Fort Lafayette, later renamed Fort Fayette, (1792–1814) was an American

fort A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from La ...

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, Pennsylvania, United States. It was constructed in June 1792 by Major General

Anthony Wayne Anthony Wayne (January 1, 1745 – December 15, 1796) was an American soldier, officer, statesman, and a Founding Father of the United States. He adopted a military career at the outset of the American Revolutionary War, where his military expl ...

upon his commission to form the

Legion of the United States The Legion of the United States was a reorganization and extension of the United States Army from 1792 to 1796 under the command of Major General Anthony Wayne. It represented a political shift in the new United States, which had recently adop ...

. It was sited near present-day Penn Avenue and Ninth Street in the Cultural District of

Downtown Pittsburgh Downtown Pittsburgh, colloquially referred to as the Golden Triangle, and officially the Central Business District, is the urban downtown center of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located at the confluence of the Allegheny River an ...

History

At the strategic position of the '' forks of the Ohio'' (where the Monongahela and

Allegheny River The Allegheny River ( ; ; ) is a tributary of the Ohio River that is located in western Pennsylvania and New York (state), New York in the United States. It runs from its headwaters just below the middle of Pennsylvania's northern border, nor ...

s join to form the Ohio River near present-day Pittsburgh), a series of forts was built by the French, British and U.S. Continental armies starting in 1754. The French fort built in 1754 was named Du Quesne, later changed to Duquesne. Under imminent British attack in 1758, the French abandoned the fort and burned it to the ground. Between 1759 and 1761, the British built Fort Pitt on the site. It fell into bad shape and was decommissioned in 1772. Thereafter Virginians took control of the fort and called it Fort Dunmore. It was a staging point for Lord Dunmore's war in 1774. The opening of Ohio Country to settlement and the construction of frontier forts starting with Fort Washington in 1789 prompted the United States in 1792 to build Fort Lafayette in Pittsburgh, to replace Fort Pitt, as a supply center for Fort McIntosh and downstream forts on 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 ...

. On September 4, 1792,

establishes the fort. The name was later shortened to Fayette. In 1803, Fort Fayette was a staging ground for the

Lewis and Clark Expedition The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select gro ...

. The fort later served as Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry's supply base during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

. The army abandoned the fort in 1814. Pittsburgh 1795 large

External links

References

* {{Pittsburgh 1792 establishments in Pennsylvania Lafayette History of Pittsburgh 1814 disestablishments in the United States