FORT NECESSITY New Light on Washington's Fort Necessity A Report on the Archeological Explorations at Fort Necessity National Battlefield Site

APPENDIX 1

VILLIER'S ACCOUNT OF THE BATTLE AT GREAT MEADOWS

Description of the battle from the journal of Capt. Louis Coulon de Villiers, Commander of the French detachment. From the translation in Cleland, George Washington in the Ohio Valley, 108-111.

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I sent scouts who were to go close to the camp; and twenty more to support them; and I advanced myself in order; when some of my people returned to tell me that we were discovered; and that the English approached in order of battle to attack us: as it was said they were close to me, I put my troops in order of battle, and in a manner suited to woods-fighting. It was not long before I perceived that my scouts had led me wrong; and I gave order to my troops to advance towards that side from which I apprehended an attack. As we were not acquainted with the ground, we presented our flank to the fort from whence they began to cannonade us: I perceived almost at the same time, to the right, the English coming towards us in order of battle. The Indians, and we also, set up the cry, and advanced to meet them: but they gave us no time to make our discharge: they filed off, and withdrew into an entrenchment which lay next to their fort. We then set ourselves about investing the fort: it was advantageously enough situated in a meadow, the wood of which was within musket shot of it. We came as close to them as it was possible, to the end that his Majesty's subjects might not be exposed without necessity: the fire was pretty brisk on both sides, and I repaired to the place which appeared most to favor a sally. We succeeded in silencing the fire of their cannon, I may say, with our small arms. It is true that the zeal of our Canadians and soldiers worried me, because I saw that we would in a little while be without ammunition. Mr. Le Mercier proposed to me making arrangements to bolster our positions so as to confine the English in their fort and entirely prevent them from leaving. I ordered Mr. De Bailleul to assemble as many men as possible in order to help the quarter which would be attacked in case of a general sortie. At this time we distributed provisions, ammunition and goods, which encouraged the Indians and militiamen.

The enemy's fire began again at six o'clock, with more fury than ever, and lasted till eight o'clock. As we had spent our time all day drying things from the rain, the Detachment was very tired. The Indians had announced to me their departure on the next day. Rumor said that the beat of drums and the firing of cannon had been heard from a distance. I proposed to Mr. Le Mercier to offer to parlay with the English.

The 4th, at break of day, I sent a detachment to take possession of the fort; the garrison filed off, and the number of their dead and wounded raised compassion in me, notwithstanding my resentment of the manner in which they had made away with my brother.

The Indians, who had in every respect, complied with my desires, had laid claim to the pillage. I opposed it, but the consternation of the English was so great that they ran away and left behind them even their flag and a pair of their colors. I demolished their fort and Mr. le Mercier caused their cannon to be destroyed together with the one which had been granted them by their capitulation, the English not being able to take it away.

I hastened away, after having first destroyed the casks of liquor, in order to prevent the disorders which they would have inevitably caused. One of my Indians took ten English and brought them to me; I sent them away by another . . .

I lost in this attack only two French and one (Indian), I had seventeen wounded, of whom two were Indians, exclusive of several wounds so slight as not to require the attention of the surgeon.

APPENDIX 2

WASHINGTON'S ACCOUNT OF THE BATTLE AT GREAT MEADOWS

Shortly after Washington returned to Williamsburg and reported to Governor Dinwiddie, a full account of the battle, apparently furnished by Washington or taken from his official report, was published in the Virginia Gazette, July 19. The story later was printed, almost verbatim, in the South Carolina Gazette, August 22. The following is copied from the facsimile copy of the Virginia Gazette, published in 1932 by the Fort Necessity Chapter, Sons of the American Revolution.

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WILLIAMSBURG, July 19.

On Wednesday last arrived in Town, Colonel George Washington and Captain James Maccay, who gave the following Account to his Honour the Governor, of the late Action between them and the French, at the Great Meadows in the Western Parts of this Dominion.

