Last updated: June 19, 2024
Place
Fort Sackville
Richard Day
Quick Facts
Location:
No Longer Exists
Significance:
Revolutionary War Fort
OPEN TO PUBLIC:
No
Fort Sackville was a British outpost located in what is now Vincennes during the Revolutionary War. The approximate location of Fort Sackville is near where the George Rogers Clark Memorial stands today. This fort would be in the same area as the French built fur trading post that started Vincennes in 1732.
British Occupation
British Lieutenant Governor Edward Abbott arrived in Vincennes on April 19, 1777, and immediately organized the villagers into three companies of militia. Shortly after his arrival, Abbott was alarmed by a number of Native Americans who freely roamed the town.
As a result, a courier was sent to Kaskaskia with orders for Commander Philippe de Rocheblave to send four pieces of artillery from Fort Gage. Abbott then ordered a stockade built around the two-story headquarters building. By fall 1777 Vincennes militia completed the stockade. Abbott left Vincennes on February 5, 1778 due to not receiving any support from the British Government.
First Capture by the Americans
In August 1778, Captain Leonard Helm took several men to the abandoned fort and claimed it for the Americans. The townspeople of Vincennes welcomed the arrival of Helm and his men because they had been encouraged by local priest Father Gibualt to support the Americans rather than the English.
British Lieutenant Governor Henry Hamilton wrote in his journal upon hearing that the Americans (rebels) had taken Fort Sackville:
This Evening (14th) Neegik brother to Chamintawa whom I had sent to the Miamis for intelligence, arrived-- He told me he had met the gros Loup, (a Miamis Chief) who acquainted him with what had passed at St. Vincennes in a conference with the Rebels-- On their arrival at that place they pulled down the English Flag left there by Governor Abbott, wrapp'd a stone in it, and threw it into the Ouabache-- They convened the Savages, and told them they did not come with any bad design against them-- They then presented them with two belts, one red, the other green, telling them if they were disposed for war, to take the first, if for peace the latter--
British Retake the Fort
On December 17, 1778, Lieutenant Governor Henry Hamilton--Abbott’s successor-- arrived at Fort Sackville with companies of British soldiers, French militia from Detroit, and Native American allies. Captain Helm and his men would be taken prisoner by the British. Hamilton was dismayed at the condition of the fort. Work parties immediately turned out to correct the deficiencies. At first Hamilton planned to take the walls down and build a new triangular fort with a blockhouse at each corner. Major Jehu Hay, Hamilton’s second in command, offered a different idea to use what was already in place. Hay’s plan called for leaving the stockade but reducing the angles and making it more of a square and constructing two blockhouses. One blockhouse would be at the northeast angle the other at the southwest.
Rebuilding a Fort
Work on rebuilding Fort Sackville progressed rapidly. Priorities in construction were given to a powder magazine, where all the King’s gunpowder was to be stored. Between December 28 and February 22nd, construction included additional barracks, two blockhouses complete with gunports and defenses, cannon mounts, straightening of exterior stockade walls, as well as fixing the parade ground and digging a well.
Time Runs Out
Despite Hamilton’s continued dissatisfaction with the fort’s weaknesses, George Rogers Clark's imminent arrival would prevent him from making additional strategic improvements. Clark would attack the fort on February 23, 1779, Hamilton’s concerns about Fort Sackville's deficiencies proved well-founded, as the fort’s flaws contributed to the British surrender.
The Surrender and the end of a Fort
In his journal, Hamilton states some of the reasons he considered for surrender,
The Stockades had originally been so ill set up, that a man might pass his closed fist between them, which gave a great advantage to people armed with rifles- The Fort was nearly surrounded by houses or other buildings . . . - The N.E. Angle of the fort projected over the sandy bank of the river, & could have been undermined by the assailants under cover.
After Hamilton surrenders, the fort is renamed Fort Patrick Henry in honor of the Virginia Governor who sent Clark out to take the forts in the west.
At the end of the American Revolution, the fort was abandoned and quickly scavenged for materials by the locals.
After the Revolution
In 1787, due to conflict between Native Americans and American colonists, Major John Hamtramck was sent Vincennes to defend the colonists. The deteriorated condition of what remained of Fort Patrick Henry dictated the construction of a brand new fortification. This new fort was built just to the north of the Fort Sackville site and was called Fort Knox. These defenses were occupied for several years before conflicts between the locals and the soldiers required them to stay near the fort. A new fort, Fort Knox II, was built outside of town. During the War of 1812 Fort Knox II was disassembled and floated down the river to be rebuilt on the site of Fort Sackville to better protect the town. After it was abandoned materials from the fort would end up in buildings nearby.
Finding Fort Sackville
From 1969 to 1971, Indiana University conducted archeological investigations north of the George Rogers Clark Memorial. Some 18th century artifacts were discovered along with 19th century odds and ends. Portions of stockade walls were discovered however, identification of their origin was inconclusive. Due to the proximity of the 1732 French fur trading post stockade, Fort Sackville/Fort Patrick Henry, and a War of 1812 era Fort Knox III, all located on the site, it was impossible to tell which fort those stockades had been a part of.