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Fort de Chartres was a French
fortification A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
first built in 1720 on the east bank of the
Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...
in present-day
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockfo ...
. It was used as the administrative center for the province, which was part of
New France New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spai ...
. Due generally to river floods, the fort was rebuilt twice, the last time in
limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms when ...
in the 1750s in the era of French colonial control over
Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is border ...
and the
Illinois Country The Illinois Country (french: Pays des Illinois ; , i.e. the Illinois people)—sometimes referred to as Upper Louisiana (french: Haute-Louisiane ; es, Alta Luisiana)—was a vast region of New France claimed in the 1600s in what is n ...
. The
magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinati ...
(ammunition storehouse) of the fort is believed to be the oldest surviving building in Illinois. A partial reconstruction now exists of the limestone fort and the site is preserved as an
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockfo ...
state park, four miles (6 km) west of Prairie du Rocher in
Randolph County, Illinois Randolph County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2020 census, it had a population of 30,163. Its county seat is Chester. Owing to its role in the state's history, the county motto is "Where Illinois Began." ...
. Located on the floodplain area that became known as the
American Bottom The American Bottom is the flood plain of the Mississippi River in the Metro-East region of Southern Illinois, extending from Alton, Illinois, south to the Kaskaskia River. It is also sometimes called "American Bottoms". The area is about , most ...
, the site is south of modern
St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
. The fort were placed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
and recognized as a
National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
on October 15, 1966. It was named one of the
contributing properties In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...
to the
French Colonial Historic District The French Colonial Historic District is a historic district that encompasses a major region of 18th-century French colonization in southwestern Illinois. The district is anchored by Fort de Chartres and Fort Kaskaskia, two important French se ...
in 1974, along with other area French-influenced sites such as the
Creole House The Creole House is a historic residence in the village of Prairie du Rocher, an old French settlement in present-day Randolph County, Illinois, United States. Built at the end of the eighteenth century and later expanded, the Creole House i ...
, the
Pierre Menard House The Pierre Menard House, located in Ellis Grove, Illinois, U.S.A., was the home of Pierre Menard, a trader who became the first lieutenant governor of Illinois from 1818 to 1822. History Pierre Menard was born near Montreal, Quebec on Octo ...
, the
Kolmer Site The Kolmer Site is an archaeological site in the far southwest of the U.S. state of Illinois. Located near Kaskaskia and Prairie du Rocher in western Randolph County, it lies at the site of an early historic Indian village from the French pe ...
(a former Indian village), and the site of Fort Kaskaskia. The name of the fort honored Louis, duc de Chartres, son of the
Regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state ''pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy, ...
of France. The state historic site today hosts several large re-enactments at the fort of colonial-era civil and military life each summer.