The third of this Instant July, about 9 o'Clock, we received Intelligence that the French, having been reinforced with 700 Recruits, had left Monogehela, and were in full March with 900 Men to attack us. Upon this, as our Numbers were so unequal, (our whole Force not exceeding 300) we prepared for our Defence in the best Manner we could, by throwing up a small Intrenchment, which we had not Time to perfect, before our Centinel gave Notice, about Eleven o'Clock, of their Approach, by firing his Piece, which he did at the Enemy, and as we learned afterwards killed three of their Men, on which they began to fire upon us, at about 600 Yards Distance, but without any Effect: We immediately called all our Men to their Arms, and drew up in Order before our Trenches; but as we looked upon this distant Fire of the Enemy only as an Artifice to intimidate or draw our Fire from us, we waited their nearest Approach before we returned their Salute. They then advanced in a very irregular Manner to another Point of Woods, about 60 Yards off, and from thence made a second Discharge; upon which, finding they had no Intention of attacking us in the open Field, we retired into our Trenches, and still reserved our Fire; as we expected from their great Superiority of Numbers, that they would endeavor to force our Trenches; but finding they did not seem to intend this neither, the Colonel gave Orders to fire, which was done with great Alacrity and Undauntedness. We continued this unequal Fight, with an Enemy sheltered behind the Trees, ourselves without Shelter, in Trenches full of Water, in a settled Rain, and the Enemy galling us on all Sides incessantly from the Woods, till 8 o'Clock at Night, when the French called to Parley: From the great Improbability that such a vastly superior Force, and possessed of such an Advantage, would offer a Parley first, we suspected a Deceit, and therefore refused to consent that they should come among us; on which they desired us to send an Officer to them, and engaged their Parole for his Safety; we then sent Capt. Van Braam, and Mr. Peyronee, to receive their Proposals, which they did, and about Midnight we agreed that each Side should retire without Molestation, they back to their Fort at Monongehela, and we to Wills's Creek: That we should march away with all thee Honours of War, and with all our Stores, Effects and Baggage. Accordingly the next Morning, with our Drums beating and our Colours flying, we began our March in good Order, with our Stores, &c. in Convoy; but we were interrupted by the Arrival of a Reinforcement of 100 Indians among the French, who were hardly restrained from attacking us, and did us considerable Damage by pilfering our Baggage. We then proceeded, but soon found it necessary to leave our Baggage and Stores; the great Scarcity of our Provisions obliged us to use the utmost Expedition, and having neither Waggons nor Horses to transport them. The Enemy had deprived us of all our Creatures; by killing, in the Beginning of the Engagement, our Horses, Cattle, and every living Thing they could, even to the very Dogs. The Number of the Killed on our Side was thirty, and seventy wounded; among the former was Lieutenant Mercier, of Captain Maccay's independant Company; a Gentleman of true military Worth, and whose Bravery would not permit him to retire, though dangerously wounded, till a second Shot disabled him, and a third put an End to his Life, as he was carrying to the Surgeon. Our Men behaved with singular Intrepidity, and we determined not to ask for Quarter but with our Bayonets screw'd, to sell our lives as dearly as possibly we could. From the Numbers of the Enemy, and our Situation, we could not hope for Victory; and from the Character of those we had to encounter, we expected no Mercy, but on Terms that we positively resolved not to submit to.

The Number killed and wounded of the Enemy is uncertain, but by the information given by some Dutch in their Service to their Countrymen in ours, we learn that it amounted to above three hundred; and we are induced to believe it must be very considerable, by their being busy all Night in burying their Dead, and yet many remained the next Day; and their Wounded we know was considerable, by one of our Men, who had been made Prisoner by them after signing the Articles, and who, on his Return told us, that he saw great Numbers much wounded and carried off upon Litters.

We were also told by some of their Indians after the action, that the French had an Officer of distinguishable Rank killed. Some considerable Blow they must have received to induce them to call first for a Parley, knowing, as they perfectly did, the Circumstances we were in.

