Fort George

“ It is the depot of the Seaforth Highlanders, and a military training-ground of some size and importance because the surrounding country gives ample facilities for exercise and manœuvres. General Wade’s road is maintained in good order. Fort George, it is said, had almost been chosen as the place of detention for Napoleon when the claims of St Helena were put forward. About 2 m. S.E. is the fishing village of Campbelltown, in growing repute as a seaside resort. Midway between the fort and Inverness stands Castle Stuart, a shooting-box of the earl of Moray. ”

“ They are repairing Fort George, and building a new fort at York. A number of boats are daily employed, manned by their soldiers, plying between Fort George and Queenston, carrying stores, lime and pickets, for necessary repairs, and to cap the whole, they are making and using every argument and persuasion to induce the Indians to join them, and we are [Pg 11] informed the Mohawks have volunteered their service. ”

“ They are scarcely qualified to enjoy the common comforts of life, even if their indolence did not prevent the attempt to procure them.
On the afternoon of the 8th, we anchored off Fort George, as it is called, although perhaps it scarcely deserves the name of a fort, being composed of but one principal house of hewn boards, and a number of small Indian huts surrounding it, presenting the appearance, from a distance, of an ordinary small farm house with its appropriate outbuildings. There is but one white man residing here, the superintendent of the fort ”

“ Fort George is completely commanded by the neighboring heights, and of Gage’s hill it is within fair musket-shot. On this hill, however, the English kept a fort, the remains of the redoubt being still visible. It is remarkable that every old fort from the Canada line to Albany is commanded by highlands in its vicinity. When they were built, there was but little apprehension of artillery. Even the strong and important fort of Ticonderoga was effectually commanded by mount Defiance, a circumstance which proved disastrous to the American arms. ”

“ Farther to the westward is Brigadier's Island, and the bay expanding three leagues over to Belfast.
VIEW FROM FORT GEORGE.
Fort George, a square, bastioned work, is the best preserved earth-work of its years in New England. A few hours would put it in a very tolerable condition of defense. The moat, excavated down to the solid rock, is intact; the esplanade hardly broken in outline. The position of the barracks, magazine, and guard-house may be easily traced on the parade, though no buildings now remain inside the fortress. The approach on three sides is by a steep ascent ”

“ Lay a wager you can't do it! Can't possibly set fire to a fort by red-hot shot!"
Then at night time, when the lurid glare of flame lights up the foggy darkness, the old gentleman is put to his trumps. "See!" they say; "Fort George is on fire"; and over at Fort George the bucket brigade works hard as the cannoneers. But the fog is too good a chance to be missed by Chauncey; rowing out with muffled oars all the nights of May 24 and 25, he has his men sounding ... sounding ... sounding in silence the channel, right within pistol shot of Fort George. ”

“ There is a fortress on the extremity of a tongue of land which juts into the Moray Firth, the country round about which is destitute of houses or of trees--a dreary, forsaken desert devoid of vegetation. The very place! The obdurate ruffians should be transported to Fort George, as soon as it could be made strong enough to keep them safe. ”

“ The members of the youngest of these Historical Societies feel that they may congratulate themselves on being able to place in the hands of the public the story which so far has not yet been told of the Taking of Fort George, told too in a style so clear, so dispassionate, and shewing such deep research, a story of troublesome times, which so told can not but be helpful to old and young of every nationality. ”

“ FORT GEORGE, Clatsop County. The North West Company took over Astoria and the Astor enterprise in October, 1813, and the Astor post was named Fort George, presumably in compliment to King George III. Franchere says that the bargain for the transfer was signed on October 23, 1813, but he does not say that the name was changed on that date. Captain William Black of the British sloop of war Racoon was in the Columbia River in December and pulled down the American flag on December 12 or 13. In his report to the Admiralty Black says that he named the post Fort George. ”

“ Fort George was garrisoned by Ormond's company of the 49th, and a detachment of militia artillery amounting in the whole to about 130 men. The gunners serving with the field artillery being not more than half the usual complement, additional men were attached from the infantry. The batteries were entirely manned by volunteers from the regulars and militia. The whole force was turned out every morning at two o'clock, and remained under arms until daylight. The staff officers set a conspicuous example of activity and watchfulness. ”

“ Never, perhaps, has a stranger scene been witnessed than the banks of the Niagara River presented on that September night: the dark ramparts of the fort, every now and then illumined by the flash of the defenders' guns, or suddenly revealed by the red light of a salvo from the hostile trenches; in the open plain beyond, the white tents and the huts of the besieging army; and further on, the watch-fires of the advanced guard throwing their flickering glare upon the lofty arches of the forest, and upon the scattered groups of the British soldiery and Indian warriors. ”

“ Always the same kindly gentleman and always a soldier. His life at Fort George had been one of great loneliness. He read much and rapidly, and would memorize passages from the books that had left the deepest impression. ”

“ The British, under the command of Colonel Murray, scarcely amounting to 500 men, including Indians and militia, immediately occupied Fort George. The barbarous policy of the American Government in destroying Newark, exasperated the army as well as the inhabitants on the frontier, of whose impatience for retaliation General Drummond promptly availed himself after the occupation of Fort George, by adopting the resolution of carrying the American Fort Niagara by surprise. ”

“ Towards the close of May 1813, the Americans, after having hotly bombarded Fort George on the Niagara frontier, for two successive days, crossed the river and succeeded in establishing themselves in that post which was evacuated as untenable. The British loss on this occasion was considerable, and General Vincent, who commanded the army of the centre, retreated with much precipitation towards Burlington Heights, withdrawing at the same time the garrison from Fort Erie. ”