History


French rule

On January 1, 1718, the French government granted a trade monopoly to John Law and his
Company of the West The Mississippi Company (french: Compagnie du Mississippi; founded 1684, named the Company of the West from 1717, and the Company of the Indies from 1719) was a corporation holding a business monopoly in French colonies in North America and th ...
. Hoping to make a fortune mining precious metals, the company built a fort to protect its interests. The original wooden fort was built in 1718–1720 by a French contingent from New Orleans, led by Pierre Dugué de Boisbriant. When administration of the Illinois Country was moved from
Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the metropolitan area had a population of 839,311. It is th ...
to
New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Company of the Indies. The fort was built to be the seat of government and to control the Indians of the region, particularly the
Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve s ...
. The original fort was a palisade of logs with two
bastion A bastion or bulwark is a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification, most commonly angular in shape and positioned at the corners of the fort. The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks, with fi ...
s at opposite corners. Within five years, flooding from the Mississippi had left the original fort in bad condition. Construction of a second fort further from the river, but still on the flood plain, began in 1725. This fort was also made of logs and had a bastion at each of the four corners. The second wooden fort deteriorated somewhat less rapidly but by 1742 was in bad repair. In 1747 the French garrison moved to the region's primary settlement to the south at
Kaskaskia The Kaskaskia were one of the indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands. They were one of about a dozen cognate tribes that made up the Illiniwek Confederation, also called the Illinois Confederation. Their longstanding homeland was in t ...
. The French debated where to rebuild the fort. When rule of the area reverted to the French crown in the 1730s, officials began to discuss construction of a stone fortress. The government in New Orleans wanted to move the garrison permanently to Kaskaskia, but the local commandant argued for a location near the original site. The government decided to rebuild a fort in stone near the first forts rather than at Kaskaskia. Construction began in 1753 and was mostly completed in 1754. The limestone fort had walls 15-ft (3 m)-high and 3-ft (1 m)-thick, enclosing an area of 4 acres (16,000 m2). The stone for construction was quarried in bluffs about two or three miles (4 km) distant and had to be ferried across a small lake. In August of 1751 Francois Saucier was summoned from Mobile to New Orleans by Governor Vaudreuil for a special assignment. This assignment was for the construction of a new fort to accommodate the garrison of additional troops that France was sending to the colony. The new fort was to replace the old wooden Fort de Chartres and was to be constructed of stone at the settlement. The main purpose of the new fort was to impress the warring Chickasaw Tribe of the area and to check and halt the progress of the British in the area. This new assignment required Francois to immediately journey to his new post in Illinois without the benefit of first returning home to Mobile for personal necessities. The original intention of the French Government was for Francois and his crew to build the new stone Fort de Chartres in Kaskaskia. The Governor of the territory, Vaudreuil, eventually made the decision to leave the Fort where it stood. Due to problems of flooding it was decided to move it a little over one half mile north of the old fort. Upon arriving he took on the task of surveying the terrain, its situation and advantages, in order to make recommendations on construction. Once his plans were completed he sent them as instructed to the governor in New Orleans with all specifications and estimated costs. After some time of deliberations by the French government and many delays and discussions of the cost of construction as planned by Francois, a scaled down version of the fort was finally given approval and Francois was then given permission to start its construction. During this period of waiting for approval from France, preparations were being conducted by Francois and his crew of soldiers as he had been instructed by the governor for the forts construction, including clearing the land, felling of trees for timber and other site preparations. After the many earlier delays, the budget for building the new fort was finally approved and they proceed with the construction of Fort de Chartres.


British rule

In 1763 the Treaty of Paris was signed following the
Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754– ...
(
French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the s ...
) and the French transferred control of the
Illinois Country The Illinois Country (french: Pays des Illinois ; , i.e. the Illinois people)—sometimes referred to as Upper Louisiana (french: Haute-Louisiane ; es, Alta Luisiana)—was a vast region of New France claimed in the 1600s in what is n ...
east of the Mississippi to
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
. (Spain had been granted the western part of the Illinois Country—also known as ''Upper Louisiana''—in the 1762 Treaty of Fontainebleau.) The stone fort had served as center of French administration of the region for only twenty years. The British had difficulty getting a regiment to their newly acquired fort, but on October 10, 1765, a small detachment of the
42nd Regiment of Foot The 42nd (Royal Highland) Regiment of Foot was a Scottish infantry regiment in the British Army also known as the Black Watch. Originally titled Crawford's Highlanders or the Highland Regiment and numbered 43rd in the line, in 1748, on the disban ...
commanded by Captain Thomas Stirling took control of the fort and surrounding area. The 42nd was shortly replaced by the 34th Foot. French Canadian settlers were ordered to leave or get a special license to remain. Many
Canadien French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fre ...
settlers moved to the more congenial culture of St. Louis. The
34th Regiment of Foot The 34th Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1702. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 55th (Westmorland) Regiment of Foot to form the Border Regiment in 1881. History Early history The regi ...
renamed the installation Fort Cavendish, after its colonel. However, the post was known as Ft. Chartres from 1768 on, after the 34th were replaced by the 18th Regiment of Foot under the command of Lt. Col. Wilkins. The British abandoned the post in May 1772 when the majority of the 18th Foot was ordered back to Philadelphia. A small party under Capt Hugh Lord remained at Kaskaskia until May 1776.


