Fort Hamilton
Arthur St. Clair, a general in the United States Army, ordered the construction of Fort Hamilton in September 1791. The fort was the first of many built north from Cincinnati in Native American territory. Fort Hamilton served as a supply depot for American expeditions against natives living along the Great Miami River, the Auglaize River, and the Maumee River during the early 1790s.
Fort Hamilton consisted of a four-sided, square stockade. Each wall was approximately fifty yards in length. There were four diamond-shaped projections called bastions sticking out from the stockade's walls. St. Clair provided a detailed description of the Fort Hamilton's construction in his Narrative of the Campaign Against the Indians:
The circuit of the fort is about one thousand feet, through the whole extent of which a trench about three feet deep was dug to set the piquets [posts] in, of which it required about two thousand to enclose it; and it is not trees taken promiscuously, that will answer for piquets, they must be tall and straight, and from nine to twelve inches in diameter.
When found, they are felled, cleared of their branches and cut into lengths of about twenty feet. They were then carried to the ground and butted, that they might be placed firm and upright in the trench with the axe, or cross-cut saw; some hewing upon them also necessary, for there are few trees so straight that the sides of them will come in contact when set upright.
Upon the fort's completion in early October, 1791, St. Clair left a small group of soldiers and two cannons to garrison it. He proceeded northward forty-five miles, where he constructed Fort Jefferson. In early November, St. Clair's men marched northward. On November 4, 1791, Native Americans won a major victory against the American army in a battle that came to be known as St. Clair's Defeat. Fort Hamilton continued to serve as an important garrison as white Americans and Native Americans struggled for control of western Ohio. Modern-day Hamilton, Ohio, is located on the site of Fort Hamilton.
References and Suggested Reading
- Edel, Wilbur. Kekionga!: The Worst Defeat in the History of the U.S Army. Westport, CT: Praeger, 1997. - Available from Amazon.com
- Hurt, R. Douglas. The Ohio Frontier: Crucible of the Old Northwest, 1720-1830. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1996. - Available from Amazon.com
- O'Donnell, James H., III. Ohio's First Peoples. Athens: Ohio University Press, 2004. - Available from Amazon.com
- Ricky, Donald B., ed. Encyclopedia of Ohio Indians. St. Clair Shores, MI: Somerset Publishers, Inc., 1998. - Available from Amazon.com
- Smith, William Henry, ed. The St. Clair Papers: The Life and Public Services of Arthur St. Clair, Soldier of the Revolutionary War; President of the Continental Congress; and Governor of the North-western Territory; With His Correspondence and Other Papers, Arranged and Annotated by William Henry Smith. Cincinnati, OH: R. Clarke & Co., 1882.
- Williams, Gary S. The Forts of Ohio: A Guide to Military Stockades. Caldwell, OH: Buckeye Book Press, 2003. - Available from Amazon.com
- Wilson, Frazer Ells. Arthur St. Clair, Rugged Ruler of the Old Northwest; An Epic of the American Frontier. Richmond, VA: Garrett and Massie, 1944.
Time Periods
Regions
Citation
"Fort Hamilton", Ohio History Central, July 1, 2005, http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=707
Feedback
Do you have comments that you would like to send us about this entry? Use our secure feedback form to send us your thoughts.
Support
Ohio History Central
If you found this entry helpful, please consider supporting Ohio History Central. Your support will enable us to continue to add new content and features to the encyclopedia.
To make a donation, click here. Be sure to select "Ohio History Central" from the list of "Gift Designations," when you make your gift.
Thank you for supporting Ohio History Central!
