Fort Augusta was a stronghold in

Northumberland County, Pennsylvania Northumberland County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 91,647. Its county seat is Sunbury. The county was formed in 1772 from parts of Lancas ...

, in the upper

Susquehanna Valley The Susquehanna Valley is a region of low-lying land that borders the Susquehanna River in the United States, U.S. states of New York (state), New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. The valley consists of areas that lie along the main branch o ...

from the time of the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...

to the close of the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

.Clarence M. Busch, ''Report of the Commission to Locate the Site of the Frontier Forts of Pennsylvania,'' Vol. 1, State Printer of Pennsylvania, 1896
/ref> The fort was erected by Colonel

William Clapham William Clapham (1722 – 28 May, 1763) was an American military officer who participated in the construction of several forts in Pennsylvania during the French and Indian War. He was considered a competent commander in engagements with French ...

in 1756 at a site now within the limits of the city of Sunbury, n the site of the Lenape village of Shamokin, which was abandoned only a few weeks before construction of the fort began.John Franklin Meginness, "Otzinachson: Or, a History of the West Branch Valley of the Susquehanna; Embracing a Full Account of Its Settlement--trials and Privations Endured by the Early Pioneers--full Accounts of the Indian Wars, Predatory Incursions, Abductions, and Massacres, &c." in ''American County Histories: Pennsylvania county and regional histories.'' H. B. Ashmead, 1857
/ref> Named for

Augusta of Saxe-Gotha Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg ( – 8 February 1772) was Princess of Wales by marriage to Frederick, Prince of Wales, eldest son and heir apparent of King George II. She never became queen consort, as Frederick predeceased his father ...

, the mother of

King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

, Fort Augusta was the largest of the Provincial forts. It was first constructed as part of the British defense against the raids of the French and Indians from the upper Allegheny region. Later, it served as an American fortress to aid in protecting settlers of the upper Susquehanna from Britain's Indian allies to the north. During the

in 1756, several hundred French and Indian troops traveled the

Great Shamokin Path The Great Shamokin Path (also known as the "Shamokin Path") was a major Native American trail in the U.S. State of Pennsylvania that ran from the native village of Shamokin (modern-day Sunbury) along the left bank of the West Branch Susquehan ...

in an effort to destroy Fort Augusta, the main stronghold of the English at the junction of the East and West branches of the Susquehanna River. This army was gathered from the French posts at Duquesne, Kittanning, Venango and Le Boeuf and assembled at the mouth of Anderson Creek, near the present location of

Curwensville Curwensville is a borough in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, United States, north of Altoona on the West Branch Susquehanna River. Coal mining, tanning, and the manufacture of fire bricks were the industries at the turn of the 20th century. In 1 ...

Clearfield County, Pennsylvania Clearfield County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 80,562. The county seat is Clearfield, and the largest city is DuBois. The county was created in 1804 and later organized in 1822. ...

. Here, crude boats, rafts and

bateaux A bateau or batteau is a shallow-draft, flat-bottomed boat which was used extensively across North America, especially in the colonial period and in the fur trade. It was traditionally pointed at both ends but came in a wide variety of sizes. Th ...

were constructed for passage down the

Susquehanna River The Susquehanna River (; Lenape: Siskëwahane) is a major river located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, overlapping between the lower Northeast and the Upland South. At long, it is the longest river on the East Coast of the ...

for the proposed attack. They dragged along with them two small brass cannon, but after reconnoitering found the distance too great for the guns to shoot from the hill opposite the fort. The defense at Fort Augusta was strong enough to resist attack by storming or by siege, and the attack was abandoned. A British defeat at Fort Augusta may have altered the history of the course of the French and Indian War.''Frontier Forts of Pennsylvania'', p.355. M.I. McCreight, "''Memory Sketches of Du Bois, Pennsylvania: A History''", (1939)"Fort Augusta – 1756," The Society of Colonial Wars
/ref> During the American Revolutionary War, Fort Augusta became the headquarters of the military department of the upper Susquehanna. Fort Augusta was dismantled in 1796.

Today, on the site of the old Fort, th
Northumberland County Historical Society
has its headquarters in the
Hunter House Museum
" The museum contains historical and archaeological artifacts dealing with Fort Augusta and items of local history. It also contains a well and the original powder magazine that were here during the time of the original Fort Augusta. There is also a genealogical library of material on early families in Northumberland County and surrounding counties. The museum is located at 1150 North Front Street,

Sunbury, Pennsylvania Sunbury is a city and county seat of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located in Central Pennsylvania's Susquehanna Valley on the east bank of the Susquehanna River, just downstream of the confluence of its main and west ...

. A model of the fort, built in 2013, stands in the front of the museum as a replica of the original model, which was built in 1939, and taken down in 1974. The model of the fort was reconstructed in 2013 and rededicated on July 5, 2014. The fort's underground powder magazine and the original well still exist."Sunbury: A History," Bucknell Environmental Center website, Bucknell University
/ref>

External links

3rd Battalion, Pennsylvania Regiment of Foot, The Augusta Regiment, Burd's Company (Historical Reenactment Group)
* ttp://www.northumberlandcountyhistoricalsociety.org/ Northumberland County Historical Societybr>Sunbury: A History - Map of Fort Augusta
{{DEFAULTSORT:Augusta, Fort French and Indian War forts Forts in Pennsylvania Museums in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania American Revolutionary War forts Military and war museums in Pennsylvania Colonial forts in Pennsylvania British forts in the United States Sunbury, Pennsylvania 1756 establishments in Pennsylvania

See also

External links