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FORT STANWIX
History, Historic Furnishing, and Historic Structure Reports |
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Historic Structure Report
NOTES
1. Copy letters of correspondence between Generals Abercromby and Stanwix received from Richard Mattice, Pennellville, N.Y., November 1971. From the Bureau of Archives, Ottawa, Canada, hereinafter called Canadian Archives. Reference to order is found in letter dated July 27, 1758.
2. Ibid. Letters dated July 20, 23, 24, 27. Correspondence, Stanwix with Abercromby, in which the three engineers are mentioned as being at the Carrying Place in July 1758.
3. Ibid. Letter dated August 20, 1758, Stanwix to Abercromby.
4. "Orderly Book of Captain Horatio Gates at Oneida Station," 1758. Typescript copy furnished by W. E. Scripture of Westmoreland, New York, Entry dated September 6, 1758.
5. Canadian Archives, letter dated August 30, 1758, Abercromby to Stanwix. "Yesterday Evening I receiv'd from Lieut. Col. Montresor; Engineer Williams's Opinion in regard to the Impracticability of finishing this Season the intended Fort at the Oneida Carrying place, and accompanying the same with the plan of another he and Capt. Green had pitched upon..," Lt. Williams' signature is affixed to Crown Map No. 99, dated 1758.
6. Ensign Moses Dorr Diary: ". . . about four o'clock the first Stock of timber was Layd of the fort." Copy obtained from the Rome Sentinel.
7. Canadian Archives, letter dated October 22, 1758, Stanwix to Abercromby. Meanwhile, Thomas Sowers had returned from the Col. Bradstreet expedition on September 8 and stayed on to help with the supervisory work at Fort Stanwix. His signature (and Lt. Williams') is affixed to the ordnance demand dated September 14, 1758.
8. John Luzader, The Construction and Military History of Fort Stanwix (N.P.S., 1969). See plan following page 41 for dimensions of the original fort. Herein after cited as Luzader.
9. See notes on Crown Map No. 101 for work completed in 1759.
10. The Papers of Sir William Johnson, The University of the State of New York (Albany, 1962), Vol. XIII, p. 273.
11. Canadian Archives. From Col. Harry Gordon's itemized list of expenses.
12. Journals of Col. James Montresor and Capt. John 1779, N.Y. Historical Society Collections Montresor 1757— for 1881, p. 70.
13. See Illustrations Nos. 5 and 6 in the Appendices, Crown Maps No. 102 and 103.
14. Letter dated April 23, 1775, Robert Duncan to William Livingston. Taken from the Rome Sentinel, March 3, 1969. Copied from Fort Stanwix Museum files by Lee Hanson.
15. "Journal Kept During An Expedition to Canada in 1776," by Ebenezer Elmer, Lieutenant in the Third Regiment of New Jersey Troops in the Continental Service, Commanded by Colonel Elias Dayton. Printed from the original manuscript in the Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society, 1847-48, Vols. II & III, and 1927, p. 134. Hereinafter called the Elmer Journal.
16. Elmer Journal, p. 32: "In the evening Capt. Potter with his officers moved into the room contiguous to ours, and between which there is no partition. . . ."
17. Jonathan Lawrence Diary, New York State Library, Mss. Room.
18. Letter from Lt. Col. Cornelius Van Dyck to Col. Van Schaick dated April 17, 1780. From Fort Stanwix Museum letter files.
19. Public Papers of George Clinton, published by the State of New York (Albany, 1900), Vol. VI, pp. 876-880. Hereinafter called the Clinton Papers.
20. From the Rome Sentinel, November, 1970. Taken from The Writings of George Washington, Vol. 22 (GPO, April 1932). Letter written to Gov. George Clinton.
21. Orderly Books of the Fourth and Second New York Regiments, 1778-1783, The University of the State of New York (Albany, 1932), pp. 750-752. Hereinafter called the Orderly Books of the 4th N.Y. Reg't.
22. From The Writings of George Washington, Vol. 27. Letter to Col. Willett, dated August 4, 1783.
23. Willett Levies, kept in New York State Library, Three letters pertaining to the building of the blockhouses received from Wayne Lenig, St. Johnsville, N.Y., 1971. On file at Fort Stanwix NM.
24. Diary of Griffith Evans, October, 1784. From the Fort Stanwix Museum File No. 3124.
. . . Fort Stanwix (also dictum Schuyler) is Situate or rather has been on the South side of the Mohawk River, there being now remaining no more than 3 small Blockhouses 1/2 Mile below the Ancient works, and some Cabins nearthereto, the Fort being abandoned by Gen. Gansevoort in being first burnt and demolished by Accident. . . .
25. "Treaty of Fort Stanwix in 1784," The Olden Time (Pittsburgh, 1848), p. 409. Letter from Oliver Wolcott, Richard Butler, and Arthur Lee to Lieut. John Mercer of the Jersey Troops.
26. Assembly Papers, Vol. 45, pp. 71-73, New York State Library, Dept. of Mss. and History, A copy of this letter received from Wayne Lenig, October, 1971.