Ruin

The Mississippi continued to take its toll after the fort was abandoned. In 1772 the south wall and bastion fell into the river. The remaining walls deteriorated, and visitors noted trees growing in them by the 1820s. Locals carted away stones for construction over the years. By 1900 the walls were gone. The only part of the original fort that remained was the stone masonry powder magazine.


Reconstruction

The State of Illinois acquired the ruins in 1913 as a historic site and restored the powder magazine in 1917. The powder magazine is thought to be the oldest existing building in the state of
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockfo ...
. In the 1920s the foundations of the fort's buildings and walls were exposed. In the late 1920s and through the 1930s, the US WPA rebuilt the gateway and two stone buildings. A combination museum and office building, constructed in 1928 on the foundation of an original fort building, houses exhibits depicting French life at Fort de Chartres. The large stone "Guards House", reconstructed in 1936, contains a Catholic chapel furnished in the style of the 1750s, along with a priest's room, a gunner's room, an officer-of-the-day room, and a guard's room. Also on the grounds are an operating bake oven, a garden shed built of upright logs in French Colonial ''
poteaux-sur-sol Poteaux-sur-sol ("posts on a sill" – sol is also spelled sole and solle) is a style of timber framing in which relatively closely spaced posts rest on a timber sill. Poteaux-en-terre and pieux-en-terre are similar, but the closely spaced post ...
'' (French: "post on sill") construction, and a kitchen garden with raised beds of produce typical of French 18th-century Illinois. Partial reconstruction of the fort's walls on the original foundations followed in 1989."Fort de Chartres"
Illinois Historic Preservation Agency site, Retrieved on January 24, 2008
The frames of some additional buildings were erected as a display of the
post-and-beam Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...
construction techniques used for the originals. Other buildings' foundations and cellars were exposed for educational display as well. Today the site has a museum and small gift shop. It plays host each June to a Rendezvous that is said to be one of the largest and oldest in the country, celebrating
frontier A frontier is the political and geographical area near or beyond a boundary. A frontier can also be referred to as a "front". The term came from French in the 15th century, with the meaning "borderland"—the region of a country that fronts ...
French and Indian culture. The site is protected by modern
levee A levee (), dike (American English), dyke (Commonwealth English), embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is a structure that is usually earthen and that often runs parallel to the course of a river in its floodplain or along low-lying coastlin ...
s, but the Mississippi River is still an occasional menace. The
flood of 1993 The Great Flood of 1993 (or Great Mississippi and Missouri Rivers Flood of 1993) was a flood that occurred in the Midwestern United States, along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers and their tributaries, from April to October 1993. The flood wa ...
breached the levee and sent waters fifteen feet deep to lap at the top of the walls.


See also

*
List of French forts in North America This is a list of forts in New France built by the French government or French chartered companies in what later became Canada, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, and the United States. They range from large European-type citadels like at Quebec City ...


References


External links


Fort De Chartres Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fort De Chartres
Chartres Chartres () is the prefecture of the Eure-et-Loir department in the Centre-Val de Loire region in France. It is located about southwest of Paris. At the 2019 census, there were 170,763 inhabitants in the metropolitan area of Chartres (as de ...
French colonial settlements of Upper Louisiana Chartes History museums in Illinois Military and war museums in Illinois Museums in Randolph County, Illinois Illinois State Historic Sites Military facilities on the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois National Historic Landmarks in Illinois National Register of Historic Places in Randolph County, Illinois Louisiana (New France) French-American culture in Illinois French colonial architecture
Chartres Chartres () is the prefecture of the Eure-et-Loir department in the Centre-Val de Loire region in France. It is located about southwest of Paris. At the 2019 census, there were 170,763 inhabitants in the metropolitan area of Chartres (as de ...
1720 establishments in New France Military installations established in 1720 1772 disestablishments in the British Empire Military installations closed in 1772