The History

A Brief History

of

Fort Massachusetts

with an Emphasis on the

Siege of 1746

Compiled, edited, and with an introduction by

C.A. Chicoine



Introduction

Halfway between Williamstown and North Adams, Massachusetts, there lies hidden and long forgotten, a vague marker on a small boulder, at the back end of a nearly vacant parking lot, commemorating a fort named Fort Massachusetts and its defenders. There is nothing there telling us what war this fort was built for. And nothing telling us what had actually taken place on this site––only that there must have been some conflict between the inhabitants of the fort and, presumably, their enemy: a “scene of their struggle in the wilderness,” as the plaque indicates. But nowhere does it tell us what that struggle was.

To the left of the commemorative boulder, there is a fireplace and chimney. It is what remains of the replica fort that was built there in the 1930's, housing the first local history museum in the northern Berkshires, for the Fort Massachusetts Historical Society. On what would be the outside of it, there is a small sign that reads, “Fort Massachusetts 1745”––shedding some light on the fort's construction date.

What the boulder's plaque commemorates is the siege that took place there during the French and Indian Wars. On August 19, 1746, an army of 440 French soldiers and 300 of their Indian allies attacked the fort. But the fort of twenty-two soldiers held their ground. The next day, the French desired to parlay. They promised fair treatment of the captives if they were to surrender; otherwise, they'd be taken by force. The commanding officer of the fort, Sargent John Hawks, gave them his answer later that afternoon. Finding that they were low on ammunition, they surrendered––on the best terms that Hawks could get.

The siege and capture of Fort Massachusetts, and of the captivity that followed, had been gathered from the pen of an eye-witness and active participant through his detailed account, in his book, "The Redeemed Captive: Being a Narrative of the Taking and Carrying into Captivity," by the Reverend Mr. John Norton, published in 1748. To help frame the entire picture of this memorable siege and capture, and the fort's history, I utilize an extraordinary book, published in 1894, whose writer delved into its history and conducted some fieldwork of his own, and referenced state documents, letters, and private journals, titled "Origins in Williamstown," by Arthur Latham Perry––a professor of history and political economy at Williams College, and a local historian. For those interested in learning more about Fort Massachusetts and its history in greater detail, I highly recommend reading this book.

There was much more to Fort Massachusetts than the Siege of 1746. There were ambushes and one more attack where they successfully defended the fort and succeeded in driving off the enemy. The first British Settlers in this area were the soldiers and their families, helping to clear the way for further European settlement into this region. In fact, in the spring of 1746, one of the soldiers, John Perry––a carpenter by trade, who helped construct this and other nearby forts––picked himself out a plot of land in what is now the historic district of Blackinton, and built a house on it for he and his wife. After the siege, it was pillaged and burned to the ground along with the fort. Some of the original proprietors of the entire township of West Hoosac––now Williamstown––were soldiers of the fort. God's Acre–the burial ground for the soldiers and their families who died while stationed there at Fort Massachusetts––was the first cemetery in the northern Berkshires.

Fort Massachusetts was located in the western frontier of Massachusetts Bay, in the township of East Hoosac, upon a meadow of the Hoosac River, in current day North Adams. It was the westernmost bastion in the northern line of colonial forts, extending from the Connecticut River, over the Hoosac Mountain, to this western frontier during King George's War (1744-1748), in 1745, against the French and their Indian allies. It was also built to prevent Dutch settlers in New York from encroaching upon Massachusetts territory from the west. And it remained active throughout much of the French and Indian War (1754–1763), until 1759, when it was decommissioned following the Battle of Quebec.

Every historical site has an important story to tell. The story of Fort Massachusetts is a compelling, suspenseful, and inspiring story. It speaks of hope, and courage, and maintaining one's integrity in the face of adversity. It's a story of life and death and the human spirit. It is a story worth hearing.

