Fort Washington
In 1789, Fort Washington was built to protect early settlements located in the Symmes Purchase in the Miami Valley of what is now southwestern Ohio. The fort was located in modern-day Cincinnati and protected settlers of that city in its early years. General Josiah Harmar described it as "one of the most solid substantial wooden fortresses. . .of any in the Western Territory." The stockade's walls were two stories high with blockhouses located at each corner. The fort was named in honor of President George Washington. In 1790, Harmar used Fort Washington to launch an expedition against the Miami Indians, whose principal city was Kekionga (modern-day Fort Wayne, Indiana). The fort would serve similar purposes for the remainder of the 1790s until the United States Army abandoned it in 1803.
References and Suggested Reading
- Barr, Daniel P., ed. The Boundaries Between Us: Natives and Newcomers Along the Frontiers of the Old Northwest Territory, 1750-1850. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 2006. - Available from Amazon.com
- Bond, Beverley W., Jr. The Foundations of Ohio. Columbus, OH: Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society, 1941.
- Harmar, Josiah. The Proceedings of a Court of Enquiry, Held at the Special Request of Brigadier General Josiah Harmar, to Investigate His Conduct, as Commanding Officer of the Expedition Against the Miami Indians, 1790: the Same Having Been Transmitted by Major General St. Clair, to the Secretary of the United States, for the Department of War. Philadelphia, PA: John Fenno, 1791.
- 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
- Williams, Gary S. The Forts of Ohio: A Guide to Military Stockades. Caldwell, OH: Buckeye Book Press, 2003. - Available from Amazon.com
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Citation
"Fort Washington", Ohio History Central, July 1, 2005, http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=719
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