APPENDIX 3

GOVERNOR DINWIDDIE'S OFFICIAL ACCOUNT OF THE BATTLE

Following is a portion of a letter from Governor Dinwiddie to the Lords of Trade, dated July 24, 1754 (Official Records of Robert Dinwiddie, I, 239-241).

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A few Days ago arriv'd here Colo. W., Com'd'r of the Forces, rais'd in this Dom'n, and Capt. McKay, of the Ind't Compa. from So. Car., from our Camp at the Meadows, near the Ohio river, who gave the following melancholy Acc't of an Engagem't between our Forces and the French. On the 3d of this Mo. they had Intelligence y't the French were re-inforc'd (at the Fort they took from Us, in May last, near the Ohio,) with 700 Men, and y't they were in full March with 900 Men to attack our small Camp, w'ch consisted of few more than 300 besides Officers. They imediately connected and prepared to make the best Defence their small Numbers W'd admit of, by throw'g up a small Intrenchm't, which they had not Time to compleat, before their out Centry gave the Alarm, by firing his Gun, of the approach of the Enemy. Imediately they appear'd in Sight of our Camp, and fir'd at our People at a great Distance, w'ch did no harm. Our small Forces were drawn up in good Order to receive them before their Intrenchm'ts, but did not return their First Fire, reserving it till they came nigher. The enemy advanc'd irregularly within 60 Yards of our Forces, and y'n made a second Discharge, and observing they did not intend to attack them in open Field, they retir'd within their Trenches, and reserv'd their Fire, thinking, from their Numbers, they w'd force their Trenches, but finding they made no Attempt of this kind, the Colo. gave Orders to our People to fire on the Enemy, w'ch they did with great Briskness, and the officers declare y's Engagem't continue (d) from 11 O'Clock till 8 O'Clock at Night, they being without Shelter, rainy weather, and their Trenches to the knee in Water, whereas the French were shelter'd all round our Camp by Trees; from thence they gall'd our People all the Time as above . . . I beg leave to observe to Y'r L'ds. the Misfortunes attending thro' (the) Expedit'n.

APPENDIX 4

DEPOSITION OF JOHN SHAW

On August 27, 1754, one John B. W. Shaw appeared before a committee headed by Governor James Glen of South Carolina and made an affidavit describing the battle at Great Meadows and events leading up to the engagement. The deposition recorded here was entered in the Journal of the Council of South Carolina, the original manuscript now being in the British Public Record Office. A photostatic copy was furnished by the South Carolina Archives Department. It is recorded here in full, since it has never before been published.

A very similar affidavit is also found in the records of the South Carolina Indian Affairs, photostatic copy of which was also furnished by the South Carolina Archives Department. Since both versions are almost identical, only the Journal manuscript is recorded here. Differences in the two are slight and of no consequence.

Nothing has been learned of the deponent. From his affidavit, it would appear that he was a member of Washington's original Virginia Regiment, although no John Shaw is found in the presumably complete muster roll prepared by Washington after the battle. In any event, Shaw's description checks so closely with other contemporary records that there can be little question that the deponent was an active member of the expedition.

The following is a full typescript of the Journal entry, with the exception of marginal notes. None of these is of particular interest with the exception of the first, which furnishes the date of the affidavit, reading in part: "Affidavit. Made before his Ex.cy by John Shaw 27. Aug.^t 1754".

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His Excellency the Governor Communicated to the Board the following Affidavit of John Shaw concerning the Attempts of the ffrench to Interrupt the Tranquillity of the Inhabitants of Virginia—

