Fort Richmond (Maine)
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Fort Richmond was a Massachusetts colonial fort near present-day Richmond Village, Maine.


History

The
Pejepscot Proprietors The Pejepscot Proprietors was a company of land investors who colonized the current towns of Brunswick, Maine, Brunswick, Topsham, Maine, Topsham and Harpswell, Maine, between 1715 and 1814. The area known as Pejepscot, Maine, was first inhab ...
and the
Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1628–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around Massachusetts Bay, one of the several colonies later reorganized as the Province of M ...
built the fort in around 1720 on the western bank of the
Kennebec River The Kennebec River (Abenaki language, Abenaki: ''Kinəpékʷihtəkʷ'') is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed June 30, 2011 natural river within the U.S. state of Ma ...
in response to Indian raids which eventually led to
Dummer's War Dummer's War (1722–1725) (also known as Father Rale's War, Lovewell's War, Greylock's War, the Three Years War, the Wabanaki-New England War, or the Fourth Anglo-Abenaki War) was a series of battles between the New England Colonies and the Wab ...
. Named for Ludovic Stewart, 1st Duke of Richmond, the fort included a
blockhouse A blockhouse is a small fortification, usually consisting of one or more rooms with loopholes, allowing its defenders to fire in various directions. It is usually an isolated fort in the form of a single building, serving as a defensive stro ...
,
trading post A trading post, trading station, or trading house, also known as a factory in European and colonial contexts, is an establishment or settlement where goods and services could be traded. Typically a trading post allows people from one geogr ...
, chapel, officers' and soldiers' quarters, all surrounded by a
palisade A palisade, sometimes called a stakewall or a paling, is typically a row of closely placed, high vertical standing tree trunks or wooden or iron stakes used as a fence for enclosure or as a defensive wall. Palisades can form a stockade. Etymo ...
. Captain Joseph Heath (military officer), Edward Shove, John Oulton, Captain Jabez Bradbury, Captain John Minot and Captain Joseph Bane (Bean) were the commanders of the fort.
William Lithgow (judge) Hon. William Lithgow ( – 20 December 1798) was a judge for the United States district court, Court of Common Pleas of Lincoln County, Maine, Lincoln County, when Province of Maine, Maine was under the jurisdiction of the Province of Massachuset ...
and Arthur Noble were also commanders of the fort by 1746. (Lithgow married Noble's daughter.) During
Father Rale's War Dummer's War (1722–1725) (also known as Father Rale's War, Lovewell's War, Greylock's War, the Three Years War, the Wabanaki-New England War, or the Fourth Anglo-Abenaki War) was a series of battles between the New England Colonies and the Waban ...
, following the battle at
Fort Menaskoux Fort Menaskoux (previously known as Newtown Fort) was a British colonial fort in present-day Arrowsic, Maine. Early settlements on Arrowsic Island The first major settlement on Arrowsic Island, located east of the Kennebec River and west of the S ...
,
Arrowsic, Maine Arrowsic is a town in Sagadahoc County, Maine, United States. The population is 477 as of the 2020 United States census. It is part of the Portland-South Portland-Biddeford metropolitan area. During the French and Indian Wars, Arrowsic was site ...
, Fort Richmond was attacked in a 3-hour
siege A siege () . is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict charact ...
by warriors from
Norridgewock Norridgewock (Abenaki language, Abenaki: ''Nanrantsouak'') was the name of both an Indigenous village and a Band society, band of the Abenaki ("People of the Dawn") Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans/First Nations in Canada, ...
(1722). Houses were burned and cattle slain, but the fort held. Brunswick and other settlements near the mouth of the Kennebec were destroyed. The defense was enlarged in 1723 during Father Rale's War. On August 19, 1724, a
militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...
of 208 soldiers departed Fort Richmond under command of captains
Jeremiah Moulton Jeremiah Moulton (1688 - 20 July 1765) was a New England militia officer and member of the Massachusetts Council. As a boy during King William's War, Moulton's parents were killed and he was taken captive in the Raid on York (1692) The Raid ...
and
Johnson Harmon Colonel Johnson Harmon (or Harman; c. 1675 – 1751) was an army officer in colonial America. He led the expedition during Father Rale's War that killed Father Sébastien Rale in the Battle of Norridgewock. Harmon was heralded as a hero upon hi ...
, traveled up the Kennebec in 17
whaleboat A whaleboat is a type of open boat that was used for catching whales, or a boat of similar design that retained the name when used for a different purpose. Some whaleboats were used from whaling ships. Other whaleboats would operate from the s ...
s, and sacked Norridgewock, killing
Sébastien Rale Sébastien Rale (; also Racle, Râle, Rasle, Rasles, and Sebastian Rale; January 20, 1657 – August 23, 1724) was a French Society of Jesus, Jesuit missionary and lexicographer who preached amongst the Abenaki and encouraged their resistanc ...
. Fort Richmond would be rebuilt in 1740.
William Lithgow (judge) Hon. William Lithgow ( – 20 December 1798) was a judge for the United States district court, Court of Common Pleas of Lincoln County, Maine, Lincoln County, when Province of Maine, Maine was under the jurisdiction of the Province of Massachuset ...
was put in command from 1746 to 1754. In 1748, natives took Frances Noble captive close to Fort Richmond. Frances Noble wrote her captivity narrative. The fort was attacked by another tribe at Swan Island in 1750. The fort was dismantled in 1755 when forts Shirley (also called Fort Frankfort located close to Richmond at present-day
Dresden, Maine Dresden is a town in Lincoln County, Maine, United States, that was incorporated in 1794. The population was 1,725 at the 2020 census. History The town was originally settled in 1752 under the name Frankfort by French and German Huguenots, who ...
),
Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...
and Halifax were built upriver.