Guardian of New England's Thermopylae

From the junction where the south branch of the Hoosac River meets the north, the resultant Hoosac pursues its course westerly, til it strikes a strong cliff of quartzite, which deflects it sharply to the south, to form in its return to the west a broad semicircular arc enclosing the meadow on which stood Fort Massachusetts. The famous Indian trail of the Five Nations between the Hudson and the Deerfield, crossed the Hoosac by a ford at the eastern end of this arc. The fort was so located as to command this ford, and also the old Mohawk war-path across the meadow; moreover, directly to the north and within long musket-shot range, jutted out the high and rough quartzite rocks, making it difficult to outflank the fort on that side, while the bending river strengthened the position on the south. To the west and northwest of the fort, there were stretches of low and swampy ground. Considering the methods of warfare then in vogue in the New World, the traits of the French and the habits of the Indians, and even the hostile tests to which the fort itself was actually subjected, it must be admitted that its postion was well chosen for the ends for which the work was built. Edward Everette, in an oration at William's College, aptly characterized this pass of the Hoosac between its cliffs on either side as a Thermopylae. Such indeed it proved to be. [1]

The French and Indian Wars

The French and Indian Wars––King William's War (1688-1697), Queen Anne's War (1702-1713), King George's War (1744-1748), and The French and Indian War (1754-1763)––were the conflicts between England and France for North America. This intermittent series of conflicts pitted the colonies of British America against those of New France, with both sides supported by military units from their parent countries of Great Britain and France, as well as by Native American allies.

Shortly after the outbreak of King George's War in 1744, the General Court of Massachusetts authorized the establishment of a line of forts [See map]––planned by the royal governor, William Shirley––between the Connecticut and the Hoosac rivers, from Colrain to the Dutch settlements, within three to four miles of the northern border of Massachusetts. It is hard to say precisely the number of forts there were in this line. For, many of the structures mentioned in the history books were mere palisaded garrison houses. The ones that we can be sure of, and that were actual forts, were Fort Pelham, in present day Rowe; Fort Shirley, in present day Heath; Fort Massachusetts, in present day North Adams.

The site of Fort Massachusetts was admirably chosen. It was situated in a bend of the Hoosac River within musket shot of the "Trail of the Five Nations" which crosses the river at this point.

As to its structure, the first Fort Massachusetts (It was captured and burnt to the ground in 1746 by the French and their Indian allies, and rebuilt the following year––stronger than its former.) was very similar to Fort Shirley, built the previous year, and by some of the same men who helped to build Fort Shirley. According to this theory, the fort's exterior dimensions measured approximately 120 feet long by 80 feet wide.

The walls were twelve feet high, by fourteen inches thick, constructed of pine logs hewn down to six by fourteen-inch face, placed upon a stone foundation, one log above another. The timbers of the corners and side walls were dove-tailed and spiked together with dowel-pins of red oak. The fort gate faced northward upon St. Francis Ledge. The barracks, or rooms, were eleven feet wide, with sloping "salt-box" roofs, built against the inside south wall, and perhaps also against a part of the walls of the two ends. These rooms were continuous so far as they went.

The "mount" was a feature of all the blockhouses built in those times, and was a sort of platform of boards or plank thrown across the upper tier of hewn timbers at one of their four angles. On this was constructed a rude watch-box, a place for a sentinel somewhat protected, as the platform around it was the place to fire from and protect the fort. There were no loopholes in the walls, which were six inches thick, of hewed pines, so that the only places of offense were these mounts. The blockhouses usually were furnished with two of such mounts, on opposite angles, but the language [in John Norton's book] seems to imply that the first Fort Massachusetts had but one; and in place of the other, on the opposite angle, there was "the great house," the upper story of which rose above the walls and served the purpose of both mount and watch-box. The lower story of the "great house" was in all probability the officers' quarters, and perhaps also the storehouse of provisions and ammunition, while above it constituted a somewhat safer watch-box and place of offense than the other.

The parade was on the north side of the interior; the gate in the middle of the north wall opened directly into it; the well, with its posts, in the northeast corner; and the watch-box was over the other corner on that side. The whole interior of the fort was floored over with pine timbers similar to those in the walls.[1]

The "River Gods"

During this time period in Massachusetts, the entire province west of the Connecticut River was in the hands of seven elite families collectively known as the “River Gods”: moderately well-off, but immoderately pretentious families that produced the western region's leading magistrates and military officers during the eighteenth century.[2] These elite families were: Ashley, Dwight, Partridge, Porter, Pynchon, Stoddard, and Williams.