BEFORE me James Glen Esquire Governor and Comander in Chief in and over his Majesty's province of South Carolina Personally appeared John Shaw, who being duely Sworn on the Holy Evangelists, Made Oath, That he was born in the City of Dublin in the Kingdom of Ireland. That he is of the Age of Twenty Years and upwards that he has used the Seas Severall Years, That he was a Boy on Board his Majesty's Ship Expedition Captain Summers but was Discharged from her at the Breaking up of the late War, and has been Employed in the Merchant's Service in the Virginia Trade, That he was in Virginia when Proposals were made and published to give Encouragement for Settling some Lands on the Ohio, And that he was amongst many others that embraced the said Proposals And he Believes there might be 100 in all But it being found Necessary that some Forces should be raised, They were thrown into the Virginia Regiment as few or none would Inlist, and were called Volunteers. There were also Twenty two Gentlemen's Sons or thereabouts that made part of the said Regiment as Cadets, but he Believes they were to Receive no pay, But all the Volunteers who were to Settle the Lands were to have eight pence (per) Day Virginia Currency, but that he never Received one ffarthing tho' he was above five Months in the Service. That Col:^o Washington marched with the first Detachment of that Regiment over the Allegani Mountains some days before the Detachment that he belonged to Followed. That the Detachment the Deponent Belonged to Consisted but of Eighty Men, And when they were all Joined the whole Virginia Regiment Including Cadets and Volunteers did not amount to Two hundred Men. Four or five days the Virginia Regiment had been alltogether at a place called the Great Meadows. They were Joined by Captⁿ. Mackay with the Independent Company from South Carolina making in the whole with the aforesaid Regiment a Body of near three hundred Men. That they were for severall days together without any other Provisions than a Quart of Indian Corn delivered to each man, and for three days with only one pound of Beef each without any Corn. That he has heard that the Half King had Sixty Indians with him who were in our Interest But that he never Saw above fforty. That he has been Informed by All the Men who belonged to the first Detachm.^t That a few days before the Second Joined them they had an Engagement with a party of French And the Account given to him was as follows. That an Indian and a White man having brought Col Washington Information that a party of ffrench consisting of ffive and thirty men were out scouting and lay about Six Miles off, upon which Col Washington with about Forty Men and Captⁿ. Hogg with a party of fforty more, and the Half King with his Indians consisting of Thirteen, Immediately Sett out in Search of them, But having taken Different Roads Col:^o Washington with his Men and the Indians came first up with them, and found them encamped between two Hills. Being Early in the Morning Some were asleep, and some eating. But having heard a Noise they were Immediately in Great Confusion and Betook themselves to their Arms. And as he this Deponent has heard One of them ffired a Gun upon which Col Washington Gave the Word for All his Men to Fire. Severall of them being Killed; the Rest Betook themselves to fflight; But our Indians having gone round the ffrench, When they Saw them Immediately ffled Back to the English, and Delivered up their Arms desiring Quarter, which was accordingly promised them. Sometime after the Indians Came up, The Half King took his Tomahawk and Splitt the head of the ffrench Captain, having first asked if he was an Englishman And having been told that he was a ffrench Man, he then took out his Brains, and washed his hands with them, And then Scalped him — All this he has heard and never heard it Contradicted, But knows nothing of it from his own Knowledge. Only he has Seen the Bones of the ffrench Men who were killed in Number ab^t. 13 or 14, And the Head of one Stuck upon a Stick; for none of them were Buryed. And he has also heard that one of our Men was killed at that time. —

