New York Forts

American Forts: East

NEW YORK

Last Update: 14/NOVEMBER/2010

Fort Montgomery (2)
(1844 - 1910), Rouses Point FORT WIKI
Construction on the Fort at Rouses Point, aka "Fort Blunder", began in late 1816, but was halted in 1819 because it was thought to be on Canadian soil. It was a 30-foot high octagonal structure built upon a foundation consisting largely of debris brought up from the demolished ruins of the Plattsburgh batteries and outworks. Much of the material was carried off by the locals after it was abandoned. Construction was resumed in 1844 on a much larger 2.5-acre three-level casemated and moated masonry work for 125 guns, after the border was moved to match the latest survey of 1842. The fort was first garrisoned in 1862, mostly by the civilian workers as a "defense force", but was never fully manned or armed to its potential. By 1886 there were only about 74 guns mounted. A small advanced redoubt was located on the mainland to the west at the so-called "Commons". The Army proposed in the 1880's to close Plattsburgh Barracks in favor of Fort Montgomery, but it was rejected by the Plattsburgh populace. A bridge project in 1936 (US 2) cannibalized many of the original stones of the old fort. Only one outer wall and three bastions remain from the pentagon-shaped fortress, now overgrown. Private property.

East Battery
(1814), Champlain
A battery built by troops under General George Izard. Marker located on Pine Street.

Point Au Fer Fort
(1775 - 1796), Point au Fer
A Patriot sympathizer's (William Gilliland) fortified stone dwelling, built only a few years earlier, known as the White House, stockaded with brick barracks and cannon for a Patriot garrison. It was abandoned after the failed 1775 expedition to Québec City, but the British did not actually garrison the post until 1777. The British did not relinquish the post until the 1796 Jay Treaty, but it was not thereafter used by the Americans. The stone house burned down in 1805. Some traces may still be extant on private property.

Plattsburgh War of 1812 Defenses
(War of 1812 Trail)
(1812 - 1815), Plattsburgh
Cantonment Plattsburgh was the main encampment during the war, located along the Saranac River. By 1814 the compound was composed of 40 log structures inside the pentagon formed by the five forts. After 1815 the post was garrisoned intermittently until 1825.
The following defenses were built in 1814, about one year after the initial British attack on the town (July 1813):
Fort Brown (eight guns), located at 5307 Peru Street (still exists). Now a municipal park.
Fort Moreau (12 guns), located on the ridge (monument only).
Fort Scott (eight guns), located on the bluff by Lake Champlain (monument only).
After the Battle of Plattsburgh (September 1814), two additional forts were built, Fort Tompkins (2) (three guns) south of Fort Brown, and Fort Gaines (four guns) south of Fort Scott, forming a pentagon with the previous three forts.
A marker for a blockhouse is on Hamilton Street.
Three other blockhouses were also built near the river's mouth.
The Battle of Plattsburgh Interpretive Center is located at 31 Washington Road.

Crab Island in 1814 had a two-gun battery and hospital.
Located on Cumberland Head in 1814 was a temporary four-gun heavy battery with a rear redoubt, known as Fort Izard (2). It was abandoned after only a few weeks as it was found to be useless for defense.

In 1814 the British built a seige battery just north of the mouth of the Saranac River, at the Kent-DeLord House (British artillery headquarters), located at 17 Cumberland Ave.. The house is now a museum.

Plattsburgh Barracks
(Plattsburgh Airbase Redevelopment Corporation)
(1838 - 1946/1995), Plattsburgh FORT WIKI
Several new stone structures were built in the 1830's, slightly south of the former war-time cantonment. The "Old Stone Barracks" (1839) still remain, which was used as the enlisted barracks and post hospital. A brick powder magazine is located adjacent to the barracks. The 1839 Officers' quarters was demolished in 1964. Beginning in 1892 the post was relocated and greatly expanded just to the south of the old post. A new parade ground was built over the sites of the earlier 1814 "pentagon" forts. The Clinton County History Museum (admission fee) is located at 98 Ohio Ave. in a former barracks building (since 2010). The "Citizen's Military Training Camp at Plattsburgh" in 1917 was the forerunner of the establishment of the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC). Later the post was greatly enlarged and became the Plattsburgh Air Force Base (1953 - 1995), a major SAC base which is now closed. It was the command headquarters of a regional 12-missile ATLAS-F ICBM squadron from 1961 - 1965.

