Fort Stanwix was a colonial

fort 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'' ...

whose construction commenced on August 26, 1758, under the direction of British General

John Stanwix John Stanwix (born about 1690, England; died at sea, 29 October 1766) was a British soldier and politician. Background He was born John Roos, the son of Rev. John Roos, rector of Widmerpool, Nottinghamshire. In 1725 he succeeded to the estates ...

, at the location of present-day

Rome, New York Rome is a city in Oneida County, New York, United States, located in the central part of the state. The population was 32,127 at the 2020 census. Rome is one of two principal cities in the Utica–Rome Metropolitan Statistical Area, which li ...

, but was not completed until about 1762. The bastion fort was built to guard a portage known as the

Oneida Carry The Oneida Carry was an important link in the main 18th century trade route between the Atlantic seaboard of North America and interior of the continent. From Schenectady, near Albany, New York on the Hudson River, cargo would be carried upstream ...

during the

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 ...

. Fort Stanwix National Monument, a reconstructed structure built by the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...

, now occupies the site. Fort Stanwix is historically significant because of its successful defense by American troops during an August 1777

siege A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characteriz ...

. The fort had been built by the British in 1758 at a strategic site along the water route from Lake Ontario to the Hudson River. After American forces captured and rebuilt the fort during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

, they were besieged by a British army that invaded from Canada via Lake Ontario, hoping to reach the Hudson River. The British force abandoned the siege, a consequence that helped lead to the defeat of a larger British army during the Saratoga campaign. Fort Stanwix was also the site of the 1768 Treaty of Fort Stanwix between Britain and Native American tribes, as well as of the 1784 Treaty of Fort Stanwix between the tribes and the American government. Besides the fort reconstruction itself, the national monument includes three short trails that encircle it, one of which follows a portion of the

. The Marinus Willett Collections Management and Education Center preserves the monument's 485,000 artifacts and documents, displays exhibits about Fort Stanwix and the Mohawk Valley, and serves as a regional tourism center.

History

Fort Stanwix was constructed in 1758 to guard a portage between the main waterway southeastward to the Atlantic seacoast, down the

Mohawk Mohawk may refer to: Related to Native Americans * Mohawk people, an indigenous people of North America (Canada and New York) *Mohawk language, the language spoken by the Mohawk people * Mohawk hairstyle, from a hairstyle once thought to have been ...

and Hudson rivers, and an important interior waterway northwestward to

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York. The Canada–United States border ...

, down Wood Creek and

Oneida Lake Oneida Lake is the largest lake entirely within New York state, with a surface area of . The lake is located northeast of Syracuse and near the Great Lakes. It feeds the Oneida River, a tributary of the Oswego River, which flows into Lake Ontari ...

to Oswego, New York, Oswego.

Treaty of Fort Stanwix (1768)

In 1768, Fort Stanwix was the site of Treaty of Fort Stanwix (1768), an important treaty conference between the British and the Iroquois, arranged by Sir William Johnson, 1st Baronet, William Johnson. By the time of this treaty, the fort had become dilapidated and inactive. The purpose of the conference was to renegotiate the boundary line between Native American lands and white settlements set forth in the Proclamation of 1763. The British government hoped a new boundary line might bring an end to the rampant frontier violence, which had become costly and troublesome. Native Americans hoped a new, permanent line might hold back white colonial expansion. The final treaty was signed on November 5 and extended the earlier proclamation much further west. The Iroquois had effectively ceded Kentucky to the whites. However, the tribes who actually used the Kentucky lands, primarily Shawnee, Delaware, and Cherokee, had no role in the negotiations. Rather than secure peace, the Fort Stanwix treaty helped set the stage for the next round of hostilities. Fort Stanwix was abandoned in 1768 and allowed to go to ruin.