That Sometime after Captain Mackay had Joined the Virginia Regiment, Col Washington proposed to March to Attack the French Fort, and accordingly Marched with the Virginia Regiment to Clear the Roads leaving Captⁿ. Mackay behind at the Great Meadows. That they Cleared the Roads about twelve Miles, having been on that Service about three days, and then News having been brought by Two Indians That the French having been Reinforced with a large Body of Men, Were coming to Attack them with Nine Hundred Men. Orders were immediately Sent to Recall that party And also that Captⁿ. Mackay should Advance with his Company, Which he accordingly did: And having Joined them about two in the Morning, They Marched all back to the Great Meadows Burying in the Woods what part of their Ammunition they could not Carry with them. They Continued at the Great Meadows three days before the ffrench came to Attack them, — And in the Morning before the Engagem^>t. they Endeavour'd to throw up a little Intrenchm^t. round them about two foot deep, But could not finish it, as the ffrench appeared betwixt Nine and ten in the Morning. We had Centinels placed out to Give Notice of of (sic) the Approach of the ffrench; one of which fired his Peice, and immediately after the ffrench Began to Fire, but being still at a considerable Distance, And did us no hurt. Our Men were drawn up before the ffrench, but did not ffire, The ffrench still keeping at a Distance; They then turned off to a point of Wood that lay very near our Men, Upon which Our Men went into their little Intrenchment — Upon which the French made a Second General Discharge But our Men having kept up their ffire, their Indians were thereby Encouraged to Advance out of the Wood, and Show themselves — pretty near where our Men lay, upon which Col^o. Washington Gave the Word to fire which was accordingly done, and many of the Indians were killed. Our people having two Swivel Guns which were discharged at the same time. After this neither French nor Indians appeared any more but kept behind Trees firing at our Men the best part of the Day. As our People did at them. There was At this place a Small Stocado Fort made in a Circular fform round a Small House that Stood in the Middle of it to keep our provisions and Ammunition in, And was Cover'd with Bark and some Skins, and might be about fourteen ffeet Square, And the Walls of the Fort might be eight ffeet Distance from the said House all Round. The ffrench were at that time so near that Severall of our people were wounded by the Splinters beat off by the Bulletts from the said House. At Night the ffrench Desired to Parley with our people, But Col^o. Washington refused. Imagining it might be some Deceit, however upon the Assurances given by the ffrench, That they would Act honourably. Captⁿ. Vanbram and Adjutant Pyronie were sent to them — And were told by them that they were to be Reinforced in the Morning by four hundred Indians who lay about twelve Miles off; And then it would not be in their Power to give them Quarters. Advised them therefore to Capitulate. That they should be permitted to Return Home with their Arms, And to Carry with them what Provisions and Ammunition they could Carry. But that they should Engage that none of them should be seen on the Waters of the Ohio for a Year and a day afterwards. And that if they Agree'd to these Terms They should Hoist no Colours the next Morning. This was . . . accordingly Agree'd to and Signed by Col^o. Washington & Agree'd to by all the Officers, And accordingly next Morning We Hoisted no Colours. And as soon as it was day the French & their Indians came in a Body beating their Drum And formed themselves into two Ranks, That our People might pass through, Which they Accordingly did with their Drums beating, with their Arms and what provisions and Ammunition they could Carry. But we were Obliged to leave behind our Swivel Guns and some Arms which soon after were destroyed and broke to peices by their Indians. Such of our Men That were in that little Fort having Broke the Heads of the Powder Barrells and Strewn it about that it might be of no Service to the French.

We were also obliged to leave with them Captⁿ. Vanbram and Captⁿ. Stobo as Hostages for the Delivery of the Twenty one prisoners that had been taken by Col^o. Washington as this Depon^t. has related above who were then at Williamsburgh —

That The French had been joined that Morning by above One hundred French Indians who could hardly be Restrained by them from falling on our People —

This Deponent has heard that some Dutch Men who were along with the French told some Dutch Men who were with us That they had lost three hundred Men, But does not know That of his own Knowledge, But Believes they lost a great many, As our people kept constantly firing at them the whole day. Of our Side there were Ten of the Carolina Company killed Of whom Lieutenant Mercier was one, And Twenty belonging to the Virginia Regiment. There were also a great many wounded whom our people carried with them the first day's March, But then were Obliged to Leave them & a party with them to take Care of them 'till Horses could be sent for them, but he has heard that seven of them Died the first Night —

This Deponent then Marched on with the Rest of our Men to Will's-Creek but were Obliged to leave all their Stores and Baggage behind them. At Wills-Creek Sixteen of the Volunteers of the Virginia Regiment went in a Body to Col^o. Washington telling him, that as they Came to Settle the Lands, Which now they had no more thoughts of doing, They were determined to Return home. Col^o. Washington endeavoured to perswade them to Stay, promising to procure them some Gratuity from the Government of Virginia for all their trouble and Losses, But he could not prevail with them, For they went off in a Body Soon after which he and Captⁿ. Mackay set out for Williamsburgh And after he was gone the Men went off daily in Two's and Three's, so that he verily Believes there was full two thirds of them gone When he this Deponent came off —