27. We have two maps drawn of Rome, New York, one dated 1802 (Journal of Rev, John Taylor's Missionary Tour Through the Mohawk and Black River Countries in 1802, published in Documentary History of New York, Vol. III, 1850, p. 72) and one dated 1810 (History of Oneida County, New York, by Durant, 1875, p. 382), Both maps show a blockhouse in the center of the parade ground of Fort Stanwix. The blockhouse is also shown on an original Bank of Rome note printed in 1832, as published in the 1857 Rome Directory, p. 130. See Illustrations Nos. 10, 11 & 12, included in the Appendices of this report.
28. William Dunlap, History of the New Netherlands Province of New York, and State of New York, Vol. II, p. 112.
29. File Mss. 1/DAR.2—C.W. Darling, COR. 1—13. Correspondence with D. E. Wagers dated Jan, 23, 1891. Oneida County Historical Society, Utica, N.Y. Copy of correspondence in FOST files.
30. Documents Relating to the Colonial History of the State of New York, State Archives (Albany, 1887), Vol. I, p. 208. McGraw was in the Eighth Company.
31. Capt. Bleeker's Company was stationed at Fort Constitution under Col. Willett before marching to Fort Stanwix, where they arrived on May 26, 1777 (Willett Orderly Book). The exact day the 3rd N.Y. Regiment left Fort Stanwix is not known but the 1st New York Regiment arrived around January 1, 1779.
32. Copied from the files of Fort Stanwix Museum, folder marked Muster Rolls.
33. Description found in FOST files; source unknown.
34. Information, in part, obtained by Lee Hanson from the Fort Stanwix Museum files. Additional details taken from the Rome Sentinel, June 8, 1965.
35. See Illustration No. 15 in the Appendices of this report.
36. Excavated by J. Duncan Campbell for Rome Urban Renewal Agency in 1965. The bakehouse area was reopened by the National Park Service in 1971.
37. Hanson and Hsu, "The Bakehouse at Fort Stanwix" (N.P.S., April 1972). Typescript copy in rough draft form circulated in-Service during April of 1972.
38. Orderly Books of the 4th N.Y. Reg't., p. 577.
39. Fort Herkimer, N.Y.; Fort Ticonderoga, N.Y.; Fort Chartres, Ill.; Fort Conde, Ala.; Fort Du Quesne, Pa.
40. Orderly Books of the 4th N.Y. Reg't., p. 555. December 30, 1780: "The Morning Gun is to be fired in the Southeast Bastion to Morrow Morning . . ." We also have the deFleury map and two powder horn plans drawn not long after the siege that place cannons and/or embrasures in the southeast bastion.
42. The height of the chimney cap above the terreplein follows those shown in the casemate drawings of 1758-59. The writer has found an existing chimney cap that is identical in construction at Fort Putnam, West Point, N.Y.
43. Capt. George Smith, An Universal Military Dictionary (London, 1779), p. 99. Hereinafter cited as Capt. Smith.
44. Encyclopedia Britannica, Vol. IX, 1893, p. 428.
46. Crown Map No. 102. See section C-D for detail of wooden banquettes.
47. Crown Map No. 100 shows a barracks-like building scaling 20 feet X 118 feet located about 300 feet west of the fort. The structure is identified as a "Store house."
48. See Crown Maps Nos. 102 and 103.
49. "Journal from New York to Canada, 1767," published in the New York State Historical Association Quarterly, Vol. XXX, 1932, p. 188:
Tuesday May 19th, 1767. Continued our course to Fort Stanwix. . . . It is a regular square fortification, with a Fossee [sic] covered way, Glacis, and Ravellin sic, and calculated for a Garrison of 1000 or 1500 men. The works being of wood are now falling to decay.
Extract of a letter from Major Gen. Gage to the Earl of Shelburne dated New York, May 27, 1767. Documents Relating to the Colonial History of the State of New York, Vol. VII, p. 985:
The Fort is in a ruinous situation and I dont judge it of consequence enough at present to deserve the repairs it would require to make it defencible. It is proposed as soon as the military stores can be removed, to withdraw the Garrison, and to grant the Place with the ground dependant on the Fort, to an old half pay officer on condition that he shall take care of the Buildings for the Kings use and return everything again to the Crown when required for the use of the Kings Service, and that on consideration of a small Salary he shall likewise take charge of all the Stores destined for the Lakes, and to see them forwarded over the Portage for Fort Ontario.
50. Extract of a letter from Richard Duncan to William Livingston as printed in the Rome Sentinel, Rome, N.Y., March 3, 1969:
I hope to be able to go and reside there (Ft. Stanwix) myself—the people who live on the ground are one John Roof, Thomas Mayers, William Cloyne, Bartholemew Brodhock—John Steers and Stephenus Delyrod a Frenchman—who trades there for Major Fonda—the Fort is all in ruins, and the barracks by an accident last fall was burnt to the ground, nothing now remains—but a Room which the officers used to mess in now—occupied by the Frenchman above ment.—there is Fifty Acres of land enclosed about the Fort, it is—chiefly meadow, and Five little huts of houses with a couple of barns, . . .
