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James N.
Colonial Militia
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
October 24 2007
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 Posted - January 10 2013 : 1:37:40 PM
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Crown Point and Lake Champlain looking north from Ft. Ste. Frederic site.
Naturally I couldn't take a trip to the Adirondacks without paying a visit to some of the historical sites of "our" period, and the fall of 1995 was no exception. On my return from Lake Placid, I drove south paralleling Lake Champlain, and managed to visit both Fort Ticonderoga and its outlying related sites and briefly here at Crown Point. Crown Point is a beautiful location, visited mainly because it has been for years one of the few locations along the length of Champlain featuring a bridge connecting New York with Vermont. ( The last time I visited here in 2009 it had been condemned and closed to traffic and was slated for demolition; I'm both glad and surprised to hear it has been replaced so quickly. )
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For such an important French and Indian War site, it's disappointing just how little remains of French Fort Ste. Frederic - nothing but foundation stones and the site itself. Dating from 1731, it served a legendary role menacing British frontier forts and settlements for a quarter-century, including the fateful attack on Ft. William Henry, and together with its "outpost" Ft. Carillon was the target of several unsucessful British campaigns to remove the threat they posed.
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Another view of the lake showing the relatively low level of the site on which Ft. Ste. Frederic was built.
It wasn't until 1759 that an expedition led by British General Jeffrey Amherst finally succeeded in reaching this spot following his successful occupation of Ft. Carillon a dozen miles to the south. On his approach the tiny French garrison abandoned Ft. Ste. Frederic, blowing it up along with its powder magazine leaving little but a smoldering ruin of what had been France's most notorious frontier fortification.
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Sally Port leading into Fort Amherst.
If I was disappointed by how little remains of Ft. Ste. Frederic, I was totally unprepared for the extensive and well-preserved ruins of its British replacement, Fort Amherst, also known as Fort Crown Point. This is probably because there is absolutely NO reason for this to have ever been built, which fact is borne out by the total lack of events taking place here! A prime example of planning done at too long a distance from its execution, it must have seemed like a good idea in 1759 to replace the now-destroyed French fort; however, the subsequent Treaty of Paris which forced France to renounce all claims to North America removed permanently any need for a British post either here or nearby Ticonderoga.
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Trail along top of earthen wall surrounding Fort Amherst, showing its deep ditch or moat at the left and site of unfinished 1774 barracks at right.
Like any good pork-barrel project, work continued on the fort almost until the outbreak of the Revolution. Unlike other area forts such as William Henry or Ticonderoga, Fort Amherst was enclosed by a very large earthwork Vauban-style "star fort", the remains of which have been cleared of overgrowth and remain clearly obvious.
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Interior of the ditch ( moat ) on the fort's western side.
A fire in 1773 destroyed the interiors of the large stone barracks which still stand today. Plans for additional building were cut short by events leading to the Revolution, and despite the impressive ruins today the fort remained essentially unfinished. The then-abandoned site was visited during Henry Knox's mission to remove the cannon at Ft. Ticonderoga for transportation to Washington's army besieging the British in Boston. Knox found several guns here that had been buried in the fort's earthen walls by the garrison when it left, and he added them to his "Noble Train of Artillery" as well.
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Rear of the Enlisted Barracks with Lake Champlain visible in the background.
Although Fort Amherst served as a staging point for the Invasion of Canada and was subsequently occupied by both American and British troops during the course of the Revolution, nothing of real importance happened here. Both Benedict Arnold and Burgoyne in his turn apparantly built blockhouses on the site, nothing of either remains. Following the war, Crown Point and its forts returned to obscurity, now merely names in history.
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Ruins of the Enlisted Barracks, right, with the now-replaced Lake Champlain Bridge visible behind the Officer's Quarters ruin at left.
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Fitzhugh Williams
Mohicanland Statesman
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
July 17 2005
Status: offline
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Posted - January 10 2013 : 3:02:12 PM
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I have spent a number of pleasant weekends there. There is a lot of land around the fort which is a part of the park and it makes for some really interesting "battles". If you are French. Not so much if you are British.  |
"Les deux pieds contre la muraille et la tete sous le robinet" |
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Wilderness Woman
Watcher of the Wood
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
November 27 2002
Status: offline
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Posted - January 10 2013 : 6:50:51 PM
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This is another beautiful place; however, I find it to be very eerie... as though there are ghosts there. It is incredibly dark at night, with no city lights around to illuminate the sky and only campfires and lanterns to illuminate the ground.
It also carries the distinction of being the place where Miss-yer Lay-Fran-Say and I first met face-to-face. My life hasn't been the same since. 
Fitz, remember when the deer made a mad, crazed, terrified dash through the middle of the battlefield at the Grand Encampment? There were a lot of soldiers who really wished they had ball to load into those muskets! |
"It is more deeply stirring to my blood than any imaginings could possibly have been." |
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Monadnock Guide
Council of Elders
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
March 14 2005
Status: offline
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Posted - January 10 2013 : 9:10:45 PM
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| Another great post James, - my kingdom for a real "time machine". ... Would love to visit sites where the east/northeast was the frontier, especially New England and even more so northern New England. Been to Fort No. 4 a few times, ... |
you can keep "The Change" |
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Fitzhugh Williams
Mohicanland Statesman
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
July 17 2005
Status: offline
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Posted - January 11 2013 : 12:06:05 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Wilderness Woman
Fitz, remember when the deer made a mad, crazed, terrified dash through the middle of the battlefield at the Grand Encampment? There were a lot of soldiers who really wished they had ball to load into those muskets!
That was the Grand Encampment III, right? Indeed very memorable.
I stayed over on Sunday night. I woke up about 2:00 AM and just sat and looked at Lake Champlain for maybe a half hour. Just thinking about all the people who had passed Crown Point, or had lived there. It's my favorite site. |
"Les deux pieds contre la muraille et la tete sous le robinet" |
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The Forts at Crown Point