Some of the Indians who were in our Interest some days before the Engagement under Pretence of making some Discovery went Towards the French Fort and Meeting a French party, Were told that if they would not fight against the English, they would Scalp them — Upon which they all turned to the French, The Half King however with their Women and Children in Number about Thirty Came with our people to Will's Creek. From which many of them Sett off For a place called Jemmy Arther in Pensilvania where they Intended to live for fear of being killed by the other Indians. All the Indians on the Ohio and in those parts being in the French Interest And this Deponent declares that there was not one Indian w^th. our people in the Engagement. The two that brought the News of the approach of the ffrench having immediately Sett off after — delivering the above Intelligence

(Signed) John B W Shaw's Mark.

27 Aug^t. 1754

APPENDIX 5

DESCRIPTION OF THE BATTLE WRITTEN BY WASHINGTON IN 1783

In the seventeen eighties a David Humphreys began assembling material for a life of Washington, and sent several pages of manuscript to Washington for review. The following is taken from the comments on this material that Washington sent Humphreys, dated by Fitzpatrick as October, 1783 (Fitzpatrick, Writings, XXIX, 40). Some minor inconsistencies with earlier records are not surprising. Washington admitted that his memory was not the best on many details, and prefaced his remarks to Humphreys as follows: "This is a task to which GW. feels himself very incompetent (with any degree of accuracy) from the badness of his memory, loss of Papers, mutilated state, in which those of that date were preserved ..." (Fitzpatrick, Writings, XXIX, 38).

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About 9 Oclock on the 3d. of July the Enemy advanced with Shouts, and dismal Indian yells to our Intrenchments, but was opposed by so warm, spirited, and constant a fire, that to force the works in that way was abandoned by them; they then, from every little rising, tree, stump, Stone, and bush kept up a constant galding fire upon us; which was returned in the best manner we could till late in the Afternn, when their fell the most tremendous rain that can be conceived, filled our trenches with Water, Wet, not only the Ammunition in the Cartouch boxes and firelocks, but that which was in a small temporary Stockade in the middle of the Intrenchment called Fort Necessity erected for the sole purpose of its security, and that of the few stores we had; and left us nothing but a few (for all were not provided with them) Bayonets for defence. In this situation and no prospt. of bettering it terms of capitulation were offered to us by the enemy wch, with some alterations that were insisted upon were the more readily acceded to, as we had no Salt provisions, and but indifferently supplied with fresh; which, from the heat of the weather, would not keep; and because a full third of our numbers Officers as well as privates were, by this time, killed or wounded.

APPENDIX 6

REPORT OF 1931 EXPLORATIONS

Portion of report by Harry Blackford describing the archeological explorations of 1931. The original report not being available, the following is a copy of the transcript made by Thomas L. Loy in 1935.

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On August 4, 1931, the writer of this article made an attempt to verify the surveys of Mr. Lewis and Mr. McCracken, and on attempting to fit the Lewis survey to the existing mounds, found that Lewis had ignored the mound on the lines B-F of the appended plot of survey of Aug. 4th, 1931. The lines A-C and A-B agree very closely to the distances given by Mr. Lewis and the angle B-A-C checks the angle found by Mr. Lewis within 2-1/2 degrees, which variation might easily be caused by taking different points on the mounds. Having thus proven Mr. Hulbert's statements that the Lewis survey would not fit the existing marks on the ground to our own satisfaction, we decided to accept the survey of his engineer, Mr. McCracken, until such times as excavations on the site would prove him right or wrong, and so proceeded to stake the fort as shown by lines A-B-F-G-C-A.

On November 17, 1931, at 7:40 an excavation for the reconstruction of Fort Necessity was started under direction of the writer. Operations were begun by first digging exploratory trenches at right angles to the existing embankments to determine, if possible, the location of the old stockade with reference to the embankments. No indications being found, work was started in digging a trench along the line C-A three feet wide and averaging in depth two and one-half feet, which depth reached hard pan in the form of hard yellow clay which showed no evidences of having every been disturbed.