55. Peter Force, American Archives, Vol. I, 5th Series, 1776 (Washington, D.C., 1848), p. 1119. Extract of a letter dated Elizabeth-Town, August 23, 1776.
56. For a complete list of the Connecticut soldiers stationed at Fort Stanwix under Colonel Elmore, see Muster Roll from Connecticut Men in the Revolution, compiled by the Adjutant-general's office. (Hartford, 1889).
58. John Scott, Fort Stanwix and Oriskany (Rome, N.Y., 1927), p. 100. Hereinafter cited as Scott.
61. Gansevoort map of Fort Stanwix; plan from Willett's Narrative (1831); deFleury map (post-siege); and three powder horn maps: McGraw, DeWitt, and Chatfield.
62. Scott, p. 113. Letter from Gansevoort to Schuyler written June 15, 1777:
The Engineer at this place has just laid the foundation of a salient angle before the gate and the carpenters are employed in framing a Barracks to be raised just before the glacis opposite the south Bastion the Barracks at present being bad. . . .
63. Scott, p. 113: "I have been obliged to send for boards as far as Foxes at Canajoharry."
"Collonel Willet's Orderly Book February 18th 1777—" Original manuscript kept in the New York Historical Society. Microfilm borrowed and transcribed by W. E. Scripture, Westmoreland, N.Y., March, 1972. Typed in final form by Roselyn Infusino. Copied for FOST files. Hereinafter called Willett Orderly Book.
Willett Orderly Book, May 30, 1777: "1 Sub. 1 Sergt and 15 privates are to hold themselves in Readyness to Embark tomorrow at ten o Clock, in Six Batteoux to fetch boards for Use of this Garrison."
Willett Orderly Book, June 16, 1777: "The Batteaus that arrived here this day with Boards are to be ready to set out again, with the other four Batteaus that are at this place. . . ."
The writer assumes that the casemates of 1777 were constructed in the same manner as the original fort work of 1758.
64, American Archives, 4th Series, Vol. 3. Copy of B. Romans' Estimate and Expense of erecting forts in the Highlands, September 18, 1775.
65. Minutes of the Albany Committee of Correspondence 1775-1778, Vol. 1, compiled by James Sullivan (Albany, 1923) p. 560.
66. Archeologists' report in draft form at Fort Stanwix.
67. Elmer Journal, p. 411, October 10, 1776: "The fatigued men are employed in getting and hauling shingles...."
68. Scott, p. 239, Willett's Narrative speaks of shutting the windows of the dining room.
69. The room arrangement for the east and west barracks was suggested by Lee Hanson.
71. The post-siege deFleury map lists a "labaratory" as being located in the west barracks. This military function not included as part of the proposed barracks layout. The southwest casemate with its packed soil floor best suits the purpose of a laboratory space.
72. Other contemporary forts having officers and soldiers housed in the same barracks building are: Forts Erie, Niagara, Johnston, Mount Pleasant, Half Moon, Lawrence, and Saco.
73. William Willett, A Narrative of the Military Actions of Colonel Marinus Willett, reprinted by Arno Press (New York, 1969), p. 49. Hereinafter called Willett's Narrative.
74. Letter, Wilkinson to General Gates, February 3, 1778.
75. Moses Dorr Diary. Entries for October 7, 20, 22, 1758.
78. Orderly Books of the 4th N.Y. Reg't., p. 544.
82. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Vol. IX, 1893, p. 428.
83. See Crown Maps Nos. 102 and 103, dated 1764. During the repair and remodeling work of 1764, a berm was constructed across the open ditch opposite the southeast bastion and the pickets extended from the covered way across the berm and along the east side of the fort.
84. Willett's Narrative, p. 49.
85. Willett Orderly Book, April 16, 1778.
86. See Crown Map No. XXX, 1756, noting "D". The brick kiln is located on the south side of "Little Creek" not far from the Mohawk River. The clay used in making the bricks probably came from a river deposit nearby.
87. Information on the bricks was furnished by Lee Hanson, January 4, 1973.
88. John Muller, A Treatise of Fortification (London, 1746), p. 214, reprinted by Museum Restoration Service (Ottawa, Canada, 1968).
89. Observation by the writer based on the study of plans from other colonial forts in the northeastern part of the United States.
95. Gates Papers, taken from microfilm reel No. 4. Letter from Gansevoort to Gates. Papers of General Horatio Gates located in the New York Historical Society. Microfilm copies borrowed by W. E. Scripture through the Jervis Library. Transcribed in part by Mr. Scripture and NPS personnel working at Fort Stanwix NM. Final typing done by Roselyn Infusino.
