Fort Lyttleton (Pennsylvania)

Last updated

Fort Lyttleton
Dublin Township, Fulton County, Pennsylvania, USA
USA Pennsylvania location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Fort Lyttleton
Location of Fort Lyttleton in Pennsylvania
Coordinates 40°3′46″N77°57′49″W / 40.06278°N 77.96361°W / 40.06278; -77.96361
TypeFort
Site history
Built1756
In use1756-1763
Battles/wars French and Indian War
Pontiac's Rebellion
Garrison information
Past
commanders
Captain Hance Hamilton [1]
George Croghan
Garrison25-225 troops
Designated1924

Fort Lyttleton, also known as Fort Littleton, was a militia stockade located in the colonial Province of Pennsylvania. Its site was about a mile from Fort Littleton, Pennsylvania, near Dublin Township, in what is now Fulton County, Pennsylvania. Active from 1755 until 1763, the stockade was initially garrisoned by 75 Pennsylvania troops but at times had as many as 225. It was in use until 1759, then abandoned and reoccupied briefly in 1763 during Pontiac's War.

Contents

Construction

Location of Fort Lyttleton (spelled Littleton here) at the easternmost end of the Forbes Road. French British Forts 1753 1758.png
Location of Fort Lyttleton (spelled Littleton here) at the easternmost end of the Forbes Road.

Fort Lyttleton was one of four forts constructed following General Edward Braddock's defeat on July 9, 1755, at the Battle of the Monongahela. At the beginning of the French and Indian War, Braddock's defeat left Pennsylvania without a professional military force. [2] Lenape chiefs Shingas and Captain Jacobs launched dozens of Shawnee and Delaware raids against British colonial settlements, [3] killing and capturing hundreds of colonists and destroying settlements across western and central Pennsylvania. [4] In late 1755, Colonel John Armstrong wrote to Governor Robert Hunter Morris: "I am of the opinion that no other means of defense than a chain of blockhouses along or near the south side of the Kittatinny Mountains from the Susquehanna to the temporary line, can secure the lives and property of the inhabitants of this country, the new settlements being all fled except Shearman's Valley." [5] :557 Construction was begun in December 1755. [6] :685

Reconstructed blockhouse and stockade similar in appearance to Fort Lyttleton Fort Meigs 03.jpg
Reconstructed blockhouse and stockade similar in appearance to Fort Lyttleton

On February 9, 1756, Governor Morris wrote to General William Shirley:

For the defense of our western frontier I have caused four forts to be built beyond the Kittochtinny Hills. One stands on the new road toward the Ohio opened by this Province, and about twenty miles from the settlement. I have called it Fort Lyttleton in honor of my friend, Sir George Lyttleton. The road will not only protect the inhabitants of that region, but being upon a road which in a few miles joins General Braddock's route, coming from Cumberland, Maryland...it will prevent the march of any regulars that may enter the Province, and at the same time, serve as an advance post or magazine to the westward. I have placed a garrison of seventy-five men at each of these forts and ordered them to range the woods each way. [7]

Governor Morris ordered George Croghan to construct these forts under the direction of Colonel Armstrong. Aside from Fort Lyttleton, construction began on Fort Morris in Shippensburg, Fort Loudoun, and Fort Carlisle. [8] At the time, Croghan lived on upper Aughwick Creek and was also able to supervise the construction of Fort Granville and Fort Shirley. [9] Governor Morris named Fort Lyttleton after Sir George Lyttleton, British Chancellor of the Exchequer (1709–1773). [10]

The fort was located near a Native American village known as Sugar Cabins, [11] at the eastern end of the Forbes Road and close to a well-traveled Native American trail leading from central Pennsylvania to the Ohio Country, with the intent that the fort would serve to monitor the passing of Indians engaged in trading as well as any war parties. [7]

According to a plan now located in the British Library, the fort was a 100-foot square stockade with bastions at the four corners, and 8 buildings inside, including four barracks, an officers' quarters, a gunpowder magazine, and two "stone buildings," probably a kitchen and a storehouse. [12] The Reverend Thomas Barton, an army chaplain who was stationed at Fort Loudoun, described Fort Lyttleton in a letter on July 21, 1758: "This Fort is a regular & well-plan'd Square Stockade of 126 Feet." [8] :8

