'Fort Stanwix' was a colonial fort erected in
1758 by British General
John Stanwix, at the location of present-day
Rome, New York. The fort guarded a
portage known as the ''Oneida Carrying Place'' during the
French and Indian War. A reconstructed fort has been built at the site by the
National Park Service, and the 'Fort Stanwix National Monument' lies in the center of the modern city.
In
1768, Fort Stanwix was the site of
an important treaty conference between the British and the
Iroquois, arranged by
William Johnson. The purpose of the conference was to renegotiate the boundary line between Indian lands and white settlements set forth in the
Proclamation of 1763. The British government hoped a new boundary line might bring an end to the rampant frontier violence, which had become costly and troublesome. Indians hoped a new, permanent line might hold back white colonial expansion.
The final treaty was signed on November 5, and extended the earlier proclamation line much further west. The Iroquois had effectively ceded
Kentucky to the whites. However, the Indians who actually used the Kentucky lands, primarily
Shawnee,
Delaware, and
Cherokee, had no role in the negotiations. Rather than secure peace, the Fort Stanwix treaty helped set the stage for the next round of hostilities.

Aerial view of Fort Stanwix
Fort Schuyler
Fort Stanwix was abandoned in 1768. It was reoccupied by Colonial troops in the summer of 1776. They began reconstruction of the fort and they renamed it Fort Schulyer, though many continued to call it Fort Stanwix.
On
August 3, 1777 the fort was attacked by British forces under the command of Brigadier General
Barry St. Leger as part of a three-pronged attack (see
Saratoga Campaign) to split American power in New York State. The fort commander, Colonel
Peter Gansevoort, refused the terms of surrender offered by the British, and the siege commenced.
The
Battle of Oriskany was fought when an American relief column, commanded by General
Nicholas Herkimer, was ambushed by British troops,
Tories, and their Indian allies. While many of the besiegers were attending to that battle, the defenders of the fort sallied forth and attacked the enemy camp, looting and destroying enemy stores. Demoralized and reduced in strength, the British withdrew when they heard rumors of yet another relief column, led by General
Benedict Arnold. The British failure to capture the fort and proceed down the
Mohawk Valley was a severe setback and eventually led to the defeat of General
John Burgoyne at the
Battle of Saratoga.On August 3, 1777 the Stars and Stripes were raised at Fort Stanwix the first time the flag was flown in front of a foe in the U.S. For this reason the fort has also been designated as a
National Historic Landmark.
[1]
The Fort burned to the ground on May 13, 1781 and was not rebuilt[2].
The
Treaty of Fort Stanwix was conducted at the fort between the Americans and the Indians in 1784.
The Park Service reconstructed the fort between 1974 and 1978.
References
1. National Park Service, National Historic Landmarks Survey, New York; retrieved May 30, 2007.
2. ''Casemates and Cannonballs. Archeological Investigations at Fort Stanwix, Rome, New York'', by Lee Hanson, Dick Ping Hsu
External links
★
Fort Stanwix National Monument
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Information on visiting Fort Stanwix from Pastigo.com