Commanding Officers

*Captain Joseph Heath (military officer) * Edward Shove *
John Oulton (military officer) John Ernest Leonard Oulton, D.D. (22 March 1886 – 2 February 1957) was Regius Professor of Divinity at Trinity College Dublin from 1935. until his death. The son of The Rev. Richard Charles Oulton, BD, the incumbent of Glynn, he was educated ...
* Captain Jabez Bradbury, who later commanded
Fort George (Brunswick, Maine) Fort Andross, also known as Fort George and Cabot Mill, was initially established as a trading post and later converted into a historic garrison by the Colonial history of the United States, colonial British Empire as a defensive measure against ...
*Captain John Minot *Captain Joseph Bane (Bean)Bane spent many years in captivity after being taken during the raid on York (1692) (Se
Williamson, p.664"> Williamson, p.664
/ref> were the commanders of the fort. *
William Lithgow (judge) Hon. William Lithgow ( – 20 December 1798) was a judge for the United States district court, Court of Common Pleas of Lincoln County, Maine, Lincoln County, when Province of Maine, Maine was under the jurisdiction of the Province of Massachuset ...
* Arthur Noble, 1746. (Lithgow married Noble's daughter.)


Also see

*
Fort George (Brunswick, Maine) Fort Andross, also known as Fort George and Cabot Mill, was initially established as a trading post and later converted into a historic garrison by the Colonial history of the United States, colonial British Empire as a defensive measure against ...
* Fort St. George (Thomaston, Maine) *
Fort Menaskoux Fort Menaskoux (previously known as Newtown Fort) was a British colonial fort in present-day Arrowsic, Maine. Early settlements on Arrowsic Island The first major settlement on Arrowsic Island, located east of the Kennebec River and west of the S ...


References

Endnotes Texts
Fort Richmond, Maine. Collections of the Maine Historical Society


External links


Fort Richmond - Archeology
44°05'30.3"N 69°47'07.8"W {{Fortification-stub Pre-statehood history of Maine
Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...
1720 establishments in the Province of Massachusetts Bay Kennebec River