Fort Saint-Frédéric was a French fort built on

Lake Champlain Lake Champlain ( ; , ) is a natural freshwater lake in North America. It mostly lies between the U.S. states of New York (state), New York and Vermont, but also extends north into the Canadian province of Quebec. The cities of Burlington, Ve ...

to secure the region against British colonization and control the lake. It was located in modern

New York State New York, also called New York State, is a state in the northeastern United States. Bordered by New England to the east, Canada to the north, and Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the south, its territory extends into both the Atlantic Ocean and ...

across the lake from modern

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

at the town of

Crown Point, New York Crown Point is a town in Essex County, New York, United States, located on the west shore of Lake Champlain. The population was 2,024 at the 2010 census. The name of the town is a direct translation of the original French name, . The town is on ...

. The fort, whose construction began in 1734, was never attacked, and was destroyed in 1759 before the advance of a large (more than 10,000 man)

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

army under General

Jeffery Amherst Field Marshal Jeffery Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst, (29 January 1717 – 3 August 1797) was a British Army officer and Commander-in-Chief of the Forces in the British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the ...

. The British constructed the much larger

Fort Crown Point Fort Crown Point was built by the combined efforts of British and Colonial troops from New York and the New England Colonies in 1759 at a narrows on Lake Champlain on the border between New York and Vermont. It was erected to secure the region ag ...

next to the ruins of Saint-Frédéric; the new fort also never came under attack. Its small garrison was captured in 1775 in the early days of the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

, after which Fort Crown Point also fell into ruin. The fort sites at Crown Point were preserved in the Crown Point State Historic Site in 1910, and both ruins are

National Historic Landmarks A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

History

Construction was started in 1734 by Gaspard-Joseph Chaussegros de Léry. When complete, Fort Saint-Frédéric walls were twelve feet thick and four stories high, with cannons on each level. It was manned by hundreds of officers and troops, principally from Les Compagnies Franches de la Marine. The fort gave the French control of the frontier between

New France New France (, ) was the territory colonized by Kingdom of France, France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Kingdom of Great Br ...

and the British colonies to the south. As the only permanent stronghold in the area until the building of Fort Carillon at Ticonderoga starting in 1755, many French raids originated there and it was a target of British operations in the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...

. Constructed on the tip of a strategic peninsula at a narrows in the lake, the cannons of Fort Saint-Frédéric and the later British Fort Crown Point were capable of halting all north-south travel on the lake. In 1759 when

British forces The British Armed Forces are the unified military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, support international peacekeeping ef ...

moved against Fort Saint-Frédéric during the war, the retreating French destroyed it.Folwell, Elizabeth, and Amy Godine, Adirondack Odysseys, The Adirondack Museum, Blue Mountain Lake, New York, 1997; , pg. 19 The British Army and provincial militia then built

, a vast fortification just southwest of the ruins of the French fort, starting in the fall of 1759. At the same time they built a fleet to gain military control of Lake Champlain and the 77-mile-long Crown Point Road across the

Green Mountains The Green Mountains are a mountain range in the U.S. state of Vermont and are a subrange of the Appalachian Mountains. The range runs primarily south to north and extends approximately from the border with Massachusetts to the border with Que ...

to reach the

Connecticut River The Connecticut River is the longest river in the New England region of the United States, flowing roughly southward for through four states. It rises 300 yards (270 m) south of the U.S. border with Quebec, Canada, and discharges into Long Isl ...

Fort St Frederic ruins Crown Point NY 2025-04-15 09-29-29 1

Since 1910 the remains of both forts on the Crown Point peninsula are part of the Crown Point State Historic Site. Both are also U.S.

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

s. Fort Saint-Frédéric was registered as a National Historic Landmark in 1962.

References

External links

Crown Point State Historic Site
(Official State park web site), at NYS OPRHP {{DEFAULTSORT:Fort Saint-Frederic St. Frederic National Historic Landmarks in New York (state) Military history of Canada Buildings and structures in Essex County, New York St. Frederic St. Frederic Saint-Frederic National Register of Historic Places in Essex County, New York

History

See also

References

External links