Military history

1763 map of a route through southwest Pennsylvania from Fort Loudoun, Franklin County to Fort Pitt, Pittsburgh. Fort Lyttleton is shown near the bottom of the page. Map of a route through south west Pennsylvania from Fort Loudon, Franklin Co. to Fort Pitt, Pittsburgh. LOC gm71000599.jpg
1763 map of a route through southwest Pennsylvania from Fort Loudoun, Franklin County to Fort Pitt, Pittsburgh. Fort Lyttleton is shown near the bottom of the page.
1770 map of the Province of Pennsylvania showing Fort Littleton in the map's left lower quadrant To the Honorable Thomas Penn and Richard Penn, Esquires, true and absolute proprietaries and Governors of the Province of Pennsylvania and the territories thereunto belonging and to the Honorable John LOC 74692505.jpg
1770 map of the Province of Pennsylvania showing Fort Littleton in the map's left lower quadrant

The fort's first commander was Captain Hance Hamilton (1721–1772), who arrived soon after the capture and destruction of Fort McCord on April 1. [10] :542–545 On April 2, Captain Hamilton, together with Captain Chambers and Captain Culbertson, led a rescue force, which encountered Lenape reinforcements led by Shingas and suffered a number of casualties at the Battle of Sideling Hill. Captain Culbertson was killed, and his surviving troops retreated to Fort Lyttleton. [1] Soon after this, Elisha Salter, Commissary General, visited Carlisle and found the civilian populace abandoning their settlements in terror, after a series of brutal raids by Lenape and Shawnee warriors. [13] :108–109 He wrote to Governor Morris: "Upon my arrival here, I found the people in the greatest confusion, the troops abandoning the forts and the country people gathering in the greatest consternation...I have prevailed on the people...to escort me to Fort Littleton." [5] :555–556 The construction of four stronghold forts and several smaller secondary forts along the western Pennsylvania frontier provided some stability, although the destruction of Fort Granville in August raised fears that the forts were too far apart and too difficult to supply. [14] :392

In September, Armstrong led the Kittanning Expedition, rescuing 11 captives and killing the feared warrior Captain Jacobs. [4] Colonel Armstrong stopped for several days at Fort Lyttleton on his return from the Kittanning Expedition. [7] Captain Hugh Mercer was wounded during the fighting at Kittanning and was separated from the other troops. His return journey took two weeks before he "lay down, giving up all hopes of ever getting home." A "company of Cherokee Indians in kings pay" found him and carried him to Fort Lyttleton, where he recovered. [15] :164–65

By 1757, Fort Lyttleton began to attract Cherokee Indians seeking to support British troops as auxiliaries and also spies. In June 1757, Armstrong received reports that "a large Reinforcement of French and Indians from Canada & Mississippi" at Fort Duquesne "wou'd...endeavor to cutt off the back Inhabitants." Cherokees then informed Armstrong that they had seen "a large Body of French and Indians, and a great Number of Carriages & Horses" at Fort Duquesne; and that on June 10 an enemy force was following Braddock's road toward Fort Cumberland. Colonel John Stanwix, evidently concerned that Fort Loudoun would not withstand an assault, "dispatched off 2 Companies of Col. Armstrong's Battalion to Fort Littleton with orders to destroy it & bring away all the Provisions & Stores to Fort Loudoun." This order was evidently not obeyed, and on June 28, Stanwix wrote to Armstrong that he had "augmented the Garrison at Fort Lyttleton, 150 Men." [14] :418

The fort was later used as one of the supply forts along the Forbes Road in the successful 1758 Forbes Expedition to capture Fort Duquesne. The fort was abandoned in July 1759, during the construction of Fort Pitt. [14] :477

In June 1763, George Croghan raised a volunteer company of 25 men to re-occupy the fort in response to Pontiac's War. The fort saw no action and Colonel Henry Bouquet, marching from Carlisle in late July, found the fort abandoned. [7] [5] :555–58 The fort was in ruins by 1764. [16]