Plattsburgh Arsenal
(1810 - 1813), Plattsburgh
A state arsenal once located on the Saranac River at then Fredenburgh Falls, about two miles inland from the lake on present-day Broad Street. Also here were an armory, hospital, militia blockhouse, and cantonment area. It was destroyed by the British in July 1813.

Peru Blockhouse
(1794), Peru
A settlers' blockhouse located on the Little Ausable River about four miles east of the town center.

Willborough Blockhouse
(1797 - 1798), Essex
A blockhouse supposedly built for protection from Indians. It was later used as the first county courthouse from 1799 - 1807. Marker on NY 22.

Elizabethtown Arsenal
(1811 - 1848), Elizabethtown
A stone magazine and state arsenal was once located here. Marker on US 9.

Fort at Crown Point (State Historic Site)
(1759 - 1783), Crown Point FORT WIKI
Located here are the ruins of French Fort St. Frédéric (1735 - 1759), a 300-foot square 62-gun stone work, which was destroyed in July 1759 to avoid capture by the British. It included a four-story octagon stone tower and stone barracks, garrisoned by 100 men. It was formally named in 1738, and enlarged in 1742. A stone windmill was built in 1738 outside the ramparts. Originally here before that was the French Fort Pointe à la Chevelure (date ?), a 50-foot square stockade with bastions, garrisoned by only 20 men.

The British then built their new fort adjacent to the French ruins, a five-bastioned pentagon covering six and one-half acres, with over 100 guns. It was the largest singular British work in colonial America. Some later historians have referred to the British fort as Fort Amherst (2), although there is no official record of that name. Grenadier's Fort was built to the east, Light Infantry of Regiments Redoubt was built to the southeast, and Gage's Redoubt was built to the southwest. A fire partially destroyed the fort in 1773, it was never completely rebuilt. Crown Point was occupied by Patriot forces from May 1775 to October 1776. Many of the guns were transported to Boston, MA in 1775. Reoccupied by British troops through the end of the war.
See also Crown Point Tour from A Revolutionary Day Along Historic US Route 7

Fort Ticonderoga
(1755 - 1796), near Ticonderoga FORT WIKI
French Fort Vaudreuil (1750) was originally located here, a small stockade. The French later built Fort Carillon, a massive stone and timber fort. The British unsuccessfully attacked in July 1758, but finally took it from the French in July 1759. Patriot forces captured it in May 1775 and sent most of its guns to Boston, MA. The British recaptured it in July 1777 but abandoned it in 1780. The Americans did not make much use of the fort later, although it was at the de facto northern border until the 1796 Jay Treaty. It was demolished after it was finally abandoned in 1796. Much of the fort was reconstructed privately in 1908. Admission fee.
See also Fort Ticonderoga Tour from A Revolutionary Day Along Historic US Route 4 || Forts Carillon and Ticonderoga from America's Historic Lakes.org

Fortifications on Mount Defiance, located nearby, were linked to this fort, as were those on Mount Independence in Vermont (see also). Mount Hope Blockhouse was located one-half mile from the town guarding the portage from Lake George. It was originally built in 1756 by the French, and then used by the British, and later the Patriots after it was rebuilt in 1776. It was restored in 1947. Lothbinière Battery (1756) was built by the French on the point on the lake below Fort Carillon. On Lake George to the south of town the British built two blockhouses at Black Point in 1759 to guard the narrows and portage landing. The French also had a redoubt here in 1756. Markers on Black Point Road.

Fort Skenesborough
(1759 - 1783, 1814 - 1815), near Whitehall
Originally named Fort Wilkens, it consisted of a stockaded blockhouse and barracks located on a hill to the west of Wood Creek (between the present-day Presbyterian Church and the Masonic Temple). It was found dilapidated when the Patriots took control of the site in 1775. The Patriots then built a new fort here, and also a shipyard at the harbor for Benedict Arnold's Lake Champlain fleet. The British briefly captured the fort in July 1777, also fortifying a nearby livestock barn. After the Patriot victory at Saratoga in 1777, the fort and shipyard were back in Patriot hands. The fort and shipyard were again raided by the British in 1780.

