Fort Bedford was a French and Indian War era British military fortification located near the present site of Bedford, Pennsylvania. The French and Indian War (1754&ndash1763 was the North American chapter of the Seven Years' War. The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. Bedford is a borough in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, 102 miles west of the State Capital Harrisburg. The fort was a star shaped log fortress erected in the summer of 1758. Year 1758 ( MDCCLVIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common
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Background
The fort was constructed by British troops under the command of Colonel Henry Bouquet by order of General John Forbes. The fort was one of a string of British forts and blockhouses designed to protect British supply lines on the Forbes Road, a pioneer trail built by the British during their invasion of the Ohio Country and campaign against the French garrison at Fort Duquesne. The Ohio Country (sometimes called the Ohio Territory) was the name used in the 18th century for the regions of North America west of the Appalachian Mountains Fort Duquesne (originally called Fort Du Quesne) was a Fort established by the French in 1754, at the junction of the Allegheny
After General Edward Braddock's campaign to take the forks of the Ohio River ended in disaster, General John Forbes was placed in command of a new expedition to capture the strategic point guarded by Fort Duquesne. General Edward Braddock (January 1695 &ndash July 13, 1755) was a British soldier and commander-in-chief for North America during the actions at the start of the Forbes vowed not to make the same mistakes as his predecessor.
Braddock had lead a relatively small invasion force launched from western Maryland. His poorly defended lines of supply and communication were soon compromised. Forbes intended to launch a large invasion from eastern Pennsylvania by hacking a new pioneer wagon road over the Allegheny Mountains. The Allegheny Mountain Range (also spelled Alleghany and Allegany) &mdash informally the Alleghenies &mdash is part of the vast Appalachian His plan called for a string of forts and blockhouses to guard the supply road from hostile bands of Native Americans. In Military science, a blockhouse is a small isolated Fort in the form of a single building Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples from the regions of North America now encompassed by the continental United States
After constructing Fort Juniata Crossings near present Breezewood, Pennsylvania, Colonel Henry Bouquet began planning Fort Bedford as the next step towards the Ohio County. Breezewood is an unincorporated town in Bedford County in south-central Pennsylvania.
Location
Bouquet chose a spot adjacent to the Juniata River just west of a strategic gap in the mountains called "the narrows". Keeping with the overall plan, the new site was about one day's march from the previous fort. After briefly being referred to simply as the "camp at Raystown" the new encampment was dubbed Fort Bedford in honor of the Duke of Bedford. The titles of Earl or Duke of Bedford (named after Bedford, England) were created several times in
Bouquet searched the area for some time to find a site that was both defensible and had access to fresh water. Since he could find no spot in the area with both these characteristics, the builders placed the fort on a high spot and devised an innovative fortified elevated gallery that provided access to and water from the Juniata River. It is believed that Fort Bedford was the only fort ever constructed in America with this unique arrangement.
The exact location of the fort has been lost to history. Several archaeological digs have failed to yield any solid evidence of the fort's site. Using period documents, historians believe it was located somewhere along what is now East Pitt Street in the Borough of Bedford.
Construction
The fort was a log star shaped fortress with five bastions. A star fort or trace italienne is a Fortification in the style that evolved during the age of Black powder, when cannons came A bastion is a structure projecting outward from the main enclosure of a Fortification, situated in both corners of a straight wall (termed curtain with the shape The walls enclosed an area of approximately 1. 45 acres (5,850 m²). The main gate was located on the south side of the structure and was protected by an earthen rampart. See also List of cities with defensive walls A defensive wall is a Fortification used to defend a city or settlement from potential aggressors The north side, which faced the river, featured the unique gallery to the riverbank. The non river sides were protected by a ditch estimated at between 4 and 9 feet in depth.
French and Indian War
Fort Bedford has been described as the "Grand Central Station of the Forbes campaign". it was used as a staging ground and central storage area for the British Army's push westward towards the French garrisons. Colonel Bouquet and General Forbes used it as their headquarters for portions of the campaign. After the bulk of the army moved westward, the fort was garrisoned by about 800 men. The fort saw little action during the war and was used mainly as a forward supply base.
Pontiac's Rebellion
As the French and Indian War wound down in the frontier, the fort's garrison was moved to other forts. Captain Louis Ourray, in command of the fort at the outbreak of Pontiac's Rebellion, listed just twelve Royal Americans on his roster to guard the fort and more than 90 local families. Pontiac's Rebellion was a war launched in 1763 by North American Indians who were dissatisfied with British policies in the Great Lakes region after Despite the weakness of the garrison, the fort was not directly attacked by native warriors. Instead they raided several local settlements and attacked supply trains bound for the fort, apparently hoping to starve out the garrison. The arrival of reinforcements under Colonel Bouquet in July 1763 ended most of the local raiding.
Black Boys Rebellion
Details of the fort during the inter-war years are a bit sketchy and somewhat controversial. The British Army abandoned the fort sometime during this period. According to the autobiography of James Smith, leader of a colonial movement known as the "Black Boys", he and his men captured the fort in 1769. The Black Boys, also known as the Brave Fellows and the Loyal Volunteers, were members of a white settler movement in the Conococheague Valley of Colonial This incident is documented only in Smith's autobiography, so it may be a tall tale, although historian Gregory Evans Dowd (War Under Heaven: Pontiac, the Indian Nations, & the British Empire, 2002) notes that there is some corroborating evidence, and that some other historians believe the tale to be true. Smith called this the first British fort to fall in the era of the American Revolution. In this article the inhabitants of the thirteen colonies that supported the American Revolution are primarily referred to as "Americans" with occasional references to "Patriots" The incident was portrayed in the 1939 Hollywood film Allegheny Uprising, starring John Wayne as James Smith. Allegheny Uprising is a 1939 film produced by RKO Pictures, starring Claire Trevor and John Wayne as pioneers of early American expansion John Wayne ( May 26, 1907 &ndash June 11, 1979) was an Academy Award and Golden Globe Award -winning American
American Revolution
The fort was garrisoned by the Patriot sympathizing Bedford County Militia during the Revolutionary War period. The fort guarded the frontier settlers against raids by British allied native bands.
Decline and reconstruction
After the war and the treaties of the 1780s such as the Treaty of Fort Stanwix and the Treaty of Fort McIntosh, the fear of Indian raids had subsided in the area of the fort. The Treaty of Fort Stanwix was an important Treaty between North American Indians and the British Empire. The Treaty of Fort McIntosh was a treaty between the United States government and representatives of the Wyandotte Delaware, Chippewa and Ottawa Sometime during this period the fort was abandoned and demolished. George Washington stopped at the town of Bedford while leading troops into Western Pennsylvania to put down the Whiskey Rebellion in 1794. George Washington (February 22 1732 December 14 1799 served as the first President of the United States of America (1789&ndash1797 and led the The Whiskey Rebellion, less commonly known as the Whiskey Insurrection, was a popular uprising that had its beginnings in 1791 and culminated in an insurrection in 1794 in the Year 1794 ( MDCCXCIV) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Records of the army's stay at that time seem to indicate that the fort had already been razed.
A reconstruction of the log blockhouse was built on the site in 1958 in honor of the fort's 200th anniversary. It is currently a museum operated by Bedford County.
Sources and external links
- Fort Bedford Museum official site
- Fort Bedford Time Line
- Fort Bedford park
- Pennsylvania Frontier Forts
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