96. Ibid., taken from microfilm reel No, 4. Letter from James Wilkinson to Gates.
97. Forts Ontario, N.Y.; Mount Pleasant, Md.; Fort George, N.Y.C.
98. John Barr's Diary, p. 843, Orderly Books of the 4th N.Y. Reg't.
101. Sidney Toy. A History of Fortification from 3000 BC to AD 1700 (London, 1955) p. 200.
102. Ibid., pp. 200-201. Pulleys and chains; platform pivot with pit, the overhead counterpoise; port cullises; counterweights and pulleys.
103. Drawbridges found in New York State: Forts Frederick (2), Crown Point (4), Ticonderoga (2), Ontario (2), Herkimer, Edward, Niagara, and William Henry. Also at Forts Du Quesne and Pitt (4), Pennsylvania; Forts Erie, Louisbourg (2), Lawrence and Windsor in Canada.
104. Willett's Narrative, p. 43.
105. Hinge (1/2 pr) found near the main entrance way to the fort; currently kept at FOST. See archeologists' report.
106. Ordnance demand by order of Brig. General Stanwix, dated September 18, 1758. Original kept in Mss. Room, New York State Library, Albany.
108. Willett's Narrative, p. 49.
109. See Crown Map No. 101 included in the Appendices of this report.
110. There are several powder horns depicting Fort Stanwix or Schuyler. The Fort Stanwix Museum has collected a number of drawings and photographs of powder horns showing Fort Stanwix, yet we know of additional horns listed in Stephen V. Grancsay's book, American Engraved Powder Horns (New York, 1945), that have not been located for study purposes. The five powder horns we now have sketches of which show the flagstaff are those identified with Jeams Thomson, Oct. 8, 1777; J. McGraw, Dec. 25, 1777; Capt. T. DeWitt, 1778; James Wilson, n.d., c. 1780; and Cornelius Chatfield, Nov. 5, 1780.
111. A short list of sketches illustrating the double masted flagstaff is as follows: Fort William and Mary, N.H., 1699 (Crown Collection map); fort at Crown Point, N.Y., 1759; Fort Stanwix, 1777, 1778, 1780; Fort Mackinac, 1820; Fort Howard, c. 1840; and Fort McHenry, Md., c. 1862. In addition, we have an eyewitness account of the flagstaff at Fort Pitt in 1759, as follows: ". . . on ye South East Bastion stands a High Poal like a Mast & top Mast to Hoist ye flag which is Hoisted on the first Day of ye Week from about Eleven to One o'clock & on State Days &c." (From the Kenny Journal as found in Drums in the Forest by Charles Stotz, p. 160.)
112. For a complete description and set of construction drawings of a ship's mast, see Steel's Elements of Mastmaking, Sailmaking & Rigging (London, 1794), Plates III and IV.
114. Gay De Vernon, On the Science of War and Fortifications, translated by John Michael O'Connor (New York, 1817), p. 290.
115. Elmer Journal, p. 134: "Fort Stanwix [in 1776] . . . is large and well situated, having a glacis, breastwork, ditch and a picquet fort before the walls, which are also well guarded with sharp sticks of timber shouting over the walls. . . ."
St. Leger, the British commander, described the fort in 1777, as follows: "Its form is a kind of Trapezium or four sided figure with four Bastions freized and picketted, without them as a good ditch with pickets nipping out a considerable way at the salient angles of Bastions. . . ." Luzader, p. 81.
117. Humphrey Blank, A Treatise of Military Discipline (London, 1759) pp. 201, 203:
Half an hour before the gates are to be shut, which is generally at the setting of the sun, a Serjeant and four men must be sent from each port to the main-guard for the keys; at which time, the drummers of the port-guards are to go upon the ramparts, and beat a Retreat, to give notice to those without, that the gates are going to be shut, that they may come in before they are. As soon as the Drummers have finished the Retreat, which they should not do in less than a quarter of an hour, the Officers must order the barriers and gates to be shut, leaving only the wickets open; after which, no Soldier should be suffered to go out of the town, though port-liberty should be allowed them in the day-time.
He must order a Corporal and four men more with arms to escort the keys to the outermost barrier, and to place two men with rested arms, on every draw bridge, till they return from locking the barriers. He must send likewise a sufficient number of men without arms to assist in the locking of the gates and drawing up the bridges.
118. The names "Swing Gate," "back gate," "great gate," and "folding gate," have been used to describe gates constructed at various New York forts during this period.
119. Elmer Journal, August 16, 1776, p. 179: "Almost finished the fort, but could not enclose it for want of some pickets and the gate, carpenters making the gate and about repairing the barn."
120. Elmer Journal, August 27, 1776, p. 188: "The Fort Schuyler or Stanwix is exceedingly well situated. . . . the gates are strong, without any ravelling to the front...."
121. Orderly Books of the 4th N.Y. Reg't., p. 575: "The Sentinals without the gates are in case of an alarm are to shut and barr the outside gates and Remane their till further orders and not open the gates for any person...."
123. Charles Lamb, An Universal Military Dictionary in English and French, etc. 4th Ed. (London, 1816) p. 994:
WICKET, a small door in the gate of a fortified place, through which people go in and out, without opening the great gate: likewise a small door within a gate, or a hole in the door; through which what passes without may be seen.