During the War of 1812, a new blockhouse and barracks (aka Philipsburg Blockhouse) were built on the old fort's site by the Americans to protect the shipyard that was again in operation. The town was originally named Skenesborough, and may have been named Philipsburg before it was renamed Whitehall. See also Whitehall Tour from A Revolutionary Day Along Historic US Route 4 || History of the Town of Whitehall
Also of interest in town on Skenesborough Drive is the Skenesborough Museum, which has the remains of the schooner U.S.S. Ticonderoga (1814) on exhibit.

Fort Anne (3)

(1692 - 1780, intermittent), Fort Ann FORT WIKI
The site of a fortified British camp in 1690 during King William's War, on the original portage to Lake Champlain from the Hudson River. In 1692 the site was again used by the British on their way to Canada, building the first fort here, Old Stone Fort (1), which was really a rough earthwork. In 1709 Fort Schuyler (1) was built at the site. It was a palisaded work, about 140 feet square, with two log barracks, and 20-foot square blockhouses at each corner. It was burned down that same year. In 1711 the fort was rebuilt and named Queen's Fort (3), then renamed Fort Anne upon completion. It was abandoned in 1712 when reinforcements failed to arrive to drive back the French. In 1755 it was rebuilt again with a stone arsenal and powder magazine. The site of the arsenal is on West Fort Ann Road near the Mud Brook Bridge, west of the Union Cemetery. The bridge was built using stone from the arsenal. In 1766 Cheshire's Blockhouse was built on an island at Kane's Falls, one mile away, to protect a newly built sawmill. In 1769 Mud Fort, a simple earthwork, was built at Needhamville, but was abandoned shortly thereafter. In July 1777 Fort Anne served as a fortified base for Patriot forces. It was burned as they fell back to Fort Edward after Fort Ticonderoga fell to the British advancing south from Canada. The Patriots rebuilt the fort sometime after the Battle of Saratoga (Sept. - Oct. 1777). The British captured the fort in October 1780. Excavations were done in 1954, and a non-historic replica blockhouse was built on George Street (US 4). It now houses a commercial bank. The town was organized as Westfield in 1784, but was renamed Fort Ann in 1808.
See also Fort Anne Tour from A Revolutionary Day Along Historic US Route 4

¤ Forts of the Great Portage

¤ Diamond Island Supply Depot ?
(1777), Diamond Island, Lake George
A British supply depot was located on Diamond Island after they captured Fort George (3) from the Patriots in July 1777. The Patriots attacked the island in September 1777 during the attack on Fort George (3). Located about one and one-half miles southwest of Long Island. Marker located on NY 9N near Diamond Point.

¤ Fort William Henry (2)
(Fort William Henry Corporation)
(1755 - 1757), Lake George FORT WIKI
A square palisade with four bastions, and log barracks. The British surrendered it to the French in August 1757. After the surrender Indians massacred the troops and their dependents, and the French troops burned all the bodies with the fort in a huge bonfire. The charred ruins were buried by the British in 1758 upon the building of Fort George (3). The fort was reconstructed beginning in 1953. Admission fee. See also The Battle of Lake George/Bloody Pond (September 1755), and The Battle of Fort William Henry (August 1757) by James P. Millard

¤ Fort George (3)
(Lake George Battlefield Park)
(1759 - 1787), Lake George
Located one-half mile southeast of Fort William Henry within Lake George Battlefield Park. The site was a British fortified camp in 1755, and a British barracks and hospital complex in 1758. Only the southwest bastion of the fort was ever completed. Patriots captured this fort in May 1775, but the British held it in July-September 1777 and again in October 1780. The New York state militia occupied the fort after the war until 1787. The eastern wall and southwest bastion were partially reconstructed in the 1930's.

¤ Fort Gage
(1759 - 1760), Lake George
An earthwork fort located one-half mile south of Fort George. No remains.

¤ Fort Williams (2)
(1759 - 1760), near French Mountain
Located three miles south of Fort George. A post may have been built here as early as 1755.

¤ Fort Amherst (1)
(1759 - 1760, 1775 - 1780), Queensbury Township, Warren County
Located at the halfway point between Fort Edward and Fort George, on the south bank of Halfway Brook, just north of the Glens Falls city limits. It was first called Fort Miller (2). Rebuilt in 1775 by Patriot forces, occupied in 1777 by Hessian troops, burned by the British in October 1780.

