

Kittanning was an 18th-century Native American village in the Ohio Country, located on the Allegheny River at present-day Kittanning, Pennsylvania. The village was at the western terminus of the Kittanning Path, an Indian trail that provided a route across the Alleghenies between the Ohio and Susquehanna river basins.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kittanning Expedition</span> 1756 battle of the French and Indian War

The Kittanning Expedition, also known as the Armstrong Expedition or the Battle of Kittanning, was a raid during the French and Indian War that led to the destruction of the American Indian village of Kittanning, which had served as a staging point for attacks by Lenape warriors against colonists in the British Province of Pennsylvania. Commanded by Lieutenant Colonel John Armstrong Sr., this raid deep into hostile territory was the only major expedition carried out by Pennsylvanian provincial troops during a brutal backcountry war. Early on September 8, 1756, they launched a surprise attack on the Indian village.

The Pocono Record is a daily newspaper published in print and online in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, United States.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Hunter Morris</span> American judge (1700–1764)

Robert Hunter Morris, was a prominent governmental figure in Colonial Pennsylvania, serving as governor of Pennsylvania and Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Draper's Meadow massacre</span> Attack by Shawnee warriors on a Virginia pioneer settlement in 1755.

The Draper's Meadow Massacre was an attack in July 1755, when the Draper's Meadow settlement in southwest Virginia, at the site of present day Blacksburg, was raided by a group of Shawnee warriors, who killed at least four people including an infant, and captured five more. The Indians brought their hostages to Lower Shawneetown, a Shawnee village in Kentucky. One of the captives, Mary Draper Ingles, later escaped and returned home on foot through the wilderness. Although many of the circumstances of the massacre are uncertain, including the date of the attack, the event remains a dramatic story in the history of Virginia.

Manada Gap is an unincorporated community in East Hanover Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, United States, located in the Harrisburg-Carlisle area, near Fort Indiantown Gap.

The Battle of Sideling Hill was an engagement in April 1756, between Pennsylvania Colonial Militia and a band of Lenape warriors who had attacked Fort McCord and taken a number of colonial settlers captive. The warriors were taking their captives back to their base at Kittanning when they were ambushed by the militia, but with the help of reinforcements, the Lenape fought off the militia and escaped. The battle is significant because it was the first engagement involving Pennsylvania Militia after Braddock's defeat.

<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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Shirley</span> 18th-century fort in colonial Pennsylvania

Fort Shirley was a military fort located in present-day Shirleysburg, Pennsylvania. It was built in 1755 by George Croghan and later maintained by the Province of Pennsylvania during the French and Indian War. Fort Shirley 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. Although two French and Native American war parties were sent to capture it, Fort Shirley was never attacked. The fort served as the launching site for the Kittanning Expedition in September 1756, after which it was abandoned.

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

The Minisink or Minisink Valley is a loosely defined geographic region of the Upper Delaware River valley in northwestern New Jersey, northeastern Pennsylvania and New York.

Indian Mountain Lake is a census-designated place (CDP) in Carbon County and Monroe County, Pennsylvania. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Depuy</span>

Fort Depuy, is located in Shawnee on Delaware, a village in Smithfield Township. It was one of many forts in Colonial Pennsylvania built in 1755 and 1756 during the French and Indian War.

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 Allen was a military structure built in Franklin Township, in Carbon County, Pennsylvania in 1756. It was first of several frontier defenses erected by Benjamin Franklin for the Province of Pennsylvania during the French and Indian War. The garrison was rarely more than fifty men, and the fort never saw combat, however it became a center of contact and trade with Native Americans and served as a stopping point for Indians traveling to and from Bethlehem, Easton and Philadelphia. It was abandoned in 1761 near the end of the French and Indian War, and briefly reoccupied during Pontiac's War and again during the American Revolutionary War.

Fort Bigham was a privately built stockaded blockhouse fort constructed in 1754 near present-day Honey Grove in Tuscarora Township, Juniata County, Pennsylvania. It was built by Samuel Bigham on his land to protect his family and neighbors from Indians. In June, 1756 the fort was attacked and the people in it, mostly women and children, were all captured or killed. The fort was largely destroyed. It was rebuilt in 1760 and abandoned in 1763.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gnadenhütten massacre (Pennsylvania)</span> Attack by Native American warriors on a Pennsylvania Moravian settlement in 1755.

The Gnadenhütten massacre was an attack during the French and Indian War in which Native allies of the French killed 11 Moravian missionaries at Gnadenhütten, Pennsylvania on 24 November 1755. They destroyed the mission village and took one woman prisoner, and only four of the sixteen residents escaped. Following the attack, Benjamin Franklin was commissioned by the Pennsylvania Provincial Council to construct forts in the area, and in other parts of the Province of Pennsylvania, to defend against Native American attacks, which were becoming increasingly frequent due to the French and Indian War.

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. Benjamin Franklin and his tie to Monroe County’s frontier forts September 2012 http://www.monroehistorical.org/articles/files/2012_09_fthamilton.html
  2. Monroe County’s frontier forts: Fort Hyndshaw. November 2012 http://www.monroehistorical.org/articles/files/2012_11_fthyndshaw.html
  3. DePuy: The peaceful homestead that became a fort. Pocono Record, October 14, 2012. http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20121014/FEATURES/210140312 Accessed March 4, 2014
  4. 1 2 One of Monroe's 'forgotten' forts gets marked. Pocono Record, June 22, 2003.