124. The Revolutionary Journal of Col. Jedathan Baldwin, 1775-1778, edited by Thomas W. Baldwin (Bangor, Me., 1906). p. 27. February 27, 1777: "went to mount Independance the forenoon, ordered the wicket gates to be hung and the Gates Barred."
An elevation of the "New Fort" to be built at Schohary, N.Y., (mid-18th century?) shows a wicket gate built within the main gate (Crown Map No. CXXI, photocopy of the original kept in Crown Collection, New York State Library).
125. Orderly Books of the 4th New York Reg't., p. 543.
126. American Archives, 5th Series, Vol. I, p. 1119. Extract of a letter dated Elizabeth-town, August 23, 1776: "A wide ditch is sunk round it (Fort Stanwix), about ten feet deep, the glaces on the outside are raised six feet above the surface...."
127. As determined by archeology.
128. As scaled and projected off Crown Map No. 102, Section A-B.
129. Elmer Journal, p. 33. Dr. Elmer was stationed at Fort Stanwix with Colonel Dayton's Regiment.
130. Scott, p. 100. Letter from Capt. De Lamarquise to General Gates, no date, but probably written in late April of 1777.
June 5, 1777: ". . . John Baker to be releas'd from the Guard House...."
June 9, 1777: "And Richard Watson Ordered to be Releas'd from the Guard House...."
June 12, 1777: ". . . James Rogers and Cornelius Swartwout Ordered to be Releas'd from the Guard House—as also James McCormick...."
March 5, 1778: "Serg:t Myers of Capt Tiebouts company confin'd by Lieut: Bowen for defrauding the Publick was Order'd back to the-Guard House untill the Arrival of Lieut Stockwell—a principal Evidence. The Commanding Officer approves of the Suspending the Tryal, but Orders the prisoners Releas'd from his Confinement in the mean Time. . . .
132. Orderly Books of the 4th N.Y. Reg't., p. 548:
December 3, 1780: "Charles Kinney to [be] Dismissed from Confinement, and John Holms and Ephm White to be shut in the Bomb proof for the space of six hours."
133. Letter from Cornls V. Dyck to Coll Van Schaick, April 17th 1780. (We owe thanks to the Fort Stanwix files for this letter.)
Dr Sir
l am sorry I must inform you of an unluck circumstance which happened to use on the night between the 13th & 14th InsT. & between the Hours of twelve & one, some fire had unhappily lodged itself between the Chimney and the Chamber floor of the Guard House which caught so violently & it being on the Chamber so that the Gaurd did not perceive it until it had got so far that it was impossible to extinguish it, but but consumed with the Snowshoes, and all the Arms unfit for use belonging to the Garrison; we were necessiated (in order to save the rest of the Garrison from being consumed) to also haull down part of the rist of the Barracks, immediately in the morning I had all the Carpenters collected & employed who have now nearly again repaired the Barracks that were knock'd down and hope if nothing extraordinary falls in our way to have the Gaurd House also rebuilt by next Saturday—This accident might have destroyed the whole Garrison had it not been for the Dexterity of the Officers & Soldiers who by taking down part of the Barracks, & the constant applying of Water (to that part which was on fire) which was conveyed thro the Sally Port prevented the fire from catching in any of the other Buildings, not a man was hurt saving a few who lamed themselves by treading Nails in their feet—
I remain
Sir
134. Orderly Books of the 4th N.Y. Regiment, op. cit.. p. 544: ". . . The officer of the Main Guard, is not to Suffer any Damage to be Done to the Flours sic of the Guard Hous sic, . . ."
135. The six contemporary drawings showing the headquarters building are as follows: McGraw powder horn, 1777; DeWitt powder horn, 1778; Cornelius Chatfield powder horn, 1780; DeFleury map, n.d., but post-siege; Gansevoort map, n.d., but post-siege; map accompanying Willett's Narrative of 1831. One written reference can be found in John Scott's book entitled Fort Stanwix and Oriskany, p. 95, as follows: "The adjutant was ordered to make three copies and 'fix one at Head Quarters, one at the fort gate and the other at Mr. Roof's.'" The second written reference is the word "HeadQrs" labeled beside the north fort building drawn on the "Gansevoort Map of Fort Stanwix," See Appendices for this map plan.
. . . Permission having been granted, they were conducted blindfolded into the fort, and received by Colonel Gansevoort in his dining room. The windows of the room were shut and candles lighted; the table also was spread, covered with crackers, cheese and wine.
138. Moses Dorr Diary, August 25, 1758: "I Ges came of Dutey and ordered to oversea the Building of a Hopatal for the Sick. . . .
139. Elmer Journal, October 5, 1776, p. 32.
140. Willett Orderly Book, June 2, 1777.
141. "A Diary of the Siege of Fort Schuyler," written by William Colbraith, edited by Max. W. Reid, The Magazine of History, Vol. III, January-June, 1906 (William Abbatt, New York), p. 32. Hereinafter called Colbrath Diary.