Archaeology

In August 2013, forty shovel test pits, each 50 centimeters square, were dug in the area behind the 1924 historical marker, where local residents have found part of a 4.5 centimeter swivel gun believed to have been used at Fort Lyttleton. Test pits were also dug on an adjacent property where a tavern, a blacksmith shop and a wheelwright's shop are thought to have stood. Future digs will focus on the 4.9-acre plot owned by the Archaeological Conservancy where the fort was located. [17]

Legacy

In 1767, the town of Fort Lyttleton (later renamed Fort Littleton) was established near the fort's former location. [18]

In 1924, a historical marker was erected on the site of the fort by the Pennsylvania Historical Commission and the Fulton County Historical Society. [19] In 1967, a second marker was erected in Dublin Township by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, but in 2023 it was reported missing. [20]

See also

Related Research Articles

<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.

Shingas was a Lenape chief and warrior who participated in military activities in Ohio Country during the French and Indian War. Allied with the French, Shingas led numerous raids on Anglo-American settlements during the war, for which he was nicknamed "Shingas the Terrible" by the settlers. The colonial governments of Pennsylvania and Virginia responded to these raids by placing a bounty on Shingas.

<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.

Tewea, better known by his English name Captain Jacobs, was a Lenape chief during the French and Indian War. Jacobs received his English name from a Pennsylvanian settler named Arthur Buchanan, who thought the chief resembled a "burly German in Cumberland County."

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 Juniata Crossing</span> 18th century fort in colonial Pennsylvania

Fort Juniata Crossing, also known as Fort Juniata or simply Juniata Crossing, was a British French and Indian War era fortification located along the Forbes Road, near a strategic ford of the Raystown Branch of the Juniata River about 2.4 miles (3.9 km) west of the current site of Breezewood, Pennsylvania. It was built in 1758 as a fortified supply depot, to support the British Army during the Forbes Expedition. After the campaign, it fell into disrepair and was abandoned in 1763.

<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.

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.

Muskingum was a Wyandot village in southeastern Ohio from 1747 to 1755. It was an important trade center in the early 1750s, until it was devastated by smallpox in the winter of 1752. The town was repopulated for a short time afterwards, then abandoned again as a new community was established by Netawatwees a few miles to the east at Gekelukpechink. The city of Coshocton, Ohio was founded close to the site of the village in 1802.

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

Saucunk or Sawcunk was a town established by the Lenape and Shawnees. It was the site of a Catholic mission and was visited by Conrad Weiser, Christian Frederick Post and George Croghan. The Lenape chiefs Tamaqua, Pisquetomen, Captain Jacobs and Shingas all lived there temporarily. Saucunk was abandoned after the Battle of Bushy Run in 1763.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tamaqua (Lenape chief)</span> Lenape chief

Tamaqua or Tamaque, also known as The Beaver and King Beaver, was a leading man of the Unalachtigo (Turkey) phratry of the Lenape people. Although the Haudenosaunee in 1752 had appointed Shingas chief of the Lenape at the Treaty of Logstown, after the French and Indian War Tamaqua rose in prominence through his active role as peace negotiator, and was acknowledged by many Lenape as their "king" or chief spokesman. He was among the first to hand over English captives at the end of the French and Indian War and was active in peace negotiations at the conclusion of Pontiac's War. By 1758, he was recognized as one of three principal leaders of the Lenape, being the primary spokesman for the western Lenape in the Ohio Country. He founded the town of Tuscarawas, Ohio, in 1756 and died there in 1769 or 1771.

Keekyuscung aka Kickyuscung, Kaquehuston, Kikyuskung, Ketiuscund, Kekeuscund, or Ketiushund, was a Delaware (Lenape) chief. In the 1750s he took part in peace negotiations to end Lenape participation in the French and Indian War. In 1754 he briefly engaged in some spying and smuggled some letters into and out of Fort Duquesne for George Washington. He was sympathetic to the British for many years, but in 1763 he and his son Wolf sided with the French after a failed assassination attempt by Colonel Henry Bouquet. He is known for being one of the Native American leaders that attacked Colonel Bouquet's forces at the Battle of Bushy Run, where Keekyuscung was killed.