“ On landing at Whitehall Slip they were saluted by a discharge of cannon from Fort George, and welcomed ashore by Lieutenant Governor De Lancey, members of his majesty’s council and many of the principal gentlemen of the city. The city militia had been ordered to muster and were drawn up so as to line the street as the gentlemen passed on to the fort, where they drank his majesty’s and all the loyal healths with success to the English-American enterprises. They then proceeded through the lines still formed by the militia to the New York Arms, on Broadway. ”

“ Forts Ann and George were captured, by a mixed force of Canadians, Indians, and British regulars, in October. Fort Edward was saved through the sagacity of Colonel Livingston, who, having a garrison of only seventy-nine men, averted attack by sending to the commanding officer of Fort George an exaggerated report of his own strength, with a promise to come to his aid. This was designed to be intercepted, and the British regulars had actually approached Saratoga, before their return to Lake Champlain. ”

“ The difficulty of drawing supplies from fort George would increase every day with the increasing distance; and the communications, already endangered by a considerable body of militia assembling at White Creek, could be secured only by larger detachments from his army than he was in a condition to make. These were strong inducements to attempt some other mode of supply.
Colonel Baum is detached to seize the magazines at Bennington. ”

“ The fire from the fort was deliberate; and, being directed with skill, did vast execution. The garrison united the cool determined courage of veterans, with the enthusiastic ardour of youth. General Lee crossed over in a boat, to determine whether he should withdraw them; and was enraptured with the ardour they displayed. They assured him they would lose the fort only with their lives; and the mortally wounded breathed their last, exhorting their fellow soldiers to the most heroic defence of the place. ”

“ On the 23rd of August the troops reached Port Royal, on the south side of the island, where they formed a camp and erected Fort George to defend the harbour, as well as Fort Frederick on the western part of it. A proportion of the Americans, who were papists, formed a plot to render the settlement abortive, and to rise upon the Marines. Her Majesty’s ship, the Litchfield, then in the harbour, hearing the alarm-guns, instantly landed her party of Marines, who, [32] with those on shore, soon checked the daring mutiny, secured the delinquents, and preserved the settlement to the British Crown. ”

“ The English, under General Abercrombie and the young Lord Howe, quartered at Fort George in 1758, preparatory to an attack upon the French posts upon Lake Champlain. Seven thousand regulars and nine thousand provincial troops were there assembled, with a one train of artillery and all necessary military stores, the largest and best-appointed army yet seen in America. On the 5th of July they embarked on Lake George, on board nine hundred bateaux and one hundred and thirty-five whale-boats, and the next day landed at the foot of the lake and pushed on toward Ticonderoga. ”

“ Here there was no likeness to anything so formal; the army manœuvres partook of the wild luxuriance of native growths. If twelve were the hour for muster on the common at Fort George, it was sure to be after one before the arduous work of falling in began. “The men answered to their names, as the rolls of the various companies were called, with a readiness and distinctness of tone which showed that, in spite of the weather, they were wide-awake,” says the chronicle. Once they became more active a scene ensued which could not fail to gladden the eyes of the onlookers. ”

“ General Armstrong, who, as Secretary of War, was eager to justify his own conduct, declared that "if instead of concentrating his whole force, naval and military, on the water side of the enemy's defences he had divided the attack and crossed the Niagara below Lewiston and advanced on Fort George by the Queenston road, the investment of that place would have been complete and a retreat of the garrison rendered impracticable." ”

“ Like all American forts, it was formed with earthen ramparts, covered by rich green turf, and defended by tall stockades of dry white timber. Within were seen the shingle-covered roofs of the low barrack buildings, tarred and painted black, and all glistening in the sunshine. Two of the lower bastions were faced with stone and washed by the azure water of Lake George, while a deep fosse secured the fort on the landward, and dangerous morasses protected its flanks. Beyond lay a cleared space, where the timber of the old primeval forest had been cut down for garrison purposes. ”

“ A fort called Messasauga was built after the campaign of 1813 by the British as a defense to Fort George, and being re-enforced by General Riall, he moved to Burlington Heights on Lake Ontario. It was General Brown's intention to capture these forts before beginning further or more extended operations. ”

“ She carried despatches from Sir Peter Parker, giving Lord Howe the information which had been received, and requesting that reinforcements might immediately be sent to the island. The people on shore were actively engaged in strengthening Fort George, Fort Augusta, and the Apostles’ Battery, and throwing up new forts in various directions. While the blacks were labouring at the fortifications, all the white men were being drilled to serve in the militia, which was numerous and enthusiastic; so we hoped that even should the French and Spaniards land, they would be soundly thrashed. ”

“ That its armament was by no means inconsiderable will be conceded when it is remembered that twenty-five pieces of ordnance were surrendered by Major Lane when he yielded the ownership of this work to Colonel A. Prevost. These guns, however, were small, consisting of 4, 6, 9, 12, and 18-pounders, with perhaps one or two 24-pounders. It was called by the Americans, Fort Morris; [198] but, upon its capture by Colonel Prevost, its name was by him changed to Fort George.
At the inception of the Revolutionary war the coast defenses of Georgia were in a most pitiable and dilapidated condition. ”

“ I made the startling discovery that every man in Fort George had for months been rising in the cool hours of dawn to engage in drill, gun-practice, shooting, and manoeuvring with ox-waggons, the last quite an important feature of warfare with natives, the waggons being used to form forts or laagers in which to take shelter from native attacks and from which to attack in turn. ”

“ The American army had no sooner taken up a position in front of Fort George than their foraging parties, or rather marauders, commenced a systematic course of plunder upon the defenceless inhabitants within the vicinity of their camp, most of whom, at the time, consisted of women and children. ”