Leslie and David's Wanderings: 1 July 2022 Fort Stanwix NM

Sunday, July 3, 2022

1 July 2022 Fort Stanwix NM

About an hour away, in the center of Rome New York, is the rebuilt Revolutionary War era Fort. It was originally built by the British, during the French and Indian War, to protect the Oneida Carry Place. This was a critical location since a large portion of the trade from the great lake to the east coast travel through this location. Traders would come from Lake Ontario along Wood Creek, offload their good and portage them 1.6 miles to the Mohawk River before continuing on to New York via the Mohawk and Hudson River. It was all a trading post between the Six Nations and British traders. Following the end of the French and Indian War in 1763 the fort was abandoned. At the start of the American Revolution, the site of the fort was occupied by the American troops and the fort rebuilt. It was the scene of a bloody battle in August 1777 when 1600 British Troops, Loyalists, and their Indian allies move to attack the Fort from Fort Owego. But the fort was more complete and had more troops than the British expected and the fort was never assaulted but they did start a seige. American Militia and Indian allies attempting to relieve the fort were ambushed six miles from the fort and suffered severe casualties in the battle of Oriskany. The British subsequently retreated when they heard 3000 American Regular troops under General Benedict Arnold were on their way to relieve the fort. The fort burned down in 1781 at the end of the Revolution. The city of Rome was built on the site which remained an important carry point until the Erie Canal was built in the early 1820s. In the early 1970s, during the drive to rebuild American cities, the buildings that had been built on the site of Fort Stanwix were torn down and the land given to the National Park Service. The park service embarked on a project to rebuild the fort in 1975 and it was completed in 1977. The fort is a reconstruction from detailed plans that were found in archives. Much of the fort was built by hand using the same wood working techniques used in the 1700s. The walk through the fort was interesting. Its hard to imagine the hardship the troops endured in this remote outpost. We then went to the Copper City Brewery to try some of the local beers.