Campus Martius was a defensive fortification at the

Marietta, Ohio Marietta is a city in Washington County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located in Appalachian Ohio, southeastern Ohio at the confluence of the Muskingum River, Muskingum and Ohio Rivers, northeast of Parkersburg, West Virginia ...

settlement. It was home to Rufus Putnam, Benjamin Tupper, Arthur St. Clair, and other pioneers from the Ohio Company of Associates during the

Northwest Indian War The Northwest Indian War (1785–1795), also known by other names, was an armed conflict for control of the Northwest Territory fought between the United States and a united group of Native Americans in the United States, Native American na ...

. Major Anselm Tupper was commander of the Campus Martius during the war.Cutler, ''The Founders of Ohio'', 26.Howe, ''Historical Collections of Ohio, Vol. III'', 509. Construction began in 1788 and was fully completed in 1791. The Campus Martius was located on the east side of the Muskingum River and upriver from its confluence with the

Ohio River The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...

. A firsthand description of the fort is provided in Hildreth's ''Pioneer History'',

Campus Martius is the most handsome pile of buildings on this side of the Alleghany mountains, and in a few days, it will be the strongest fortification in the territory of the United States. It stands on the margin of the elevated plain on which are the remains of the ancient works ounds mentioned in my letter of May last, thirty feet above the high bank of the Muskingum, twenty-nine perches distant from the river, and two hundred and seventy-six from the Ohio. It consists of a regular square, with a block house at each angle, eighteen feet square on the ground, and two stories high; the upper story is on the outside or face, jutting over the lower one, eighteen inches. These blockhouses serve as bastions to a regular fortification of four sides. The curtains comprise dwelling houses two stories high, eighteen feet wide, and of different lengths.Hildreth, ''Pioneer History'', 227-28.

The Campus Martius Museum now occupies the Campus Martius site. The Rufus Putnam House, part of the original Campus, is enclosed in the museum. Campus Martius was located around .

Other Marietta forts

The other fortification at the Marietta settlement was the Picketed Point Stockade, built by associates in 1791 on the east side of the mouth of the Muskingum River at its confluence with the Ohio and directly across the Muskingum from

Fort Harmar Fort Harmar was an early United States frontier military fort, built in pentagonal shape during 1785 at the confluence of the Ohio River, Ohio and Muskingum River, Muskingum rivers, on the west side of the mouth of the Muskingum River. It was bui ...

. Fort Harmar was constructed several years earlier, in 1785, by United States troops on the west side of the mouth of the Muskingum River. File:PicketedPointMariettaOH.jpg, Picketed Point File:FortHarmar.jpg,

Regional forts

Two additional forts, distant from Marietta, were also built by settlers from the Ohio Company of Associates. A group of associates moved about 15 miles down the Ohio River from Marietta, opposite the mouth of the

Little Kanawha River The Little Kanawha River is a tributary of the Ohio River, 169 mi (269 km) long,Gilchrist-Stalnaker, Joy Gregoire. 2006. "Little Kanawha River." ''The West Virginia Encyclopedia''. Ken Sullivan, editor. Charleston, WV: West Vir ...

; the settlers constructed the fortification of Farmer's Castle for protection during the Indian War at the site of modern-day Belpre, Ohio. Another group of associates moved about 20 miles up the Muskingum River from Marietta, near the mouth of Wolf Creek; they built

Fort Frye Fort Frye was a triangular defensive fortification built by a group of pioneers from the Ohio Company of Associates who moved about twenty miles up the Muskingum River from the settlement of Marietta, Ohio to a location near the mouth of Wolf Cre ...

for protection during the war at the site of modern-day

Beverly, Ohio Beverly is a village in Washington County, Ohio, United States. The population was 1,233 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Marietta micropolitan area. History Beverly was established by the Ohio Company in 1789. A post office called Bev ...

References

Bibliography

* * * {{cite book , first=Henry, last=Howe , authorlink=Henry Howe , title= Historical Collections of Ohio , volume=III , publisher=Henry Howe and Son , location=Columbus, Ohio, year=1891 Northwest Indian War Forts in Ohio Pre-statehood history of Ohio Buildings and structures in Marietta, Ohio 1788 establishments in the Northwest Territory

Other Marietta forts

Regional forts

See also

References

Bibliography