The Archaeology of French and Indian War Frontier Forts University Press of Florida Florida A&M University, Tallahassee Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton Florida Gulf Coast University, Ft. Myers Florida International University, Miami Florida State University, Tallahassee New College of Florida, Sarasota University of Central Florida, Orlando University of Florida, Gainesville University of North Florida, Jacksonville University of South Florida, Tampa University of West Florida, Pensacola This page intentionally left blank The Archaeology of French and Indian War Frontier Forts Edited by Lawrence E. Babits and Stephanie Gandulla University Press of Florida Gainesville · Tallahassee · Tampa · Boca Raton Pensacola · Orlando · Miami · Jacksonville · Ft. Myers · Sarasota Copyright 2014 by Lawrence E. Babits and Stephanie Gandulla All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America. This book is printed on Glatfelter Natures Book, a paper certified under the standards of the Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC). It is a recycled stock that contains 30 percent post-consumer waste and is acid free. This book may be available in an electronic edition. 19 18 17 16 15 14 6 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The archaeology of French and Indian War frontier forts / edited by Lawrence E. Babits and Stephanie Gandulla. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-8130-4906-9 (alk. paper) 1. United States—History—French and Indian War, 1754–1763. 2. Fortification—United States—History. 3. Excavations (Archaeology)—United States. 4. Historic sites—United States. I. Babits, Lawrence Edward. II. Gandulla, Stephanie. E199.A73 2014 973.2’6—dc23 2013024206 The University Press of Florida is the scholarly publishing agency for the State University System of Florida, comprising Florida A&M University, Florida Atlantic University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Florida International University, Florida State University, New College of Florida, University of Central Florida, University of Florida, University of North Florida, University of South Florida, and University of West Florida. University Press of Florida 15 Northwest 15th Street Gainesville, FL 32611-2079 http://www.upf.com This book is dedicated to J. C. Harrington, Jacob Grimm, Gilbert Hagerty, and Charles Fisher This page intentionally left blank Contents List of Figures ix List of Tables xiii Preface xv French and Indian War Chronology, 1750–1765 xvii Introduction 1 Lawrence E. Babits 1. Clash of Empires 9 R. Scott Stephenson 2. Forts on the Frontier: Adapting European Military Engineering to North America 17 James L. Hart 3. Fort Prince George, South Carolina 52 Marshall W. Williams 4. Fort Loudoun, Tennessee : Defensive Features and Artifactual Remains 69 Carl Kuttruff 5. Fort Dobbs, North Carolina: How Documents and Artifacts Led to Rebuilding the Fort 84 Lawrence E. Babits 6. Fort Loudoun, Virginia: A French and Indian War Period Fortification Constructed by George Washington 102 Robert L. Jolley 7. The Second Fort Vause: A Crucial French and Indian War Fort in the Roanoke Valley of Virginia 122 Kim A. McBride 8. “To Preserve the Forts, and the Families Gathered into Them”: Archaeology of Edwards’s Fort, Capon Bridge, West Virginia 139 W. Stephen McBride 9. Fort Loudoun: A Provincial Fort on the Mid-Eighteenth-Century Pennsylvania Frontier 158 Stephen G. Warfel 10. Style Wars in the Wilderness: The Colonial Forts at Crown Point 174 Charles L. Fisher and Paul R. Huey 11. Fort Frontenac, Kingston, Ontario, Canada 191 Susan M. Bazely 12. Michilimackinac, a Civilian Fort 216 Lynn L. M. Evans 13. War and the Colonial Frontier: Fort de Chartres in the Illinois Country 229 David J. Keene Conclusion 241 Lawrence E. Babits Glossary 255 References Cited 261 List of Contributors 287 Index 291 Figures 2.1. Representation of “antiquated fortifications” 23 2.2. Le Blond’s illustration of the weakness of medieval square and round towers 24 2.3. Plate employed by Le Blond to illustrate “the first system of M. de Vauban” 26 2.4. Table employed by Le Blond to provide the appropriate dimensions of various parts of a fortification 27 2.5. Close-up of the front of fortification BC 29 2.6. Plan of an irregular fortification 30 2.7a and b. Two tables provided by Le Blond to allow the designer to approximate the results of a regular fortification in the ground plan of an irregular fortification 31 2.8. Two illustrations of defense in depth 39 2.9. Franquet’s plan of Fort St. Frédéric 42 2.10. Franquet’s plan of Fort Chambly 44 2.11. Franquet’s schematic plan of the fortifications at Montréal 46 3.1a and b. Location of Fort Prince George in Pickens County, South Carolina 53 3.2. Configuration of the gun platform in the northwest bastion 60 3.3. Composite map of the excavations at Fort Prince George 62 3.4. Hand-drawn conception of Fort Prince George based on excavation data 64 4.1. Plan of excavation, Fort Loudoun, Tennessee 71 4.2. Artifact distribution maps 75 4.3. FAP Kitchen Group percentages 77