Forts of Southern Indiana

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Forts of Southern Indiana
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By Richard DayHistorianVincennes State Historic
Sites
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(No Transcript)
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Considerations for building forts

• Protection from Indians rather than Europeans
• (Indians had muskets, not cannons)
• For soldiers to project force into hostile area
• (built by army, with professional
  engineers)
• For settlers to gather in times of danger
  (stations often built by settlers or militia)
• Storage of supplies and ammunition

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Additional Considerations

• Number of troops available for defense (US Army
  was smallusually a company of 50-70 at fort)
• Ease of construction (time available, skill of
  men with axe, saw and shovel)
• Location need for high ground, near river or
  lake or road, or town (need for free fields of
  fire)
• Degree of permanence (forts were usually built
  for emergencies, few lasted 10 years)
• Cost

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Parts of a fort Walls

• Mostly wood, sometimes stone or earth
• Usually stockade of vertical logs, 12-16 feet
  long, 1 foot diameter, rough or squared,
  sharpened at top (sometimes horizontal logs)
• Set 4-5 feet in ground, connected with strips of
  wood, lined with boards or pickets
• With firing platforms for muskets or small cannon
• Shapes simple rectangle, star, pentagon,
  triangle, circle

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Stockade of vertical logs, 12-16 feet long, 1
foot diameter
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Stockades had raised firing platforms
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Parts of a fort bastions

• Bastions were projecting parts of the wall, at
  two or four corners, providing cross-fire along
  the face of the wall
• Half-bastions were smaller and easier to build
  (and cheaper)
• Ravelins were pointed projections erected in the
  centers of each wall

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Bastions (right) and half-bastions (left) were at
corners of fort
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Parts of a fort Blockhouses

• A blockhouse was a horizontal-log two-story
  building, with the second story often (but not
  always) projecting over the first. Blockhouses
  were at the corners of the fort, within, on top
  of, or in place of bastions. Blockhouses were
  often also part of the wall. They were used as
  barracks, officers quarters, and storage. A
  civilian fort often consisted of a two-story log
  residence with or without a stockade. Blockhouses
  had openings for muskets and cannon.

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Blockhouses were 2-story log buildings in the
corners of the stockade, and sometimes part of
the wall. They had openings for muskets and
cannon.
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Parts of a fort Other structures

• A powder magazine, usually sunk into the ground
  and with a fire-proof roof
• Blacksmiths shop
• Well
• Flagpole
• Suttlers shop
• Guard house
• Chapel
• Gates, main and back

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In 1732 Lt. Francois Marie Bissot, Sieur de
Vincennes, built a small fort on the banks of the
Ouabache River. It held his house and barracks
for 10 men. Around it grew a French village
named Poste de Vincennes. The French troops
left in 1764.
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Fort Sackville, British fort built in Vincennes,
1777, 200 feet square, with ravelins in middle
of sides. It had two 4-pound cannon and two
swivel cannon.
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British Lt. Gov. Henry Hamilton in 1779 removed
ravelins, added 2 blockhouses, 2 barracks, guard
house, well, flag pole, and 6-pound cannon
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Fort Sackville was captured by Col. George Rogers
Clark of Virginia on February 25, 1779. He
renamed it Fort Patrick Henry. The fort was
abandoned in 1782.
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Fort Sackville stood about where the esplanade is
in front of the George Rogers Clark Memorial
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In 1970-71 Indiana University archaeologists dug
in the esplanade in front of the Clark Memorial
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They found a tinkle cone, silver brooch, cross,
part of a clay pot, gun parts, chinaware, and
part of a clay pipe.
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They also found discolorations in the soil,
indicative of stockade walls.
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These features-- dubbed Wall A and Wall B--
located Fort Sackville in front of the Clark
Memorial.
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In 1788 Fort Knox was built at Vincennes A
Officers barracks 2 stories, B Soldiers barracks
one story, C Blockhouses 2 stories with platforms
to mount cannons on the upper stories,
hip-roofed, D Magazine sunk into the ground to
the eaves, E Blacksmiths shop, F Main gate over
which is built the guard house, G Sally port,
.... Palisades 14 ft. long, 11 ft. above
ground.
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Fort Knox was named for General Henry Knox, the
first Secretary of War, under George Washington.
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In 1800 William Henry Harrison was appointed
governor of the new Indiana Territory. He
decided to relocate Fort Knox north of Vincennes.
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In 1803 the new Fort Knox was built 3 miles north
of Vincennes.
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Fort Knox II was located on a bluff overlooking
the Wabash River.
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In 1963 archaeologists found features of Fort
Knox II
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Subsequent digs revealed that Fort Knox II had an
unusual fan-shaped stockade, with a full bastion
and 2 half-bastions. Gaps in the stockade line
marked the location of horizontal log structures.
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Documents showed the fort had a 2-story
blockhouse and 1-story barracks, powder magazine,
and a blacksmith shop just outside the wall.
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In 1813 Fort Knox II was dismantled, and the logs
floated downriver to build Fort Knox III. It had
a blockhouse, 3 bastions, 2-story Officers
Quarters and 1-story Barracks. It was closed in
1816.
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Fort Vallonia was typical of many small forts and
fortified houses used during the War of 1812.
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General John Gibson led a company of Rangers from
Fort Vallonia. He later became governor of
Indiana.
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In 1972 Fort Vallonia was reconstructed. It is
now the site of Fort Vallonia Days festival on
the 3rd weekend in October