Fort Schuyler and the Battle of Oriskany

The fort was reoccupied by Colonial troops under the command of Colonel Elias Dayton on July 12, 1776. They began reconstruction and renamed it Fort Schuyler, although many continued to call it Fort Stanwix. Colonel Peter Gansevoort took over command of the fort on May 3, 1777. On August 3, 1777, the fort was besieged by 8th (The King's) Regiment of Foot, The King's 8th Regiment of Foot, Loyalists, and Native Americans, under the command of Brigadier General Barry St. Leger, as part of a three-pronged Saratoga campaign, campaign to divide the American colonies. Gansevoort refused the terms of surrender offered by the British, and the siege commenced. According to local folklore, when the Colonial troops raised the flag over the fort on August 3, 1777, it was the first time that the Flag of the United States was flown in battle. It is more likely that the flag flown at Fort Schuyler was one that consisted only of thirteen stripes, an early version of the Flag of New York (state), Flag of New York, or the Grand Union Flag. The Battle of Oriskany was fought a few miles away when an American relief column, led by General Nicholas Herkimer, was ambushed by Loyalist (American Revolution), Tories and their Native American allies. While many of the besiegers were attending to that battle, the defenders of the fort sallied forth and attacked the enemy camp, looting and destroying enemy stores. Demoralized and reduced in strength, the British withdrew when they heard reports of the approach of yet another relief column, led by General Benedict Arnold. The British forces withdrew through Canada and joined Burgoyne's campaign at Fort Ticonderoga. The British failure to capture the fort and proceed down the Mohawk Valley was a severe setback and helped lead to the defeat of General John Burgoyne at the Battle of Saratoga. In April 1779, an expedition from Fort Schuyler against the Onondaga people was begun by the Continental Army led by Col. Goose Van Schaick. The fort burned to the ground on May 13, 1781, and was not rebuilt. It was abandoned and the garrison took up quarters at Fort Herkimer.

Treaty of Fort Stanwix (1784)

The Treaty of Fort Stanwix (1784), second Treaty of Fort Stanwix was conducted at the fort between the Americans and the Native Americans in 1784. During the War of 1812 a blockhouse was built on the parade ground. Beginning in 1828 the fortifications were dismantled.

National monument

President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed enabling legislation that created the National monument (United States), national monument on August 21, 1935; at that time, the land that would ultimately be used for the monument was occupied by the businesses and residences of downtown Rome. During the 1960s, Rome city leaders lobbied for a fort reconstruction as part of an urban renewal program to help revitalize downtown Rome. Under political pressure from Senator Robert F. Kennedy (D-NY), who was seeking political support in upstate New York, the Park Service reluctantly agreed to build a reconstruction of the Revolutionary War-era fort. See also the 2004 report on which the book is based: Fost_FTST3700

The Park Service completed a master plan for Fort Stanwix in 1967, and in 1970, the NPS began a three-year archaeological investigation. Reconstruction of the fort began in 1974, and the partially completed structure was opened to the public in time for the United States Bicentennial celebration in 1976. The current reconstruction—an earth-and-timber-clad, reinforced concrete structure surrounding three freestanding buildings—was completed in 1978. From 1976 until the mid-1990s, the national monument explained the significance of the national monument to visitors using first-person interpretation to portray the fort immediately after the siege (1777–78), emphasizing life during the American Revolution. More recently, third-person interpretation has extended visitor understanding to the

as well as the role played by the fort during the negotiation of a series of treaties with Native Americans.Executive Summary. A new visitor center was added in 2005. The monument is currently open year around, operated by the National Park Service.

Notes

References

"The King's, or 8th Regiment – Detroit Garrison"
*''Casemates and Cannonballs. Archeological Investigations at Fort Stanwix, Rome, New York'', by Lee Hanson, Dick Ping Hsu *''Fort Stanwix Construction and Military History'', by John F. Luzader, 2001, *William J. Campbell, ''Speculators in Empire: Iroquoia and The 1768 Treaty of Fort Stanwix'' (University of Oklahoma Press, 2012).

External links

– NPS

*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5oCV9t_zqo/ Video showing the fort and several re-enactors] from 2016 {{authority control 1758 establishments in the Province of New York French and Indian War forts, Stanwix American Revolutionary War forts, Stanwix Forts in New York (state), Stanwix National Park Service National Monuments in New York (state) National Historic Landmarks in New York (state) Portages in the United States Museums in Oneida County, New York Military and war museums in New York (state) Colonial forts in New York (state), Stanwix British forts in the United States, Stanwix Buildings and structures in Oneida County, New York American Revolutionary War museums in New York (state) Rome, New York National Register of Historic Places in Oneida County, New York