Hugh Gibson was an American pioneer and a Pennsylvania frontiersman. In 1756, when he was 14 years old, his farm was attacked by Lenape Indians and he was taken prisoner. He was adopted as a brother by Pisquetomen, a Lenape chief, and lived for three years with the Lenape, moving to several different communities. In 1759 he escaped, together with three other captives.

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">Great Cove massacre</span> Attack by Lenape and Shawnee warriors on a Pennsylvania pioneer settlement in 1755

The Great Cove massacre was an attack by Shawnee and Lenape warriors led by Shingas, on the community of Great Cove, Pennsylvania on 1 November 1755, in which about 50 settlers were killed or captured. Following the attack, settlers returned to the community to rebuild, and the Provincial Council of Pennsylvania began constructing a chain of forts and blockhouses to protect settlers and fend off further raids. These forts provided an important defense during 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.

Fort Henry was a stockade fort built in early 1756 in Berks County, Pennsylvania, to protect local settlers from Native American war parties, which were raiding the area frequently during the French and Indian War. It was one of the larger forts built in a defensive line, 12-20 miles apart, intended to safeguard the more densely-populated communities of the eastern Province of Pennsylvania. It was abandoned in 1759, and then briefly put back into use in 1763 during Pontiac's War.

References

  1. 1 2 B. F. M. MacPherson, "Some History on Col. Hance Hamilton, part 1 of 2," in The Gettysburg Times, Saturday, February 22, 1958, Page 6
  2. Samuel J. Newland, The Pennsylvania Militia: Defending the Commonwealth and the Nation, 1669–1870, Annville, PA, 2002
  3. Matthew C. Ward, Breaking the Backcountry: The Seven Years’ War in Virginia and Pennsylvania, 1754–1765, Pittsburgh, 2003
  4. 1 2 William Albert Hunter, "Victory at Kittanning", Pennsylvania History, vol. 23, no. 3, July 1956; pp 376-407
  5. 1 2 3 Thomas Lynch Montgomery, ed. Report of the Commission to Locate the Site of the Frontier Forts of Pennsylvania, vol 1, Harrisburg, PA: W.S. Ray, state printer, 1916
  6. Roberts, Robert B., Encyclopedia of Historic Forts: the military, pioneer, and trading posts of the United States, New York: Macmillan, 1988
  7. 1 2 3 4 Elsie Greathead, The History of Fulton County, Pennsylvania The Fulton County News, McConnellsburg PA, 1936
  8. 1 2 William A. Hunter, "Fort Loudoun Revisited," Cumberland County History, vol 12, no. 1, Summer 1995; pp. 3-12
  9. Alan Gallay, Colonial Wars of North America, 1512-1763: An Encyclopedia, Routledge Revivals, 2015 ISBN   1317487184
  10. 1 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
  11. "Enclosure: William Trent to Adam Stephen, 21 January 1756," Founders Online, National Archives. From The Papers of George Washington, Colonial Series, vol. 2, 14 August 1755 – 15 April 1756, ed. W. W. Abbot. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1983, pp. 307–309.
  12. "Plan of Fort Littleton," copy from the Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center at the Boston Public Library
  13. Eric Hinderaker, Peter C. Mancall, At the Edge of Empire: The Backcountry in British North America, Regional Perspectives on Early America. JHU Press, 2003 ISBN   0801871379
  14. 1 2 3 Hunter, William Albert. Forts on the Pennsylvania Frontier: 1753–1758, (Classic Reprint). Fb&c Limited, 2018.
  15. Robert Robison, "Colonel J. Armstrong's Attack on the Kittaning", in A Selection of some of the most interesting narratives of outrages committed by the Indians in their wars with the white people, Archibald Loudon, ed. Carlisle: A. Loudon Press, 1811
  16. "Fort Lyttleton." FortWiki.com
  17. Adam Watson, "James Creek native unearths history of Fort Littleton," The Daily News, Huntington, PA: August 23, 2013
  18. "History of Dublin Township," in History of Bedford, Somerset, and Fulton Counties, Pennsylvania, Chicago: Waterman, Watkins & Co., 1884; pp. 594-601, 659-664
  19. William Fischer, "Fort Lyttleton Historical Marker," February 7, 2023
  20. William Fischer, "Fort Lyttelton," July 2, 2023