142. New-York Historical Society Collections (New York, 1915), Vol. 48, pp. 430-431.
143. Clinton Papers, Vol. IX, p. 120.
144. Orderly Books of the 4th N.Y. Reg't., p. 574.
145. The Gentleman's Compleat Military Dictionary (Boston, 1759).
148. Orderly Books of the 4th N.Y. Reg't., p. 541:
"for the future Provision for the Garrison, Staff officers, and the Dependants for Publick supplies, are to Draw always on one Day as no Provision Return will be allowed on other Days."
149. Documents Relating to the State of New York in the Revolution, p. 81. The Committee of War, acting upon orders from the Provincial Congress, issued the following instructions to the Barrack Master in March of 1776:
That the Field Officers of each Corps in this Colony be supplied with one Room; the Captains with the Subalterns of each Company together with the Quarter Master and Adjutant to be entitled to a Room between each two.
The Officers' Rooms of the said Corps to be furnished each with 1 pr. Tongs, 1 Table, two Chairs and one Candlestick.
For every Room for Non Commissioned Officers and Soldiers of the said Corps, each room to contain 20 men, 10 Cribs, 10 Bedcases and 10 Boulsters to be filled with straw every three months, 2 Iron Potts, 2 Trammells, 1 pr. Tongs, 1 Wood Axe, 1 Iron Candlestick, 1 Table, 2 Benches and 1 Bucket.—and with firewood as follows:
For every Room for Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers and Privates from the 1st day Octr. to the 1st April 3-8ths of a Cord of Wood per week for each room so occupied as aforesaid—and for 5 Weeks preceeding the 1st Octr. and 5 Weeks after the 1st April 3-16ths of a Cord of Wood pr week and for the remaining 16 weeks 1-8 of a Cord per week. . . .
150. Orderly Books of the 4th N.Y. Reg't., p. 541:
"no Officer Waiter to be absent at Roll Calls in the Evening on pain of being punished."
151. Luzader, p. 133 (Willett Narrative): "Permission having been granted, they were conducted blindfolded into the fort, and received by Colonel Gansevoort in his dining room."
152. Crown Map No, 99. This drawing is interpreted as having two necessary houses drawn on the fort plan. Without question the elevated privy is shown in plan projecting off the southeast bastion and is marked with a dotted line called C-D which is called a section, but actually is an elevation view of the necessary and foot bridge. The plan of the elevated privy is almost identical to that of what is called the officers' privy, located near the center of the officers' huts. The elevated privy contains two compartments; one side could have been used by the soldiers and the other side used by officers. During the day the officers would be required to use the elevated privy, but at night a privy located on the parade ground would have been used. The soldiers, meanwhile, would be required to use the exterior privy at all times.
153. Crown Map No. 103, dated November 19th 1764.
154. Richard Day, Calendar of Sir William Johnson Manuscripts in the New York State Library (University of the State of New York, Albany, 1909) p. 357, May 26, 1767, letter from Daniel Campbell to Sir Wm. Johnson stating that Capt. Stevens is to dismantle the garrison at Fort Stanwix; p. 361, June 20, 1767, letter from Hugh Wallace to Johnson stating that Major Goreham and 2nd Lieut. Galland are to reside at Fort Stanwix; p. 485, May 16, 1771, letter from Edward Wall to Johnson describing Lieut. Galland's condition (at Fort Stanwix), Johnson was still concerned about the pay of the batteauxmen serving to bring provisions up to Fort Stanwix during the treaty of 1768, (Johnson to Gage, letter dated April 26, 1773, p. 518).
155. The last remaining soldiers' cabin built at the New Windsor Cantonment in New York State during 1782-83 was constructed with logs used to fill in the gable ends. The corners of the walls were not dovetailed but simply half lapped and pinned together.
156. Crown Map No, 102, dated 1764. See drawings of cross sections.
157. Colbrath Diary, pp. 99-100: "Augth. This Day the Enemy having Observed that we brought water from the Creek altered its Course so that it became dry."
158. Willett Orderly Book, entry dated September 17, 1777.
159. Ibid., entry dated September 20, 1777.
160. A photostat of the original plan, undated, is kept in the Oneida County Historical Society, Utica, New York. The Gansevoort Map of Fort Stanwix is thought to be a copy of this plan.
161. See Illustration No. 8 for a view of the James Wilson powder horn.
162. Orderly Books of the 4th N.Y. Reg't., pp. 575-76:
Fort Schuyler Fryday 13th April 1781 The Sentinals after Nine OClock are to Chalence every person and not suffer them to pass unless they giv the Countersign except those who are going to the Necesary House who are not to pass or Repass without giving their Names.
163. E.B. O'Callaghan, Colonial History of the State of New York, Paris Documents: XVII, 1745-1778; and X (Albany, 1858), p. 1162.
164. Drawings of these three necessaries are kept in the files of Fort Stanwix. Obtained from the Crown Collection, Mss. Room, New York State Library.