The first day the trench was completed from the point C to a point about twenty feet beyond A on the line A-B. The workmen were instructed to carefully examine and break up all excavated material in the hope that relics might be found of this historic battle. The first day's work netted four lead musket balls, of about one-half ounce size, heavily coated with oxide, these being uncovered at depths ranging from six to eighteen inches below the surface. The next day the trench was completed to the point F and seven more lead musket balls, all of one-half ounce size except one which weighed a shade over an ounce were found. At a point on the line B-F about three feet from B, the first indication of the old stockade was unearthed, it being a section of fairly solid heart wood eighteen inches long, three and one-half inches wide and two inches thick, badly pitted from the action of time. The bottom of this piece was almost in the center of the trench, about three feet under ground with the top inclined at an angle of about forty-five degrees towards the inside of the fort as though it had been pulled over in the demolition of the stockade.

From F, as there is no known description from which a definite location could be fixed on the ground, it was decided to follow the line F-G-C, This was carried out, without finding further indications until the intersection of line G-C with D-E was reached. At this point three large pieces of the stockade were uncovered at a depth of three feet. This depth is just water level of the branch of Big Meadow Run near this point and probably accounts for the fact that the timber here found had been preserved all these years. As the line of the stockade was plainly indicated by the three pieces unearthed, excavation was carefully extended on this line towards E, with the result that six more pieces were found, the last being at E. From here a trench towards F was started which resulted in finding three more pieces at a point five feet beyond E on the line E-F and another large piece which had just been missed while excavating along the line F-G. These pieces of stockade were all in an upright position and many showing ax marks where they had been pointed to aid in penetrating the ground. They varied in thickness from six inches to, in one case where the log had evidently been split in half, seventeen and one-half inches, The tops were typical of wood that has long been exposed to the action of water and time.

At a point four feet from E on the line E-F on the inside of the trench and two feet below the surface, six iron balls each one and one-half inches in diameter and weighing about one-half pound were dug up within the space of one cubic foot. These were, in all probability, ammunition for Washington's swivel guns. Seven lead musket balls, all of about one-half ounce size were also found on this line. At the point D, seven small pieces, indicating an angle in the line of the stockade, were found and all along the line D-C, which coincides very closely with Hulbert's line D-C, bark, pieces of rotten wood, which was in such a condition that it could not be preserved, were uncovered. These findings substantiated Mr. Hulbert's statement of finding bark on this line. Also, at various points along this line, pieces of charred wood and lumps of charcoal were excavated from a depth of about three feet, thus giving evidence to support the statement that the stockade had been burned. Ten feet beyond D on the line D-C, a large iron cannon ball, three inches in diameter and weighing three and one-half pounds, was found on the outside edge of the trench about twenty inches below the surface. Numerous lead balls of various size came to light on lines E-D and D-C, some of them weighing as much as one and one-half ounces.

While excavating for drain tile inside the lines of the fort, approximately two hundred lead shot, ranging in size from number eight to Buck shot, which looked as though they had been hurriedly made by pouring molten lead in a thin stream into cold water, were found, also numerous lead musket balls of one ounce size and the flint for a flint lock musket.

Three feet under ground and midway between E and D a small piece of straight grained wood, seven inches long and of one half inch diameter was uncovered. This could easily be a portion of either a wooden rain for the muzzle loading muskets or an Indian arrow shaft.

Summing up the evidence found by investigation of this site, we have: The embankments found on the lines C-A and A-B which were in evidence in 1816 as proved by the Lewis survey. The embankment on the line B-F which may have been, and probably was, visible at the time of Mr. Lewis's survey. This embankment is plainly joined to the one on the line A-B on the inside of the fort at the point B and in no possible way could it be construed as being thrown up in excavating a farm drain as some authorities have advocated. Besides, it is proven at B and at F by the finding of parts of the stockade. The lines F-E, E-D, and D-C are indisputable, as sufficient remains of the stockade were excavated to prove their location beyond a shadow of doubt.