Nearby was British Halfway Brook Post (1755 - 1760), aka Seven Mile Post, a stockaded blockhouse on the south bank.

¤ Fort Edward
(Old Fort House Museum)
(Rogers Island Visitor Center)
(1755 - 1766, 1777 - 1780), Fort Edward FORT WIKI
Originally named Fort Lyman in 1755. It was rebuilt and renamed in 1757 after a fire. A small battery was located on nearby Rodgers Island. The Royal Blockhouse (1) (1758) was located on the west side of the river. Another small blockhouse was located on a hill to the north (marker on Bridge Street). The fort was partially demolished in 1766. The present-day house on the site of the northeast bastion was built in 1772 by Patrick Smyth from the remaining timbers of the fort (Old Fort House Museum). Patriot forces used the site as a camp from 1776 to 1777. Became the Patriot base of operations after the recapture of Fort Ticonderoga by the British in July 1777. A Patriot blockhouse was located on present-day Case Street (marker at site) in July 1777. Abandoned and then occupied by the British on their advance to Saratoga. After the Battle of Saratoga (October 1777), Patriot forces under Gen. John Stark took over the Smyth House and erected a stockade around it, naming it Fort Stark (1). Due to course changes in the Hudson River over the years, most of the extant remnants of Fort Edward are now to be found on Rogers Island, which is now much enlarged. The Rogers Island Visitor Center opened in 2001. Admission fee to the Fort House.
See also Fort Edward Tour from A Revolutionary Day Along Historic US Route 4

British Fort Nicholson, a simple stockade, was first located here in 1709, followed by Fort Lydius from 1731 - 1745 to protect a trading post built by John Henry Lydius, the first white settler of the area. It was destroyed by the French. British Four Mile Post (1755 - 1760) was located four miles to the north.

¤ Fort Misery
(1755 - 1764, 1777), Fort Edward Township, Washington County
A palisaded blockhouse south of Fort Edward on Moses Kill. It was abandoned, but briefly used by Patriots in 1777 to guard the south approach to Fort Edward.

Fort Miller (1)
(1755 - unknown, 1777), Northumberland Township, Saratoga County
A British palisaded blockhouse built by Col. Samuel Miller that was actually on the west side of the river, across from the town of Fort Miller. It was used by the British and later Patriots during the American Revolution.

A British fort may have been built here as early as 1709.

Flatts Stockade
(1715 - 1745), Schuylerville
A fortified and palisaded brick house (Peter Schuyler's Manor) which was burned by the French in November 1745. Located on the bluff on the south side of the mouth of Fish Creek.

Fort Hardy
(1755 - unknown), Schuylerville
A British supply post on the north side of the mouth of Fish Creek. Site located on Ferry Street (NY 29). The actual site of the fort is not within the present boundary of Fort Hardy Park.

Fort Clinton (1) ?
(1746 - 1747), near Schuylerville
Located just south of town. It was the replacement for Fort Saratoga (1702 - 1744, rebuilt 1721 and 1739), which had been destroyed by the French. Attacked by the French in June 1747. The fort was finally abandoned and burned in the fall of 1747. This site may have been used by Patriots during the American Revolution.

Located here originally (or closer to Coveville ?) was the British blockhouse Fort Vrooman (1689 - 1695), built by Col. Peter Schuyler on the land of Dutch settler Bartel Vrooman. It was destroyed by the French.

Located nearby to the west in Kings Station, Wilton Township, was the site of the "Battle of Wilton" (February 1693) between the British and French. Marker on NY 36.

Fort Saraghtoga
(1704 - 1713), Easton Township, Washington County
A British 12-gun fort, 150-by-140 feet, for 450 troops. Located directly across the Hudson River from Fort Saratoga (see above). It was demolished upon abandonment.

Fort Williams (3)
(1775 - 1777), Salem
Originally built in 1774 as the New England Presbyterian church, converted to barracks by the Patriots in 1775, and then fortified (stockaded), known as White Creek Fort. It was renamed in 1776, and destroyed (burned) by the British in August 1777. The church was rebuilt in 1783. The current structure (1836) on the site is now the Fort Salem Theater. The town was formally named in 1788.

Camp Washington
(1861 - 1862), Salem
A Civil War training camp.

Of interest in Saratoga Springs is the New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center, opened in 2002.

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