Fort Shirley

Fort Shirley (initially known as Croghan's Fort) was a military fort located in present-day Shirleysburg, Pennsylvania. It was built in 1755 by George Croghan and later maintained by the Province of Pennsylvania during the French and Indian War. Fort Shirley was part of a defensive line of forts built in Pennsylvania during 1755 and 1756, at the start of hostilities with the French and their allied Native Americans. Although two French and Native American war parties were sent to capture it, Fort Shirley was never attacked. The fort served as the launching site for the Kittanning Expedition in September 1756, after which it was abandoned.

History

Location and description

No contemporary description of the fort survives, but in 1875 Milton Scott Lytle interviewed a man who had played in the ruins of the fort as a child. He told Lytle: "It was a log fort of considerable strength and size, standing on the edge of the plateau, south of the Fort Run and west of the road entering Shirleysburg from Mount Union."

Construction

In 1753, George Croghan built a trading post and homestead at Aughwick Creek and the Juniata River. The trading post grew into a small community called Aughwick Old Town, augmented by some two hundred Iroquois, Lenape, and Shawnee refugees who had fled to Aughwick following the destruction of Logstown in July 1754.Henry Wilson Temple, "Logstown," ''The Western Pennsylvania Historical Magazine,'' vol. 1, no. 1, Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania., 1918. Pp 248-258
/ref> Conrad Weiser visited Aughwick in September 1754 and found it surrounded by fields of corn, squash and pumpkins as well as "about twenty cabins ith..at least 200 Indians, men, women and children."Burns, Jonathan A., Drobnock, George John, and Smith, Jared M. 2008. "Croghan at Aughwick: History, Maps, and Archaeology Collide in the Search for Fort Shirley." ''PAST Journal,'' Volume 33, 2010. The International Society for Landscape, Place, & Material Culture
/ref> Among these refugees was the Seneca leader Tanacharison.Hunter, William Albert. ''Forts on the Pennsylvania Frontier: 1753–1758,'' (Classic Reprint). Fb&c Limited, 2018.
/ref> In December 1754 Richard Peters wrote to Croghan that his trading post "ought to be fortified for the Security of the Province...Is it not absolutely necessary for the Settlers of Cumberland County to have a Place of Security to the West of the Blue Hills, and on this side of the Allegheny Hills? If so, can there be a more proper place than Auckquick?"

In September 1755, Croghan began fortifying his postWaddel, Louis M. and Bomberger, Bruce D. 1996. ''The French and Indian War In Pennsylvania, 1753–1763.'' Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg PA, 1996.
/ref> to protect against Native American attacks after General Edward Braddock's defeat at the Battle of the Monongahela. The stockade, known initially as "Croghan's Fort," was intended to protect Croghan's stores (he was a prosperous Indian fur trader), as well as other settlers and the Native American refugees. Croghan wrote to Major General William Johnson that "I have been Oblig'd to Rase a Volunteer Company on My own Expense and am building a Small Stockade fort." By mid-October, Croghan had completed a stockaded blockhouse. He received numerous warnings from his Native American friends, including Scarouady, to leave or his fort would be destroyed. On 12 November 1755, following the Penn's Creek massacre and the Great Cove massacre, he wrote to Governor Morris: "I have but a stockade fort at Aughwick and have about forty men with me there, but how long I shall be able to keep it, I really can't tell."Thomas Lynch Montgomery, ed. ''Report of the Commission to Locate the Site of the Frontier Forts of Pennsylvania,'' vol 1, Harrisburg, PA: W.S. Ray, state printer, 1916
/ref>

Military history

In December 1755, the fort was taken over by the government of the Province of Pennsylvania, garrisoned with provincial troops, and Croghan was given a captain's commission.Volwiler, Albert T. ''George Croghan and the Westward Movement, 1741-1782.'' Arthur H. Clarke and Co., Cleveland, OH 1926
/ref> In January 1756, the fort was named Fort Shirley in honor of William Shirley, who was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the British Army in North America upon the death of General Braddock. On 9 February, Governor Morris wrote to General Shirley:

:"...about twenty miles northward of Fort Lyttelton, at a place called Aughwick, another fort is erected something larger than Fort Lyttelton, which I have taken the liberty of naming Fort Shirley. This stands near the great path used by the Indians and Indian traders, to and from the Ohio."

Croghan was assigned to build several other forts and to recruit men for their garrisons, and this required him to leave Fort Shirley. In March 1756 he resigned, unhappy with the way the Provincial government was managing the war, and Captain Hugh Mercer took command of Fort Shirley.

On 18 April, Mercer wrote to Governor Morris that he found the 30-man garrison preparing to desert as they had not been paid for several months. He was unable to complete repairs at the fort due to lack of tools, and discovered that many of the garrison's 30 guns were unfit for use. There was a lack of gunpowder and lead for making bullets. Mercer requested that the garrison be doubled to 60 men.

Fort Shirley, along with Fort Granville, Fort Lyttleton, and Fort Patterson, formed a defensive chain that stretched from the lower Juniata River and Aughwick Creek valleys.Ensign