165. Willett Orderly Book, March 15, 1778.
166. Orderly Books of the 4th N.Y. Reg't., p. 541.
168. Colbrath Diary, entry for August 11, 1777.
171. Crown Map No. 101, Profile thro F-F.
172. Crown Map No. 102, Section thro A-B.
174. Ibid., p. 180. Letter written for newspaper publication by Willett for Jonathan Trumball, Albany, August 15, 1777.
176. Crown Map No. 103. Note symbol used for pickets in ditch and berm.
178. Clinton Papers; letter from Lt. Col. Robert Cochran to Gov. Clinton, May 12, 1781, reporting on the condition of Fort Stanwix after the fire: "2d that the only remaining strength is the outside Picquets on the Glacis."
179. Rome Daily Sentinel, Tuesday, February 25, 1969. Editorial by Mr. Fritz Updike.
181. Charles Augustus Struenesee, The First Principles of Field Fortification, translated from the German by William Nicolay (London, 1800), p. 94:
Manner of fixing Palisades—Two palisades are then firmly fixed at some distance asunder, with great accuracy, and exactly of equal height. At the points of these palisades, nails are driven, and a cord is stretched between them; by which means the situation of all the palisades is determined, and it is easy to fix them sufficiently correct.
Colonel C. B. Jebb, Jebb's Treatise on Attack and Defense, 5th Edition (London, 1857), p. 38:
The Palisades should be 9 or 10 feet long, so that when finished, the ends shall be at least 7 feet above the ground. They may be made out of the stems of young trees of 6 or 8 inches diameter, . . . If the Materials are weak, a cross piece must be nailed to them near the top, to prevent their being broken down, and they must not be placed so close together as to cover an Enemy.
182. Original ordnance demand dated Septr 18th 1758, and signed by James Stephens Capt Lieut of Artillery, T Sowers Engineer, and Jno: Williams Engineer, is kept in the Mss. Room, New York State Library, Albany, N.Y.
183. Orderly Books of the 4th N.Y. Reg.'t., November 24, 1780, pp. 541-542.
184. Colbrath Journal; references to August 2 on page 95, August 6 on page 96.
185. Orderly Books of the 4th N.Y. Reg't., May 24, 1781, p. 583.
186. A full listing of military dictionaries dealing with platforms would be too lengthy to include at this point but the most useful books are as follows:
Duane, William, A Military Dictionary (Philadelphia, 1810), p. 533.
Gay De Vernon, S.F., On the Science of War and Fortifications, translated by John Michael O'Connor (New York, 1817), Vol. I, p. 266-276.
Lacroix, Irenée Amelot de, The French Artillerist translated by Samuel MacKay (Boston, 1808), p. 10.
Lallemand, H., A Treatise on Artillery, translated by James Renwick (New York, 1820). Vol. I, pp. 275-278.
Smith, George Capt., An Universal Military Dictionary (England, 1779), (see under "Battery").
187. Sheffield, Merle G., The Fort That Never Was, Constitution Island in the Revolutionary War, (1972). Plan No. 3 by Bernard Romans, September 14, 1775, on page 5, showing solid gun platforms.
188. Colbrath Journal, p. 104.
193. Crown Map No, 99 shows in Sections A-B and C-D the construction of the outer two walls that formed the log cribbing of the ramparts. This log cribbing filled with earth was built around the entire circuit of the fort's bastions and curtain walls. Section E-F, taken through the north curtain wall, illustrates the construction of the ramparts where the three walls were used to form the outer log cribbing and the inner casemates. Also shown on this plan is an elevation drawing of the casemates, indicating the two 12" thick tiers of squared timbers used for the terreplein or roof construction of the four curtain walls.
194. Luzader, p. 40. See also Sections A-B, C-D, and E-F on Crown Map No. 99 that show the ramparts constructed en barbette.
195. Crown Map No. 101. See legend explaining the amount of work completed at Fort Stanwix ". . . from July to December 1759." Section A-B shows the fraise in position on the ramparts of the northeast bastion. Section E-F shows the newly raised wooden parapet built around the northwest bastion. In section it scales 5'—6" high. There appears to be either a banquette step or a hurter piece for one of the gun platforms in this same drawing. Note: The newly made parapet, banquette step and gun platforms were stained in red on the original drawing. These appear as darkened areas in the black and white reproductions.
196. The Papers of Sir William Johnson, p. 273.
197. Notes found on Crown Map No. 101.
198. Notes found on Crown Map No. 102.
200. Luzader, p. 20. Comments by Capt. William Green.
206. See Crown Maps Nos. 99, 100, and 101. Also called caponière.
207. See Crown Maps Nos. 102 and 103.
208. See Crown Map No. 103 which shows the passageway in this manner.
209. Scaled directly from the archeologists' field drawings of 1972.
213. Dick Ping Hsu, "Summary of the 1970 Excavations at Fort Stanwix," N.P.S., April, 1971, p. 9.
214. William M. Black, Evolution on the Art of Fortification, U.S. Army Engineering School, G.P.O. (Wash., 1919).
215. Walter Muir Whitehill, Boston A Topographical History (Cambridge, 1968), p. 19.
216. Henry E. Dunnack, Maine Forts (Augusta, Me., 1924).
217. Copies of three different drawings of this fort, built on the Piscataqua River. were obtained from the Crown Collection kept in the Mss. Room, New York State Library, Albany. See Illustration No, 16.