The Williams family were the creators and maintainers of the line of forts, with Ephraim Williams Jr. in command. Colonel John Stoddard, of Northampton, was charged with the general superintendence of the defense of the northwest frontiers of the province; and Major Israel Williams, of Hatfield, was appointed commissary of the department. The construction of Fort Massachusetts was under the supervision of Lieutenant John Catlin, Jr., and was completed in the autumn of 1745, and occupied that following winter by some forty-three men under his command.

Early Ambushes and the First Casualty at Fort Massachusetts

On May 9, 1745, John Mighills, while riding near the fort with his sergeant, John Hawks, both on one horse, was fired upon by skulking Indians and was wounded, but made his escape to the fort. Sergeant Hawks was worse wounded than the soldier by the same volley and fell from the horse. But as two Indians ran to scalp him, he recovered and presented his gun, which so scared the savages, that one jumped down the bank, and the other got behind a tree and called for quarter.[1]

On May 25th, the vanguard of the escort arrived near the fort and was suddenly attacked by the enemy that had been in ambush. The workmen on the fort, who always had their arms close by, immediately advanced on the enemy, putting him between two fires in the sharp skirmish that ensued, which resulted in driving him into the woods for good, so that the escort came up with the loss of only one Stockbridge Indian and two men wounded.[4]

The first casualty at the fort was during its construction. On June 9, 1745, Elisha Nims, who is put down on the Fort Shirley muster roll as present to June 9th, was killed two days later at Fort Massachusetts. Some of the soldiers were at work near the fort on that day, when a party of Indians fell upon them, killed and scalped Nims, and wounded Gershom Hawks. A part of the Indians had laid an ambush to cut off the retreat of any of the soldiers who might attempt to regain the fort; and though the ambush rose to carry out their plan, a sharp fire from the fort prevented its execution. They took captive, however, Benjamin Taintor of Westboro. This party of Indians came and returned by St. Croix and the Hoosac River, and nearly 100 cattle belonging to the Dutch and English farmers of the valley were killed by them. The body of one of the Indians was found a few days after buried on the bank of the river not far from the fort, and some long cords were also found, supposed to have been brought along by which to lead their captives to Canada.[1] Benjamin Taintor, and six others were brought down from Montreal to Quebec on February 15, 1747. He afterward settled in Newfane, Vermont.[3]

Scouting Parties and Bounties

Small scouting parties were kept continually ranging from fort to fort to keep communication open between them, and to discover the incursions of the enemy. These scouts were provided with Indian shoes, and in the winter, snowshoes at the public expense. The scouts were usually in little squads commanded by a corporal or sergeant, marched in a whole body or in two or three divisions, and upon several routes.[1] Sometimes companies of dogs would accompany them. The officers on these expeditions were required to keep fair and correct journals of their marches, and other operations, and to return them to the government of the province.[4]

The duty of the ranging corps was arduous and required men inured to the greatest fatigue and danger. To induce scouts to such perilous services, a handsome bounty from the colony treasury was promised for Indian scalps.[4]

God's Acre

Just to the west of the fort was God's Acre–the burial ground for the soldiers and their families who died while stationed there at Fort Massachusetts. This was the first cemetery in the northern Berkshires. However, by 1766, the site had become farmland. And over the next one hundred and thirty years, the labour of the land obliterated every vestige of this God's Acre.

The last rude headstone the remained standing stood over the grave of Elisha Nims. One hundred years after his death, the students of Williams College obtained the permission of Captain Harrison, the then owner of the meadow, to exhume the skeleton. The leaden ball that killed him was found embedded in one of the vertebrae of the back. That portion of the spinal column was brought to the College to be seen in the museum in Clark Hall. In the spring of 1852, Arthur Perry, then a student of Williams, obtained leave from Captain Harrison to bring the headstone itself to the College. It was then lying upon the ploughed ground, and the inscription was fast becoming illegible. That too was preserved in the museum.