218. The most useful of the military dictionaries concerning sentry box descriptions are:
Gentleman's Compleat Military Dictionary (Boston, 1759).
GUERITE is a small tower of stone or wood, generally on the Point of a Bastion, or on the Angles of the Shoulder, to hold a CENTINEL, who is to take care of the Foss, and to watch to prevent Surprises; some call ECHAUGETTE those which are made of Wood, and are of a square Form, for the GUERITES of Stone are roundish, and are built half without the Wall, and terminate at a Point below, which ought to be at the CORDON, that the CENTINEL may discover along the Faces, Flanks and Curtins, and all along the Foss: They ought to be about six Foot high, and their Breadth three and a half.
Charles Lamb, An Universal Military Dictionary in English and French in which are explained the Terms of the Principal Sciences that are Necessary for the Information of an Officer, 4th Ed., (London, T. Egerton, 1816), pp. 96, 301.
Centinel
Centry . . . No centry to move more than 50 paces to the right, and as many to the left of his post; and let the weather be ever so bad, he must not get tinder any other cover, but that of the centry-box.
CENTRY-box, a sort of wooden box, or hut, to shelter the centinel from the injuries of the weather; but in fortifications made of masonry, they are of stone in a circular form.
SENTRY . . . Sentries are placed before the arms of all guards, at the tents and doors of general officers, colonels of regiments, &c.
Thomas Simes, A New Military Historical and Explanatory Dictionary (Humphreys, Bell and Aitken, Philadelphia, 1776).
GUERRITTE sic, "a fort or small tower of stone or wood, on the point of a bastion, or on the angles of the shoulder, to hold a sentry. (A sketch of a masonry sentry box is included with this explanation.)
Capt. George Smith, An Universal Military Dictionary (J. Millan, London, 1779), p. 80.
Centry-box, a sort of wooden box, or hut, to shelter the centinel from the injuries of the weather. . . .
ECHAUGETTE sic, in military history, signifies a watch tower or kind of a centry box. (The term "tower of duty," found in many soldiers' diaries may have meant duty served in one of the early fortified towers in England. Later, this term probably became known as tour of duty.)
219. This drawing was provided by Mr. John Fortier, Head Research Historian at Fortress of Louisbourg NHP, Canada. Its source is Bernard Forest de Belidor, La Science des ingenieurs dons la conduite des travaux de fortification et d'architecture civile . . . (Paris, Jambert, 1739). See Illustration No. 19.
220. Scott, p. 100. Also checked against the original letter found in the Gates papers, microfilm reel No. 3.
221. Willett Orderly Book, May 15, 1778.
222. For a short biographical sketch of James Wilson, see "Hobbies, The Magazine for Collectors," May, 1951, pp. 146-147. Mr. Chester Williams of Rome, N.Y. was the person responsible for calling attention to this article and for permitting the power horn drawing to be photocopied. See Illustration No, 8.
223. Orderly Books of the 4th N.Y. Reg't., p. 556.
228. Storehouses were built at the Oneida Carrying Place during the British occupation. See Crown Map No. 100 for location of a storehouse in 1758.
229. Scott, p. 100. Capt. de Lamarquise to General Gates, n.d.
231. Ibid., February 24, 1778.
232. Orderly Books of the 4th N.Y. Reg.t., pp. 542, 552-553, 573.
233. Letter from Hansen to Schuyler, dated December 30, 1776, (Fort Stanwix), commenting on the fact he had been assigned a room for stores by Col. Elmore. This extract furnished by NPS historian John Luzader:
The moment it is clean I will have proper shelves to lay the goods to advantage. I am happy that the Room which is to contain the goods adjoins the one in which I live alone. Threw sic which I intend to make a Passage and so use only one Door to the Two Rooms. The above comments suggest that the commissary store in 1776 might have been located in one of the barracks buildings. This is one instance where an alteration was made between two interior rooms of a building.
234. Documentary History of New York, Vol. 13, p. 526.
235. Expedition to Detroit, 1793, edited by John and Isaac Comly, Byberry, Vol. II, 2nd Edition (Philadelphia, 1836) pp. 574-575.
237. Also called at various times Mill Creek and Garden Creek.
238. Willett Orderly Book, August 11, 1777.
239. Rome Directory, 1857, p. 130. See Illustration No. 12.
Orders which were much needed in our camp at this time, as guns were frequently heard in the bush, which were no doubt fired by soldiers; but we were not able to find out the particular persons till this day, when 4 were brought in and sentenced by the Lieut. Col. to stand 1 hour stripped and tied altogether at the whipping post, which was immediately put in execution.
241. Orderly Books of the 4th N.Y. Reg't., p. 577.
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