Nim’s spine and headstone were on display until about 1915, when Williams College turned the remains and marker over to the Fort Massachusetts Historical Society. However, with the close of the Fort Massachusetts Historical Society Museum, in the early 1940's, the fragment of Nims’ spine, along with all the other artifacts in the museum's collection, was transferred to the North Adams Public Library. In 2000, library officials had Elisha Nim's remains buried in Hillside Cemetery with full military honors, on Veterans Day in 2000.[5] The headstone of Elisha Nims has not been located.

Those soldiers that are known to have been buried at God's Acre:

  • Elisha Nims – June 11, 1746
  • a Stockbridge Indian – May 25, 1747
  • Thomas Knowlton – August 1747
  • Samuel Abbott – August 2, 1748
  • Benjamin King – June 7, 1756
  • William Meacham – June 7, 1756
  • Unknown soldier – June 16, 1756 (Shot by one of their own.)
  • Eight Unknown Soldiers – July 5, 1756 (At night came in Capt. Butterfield from the Camps at the Half Moon with one hundred and forty men — found eight of their men killed by the Indians the 26th of June — coming to the Fort, they buried them.[6] )



Continued:

The Siege and Captivity of 1746

"A Brief History of Fort Massachusetts with an Emphasis on the Siege of 1746"

was compiled, edited, and with an introduction by C.A. Chicoine. June 2017

Bibliography:

  1. "Origins in Williamstown," by Arthur Latham Perry -- Published 1894
  2. "Mansion People: Kinship, Class, and Architecture in Western Massachusetts in the Mid-Eighteenth Century," by Kevin M. Sweeney. Winterthur Portfolio Vol. 19, No. 4 (Winter, 1984), pp. 231-255. Published by: The University of Chicago Press on behalf of the Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, Inc.
  3. "The Genealogy and History of the Taintor Family," by Taintor, Charles M. Published 1847 Publisher Greenfield [Mass.]: Merriam and Mirick.
  4. "Antiquarian Researches: A History of The Indian Wars," by E. Hoyt, Esq -- Greenfield, MA, Printed by Ansel Phelps, Published December 1824
    1. "English settler's remains buried 250 years after his death," November 12, 2000, North Adams, Massachusetts (AP)
    2. "Capt. Isaac Wyman's Journal of Operations at Fort Massachusetts, in 1756."
    3. "Journal of the Capitulation of Fort Massachusetts, Aug. 1745," by John Hawks [Manuscript transcript included in the body of a letter from Stephen W. Williams to Colonel William L. Stone of New York. Deerfield, MA, 22 September 1842]
  5. "A History of Deerfield, Massachusetts: The Times when the People by Whom it was Settled, Unsettled and Resettled, Volume 2," by George Sheldon -- Press of E.A. Hall & Company, 1896 - Deerfield (Mass.)
  6. "The History and Genealogy of the Knowltons of England and America," by Charles Henry Wright Stocking, Published 1897
  7. "France," Vol. V, by M. Guizot and Madame Guizot de Witt, pg. 95. Published 1900.
    1. "Williamstown and Williams College," by Arthur Latham Perry -- Published 1899
  8. "History of North Adams, Mass., 1749-1885," by W. F. Spear -- Published 1885
  9. "The Line of Forts: Historical Archaeology on the Colonial Frontier of Massachusetts," by Michael Coe -- University Press of New England, 2006
  10. "Colonel Ephraim Williams, a documentary life," by Wyllis E. Wright --1970
  11. "Williamstown: The First 250 Years 1753-2003," The First Fifty Years, by Robert R. R. Brooks -- 2005
    1. "Society of Colonial Wars in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts"|Pub. No. 8 -- 1906
  12. The "Bloody Morning Scout" references:

18. "Historical Sketch of the Life and Character of Colonel Ephraim Williams, and of Williams College, Founded in 1793, In Consequence of His Liberal Bequest," from "Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society Volume VIII" -- Published 1802

19. "Antiquarian Researches Comprising A History of The Indian Wars", by E. Hoyt -- published 1824

20. "Interesting Facts in the Early History of North Adams," by A. H. Morris. The North Adams Transcript, North Adams, Massachusetts · October 17, 1896, page 2

21. U.S. News & World Report National Liberal Arts Colleges Rankings

All maps from Google Maps.