Pulaski County GaArchives History .....Old Forts in Pulaski County 1935 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 July 28, 2004, 12:25 am OLD FORTS IN PULASKI COUNTY That period between 1812 and 1815 was a time of grave fears and great excitement to the inhabitants of Pulaski County. The alarm of the settlers and the effort to protect the State's domain from invasion caused considerable military activity in this vicinity. Military celebrities, troops of horsemen, marching bodies of infantry, provision trains, dashing couriers, military encampments along the highways, established military camps, together with a chain of military forts erected along the western border of the county, spoke most eloquently of a war with a dreaded and cruel enemy. Four forts were constructed along the frontier of Pulaski and were a link in a chain of forts beginning in Twiggs and extending through Telfair. Those in Pulaski were named Forts Pike, Greene, Lawrence and Mitchell. Our Fort Mitchell must not be confused with another Fort Mitchell erected about the same time on the Alabama side of the Chattahoochee River, two miles south of Columbus, Georgia. Camp Blakely was an established campsite on the old Milledgeville road about two miles from Hartford. It was to Camp Blakely that General David Blackshear marched with Col. Ezekial Wimberly's regiment of infantry from Camp Hope (two miles from Fort Hawkins and on the Milledgeville road) , when the General was ordered to open a road from Hartford to Flint River. Here the troops remained in camp from Thursday, December 22nd, to December 29, 1814. General Andrew Jackson frequently used the campsites and old breastworks of General Blackshear in his famous march through Georgia, when on his way to punish the Seminole Indians in 1818. It is very probable that he used old Camp Blakely for the quartering of his troops. The object in erecting a chain of forts across our border was to repel invasion of the territory of the State and afford protection to the defenseless settlers of this section from the merciless savagery of the Creek and Seminole Indians. Representations of the alarm and danger of the inhabitants in Pulaski were made to Governor Mitchell in the early days of August, 1813. On the 4th of August the Governor ordered Brigadier General David Blackshear to proceed to the frontier with his brigade and provide for the protection and security of the people in the section exposed to attack. On August 7th, General Blackshear issued orders to Col. Allen Tooke of Hartford to erect a line of forts immediately. This was done in the shortest time and on the 13th of August General Blackshear reported to Governor Mitchell that the forts had been erected and garrisoned. These forts formed apart of the plan of defense for the frontiers of Twiggs, Pulaski, and Telfair. In Pulaski they were placed about ten miles apart, were one hundred feet square, with two block-houses within and at opposite ends of the enclosure and were about twenty feet square. The stockade was made by placing pine logs upright in the ground, close together and extending the desired height above the surface. The tops of these stockade timbers were fastened together so as to give rigidity. A further part of the plan of defense was to garrison these forts with one subaltern, a sergeant, a corporal, fifteen privates to each, and a captain over the whole. In addition, two horsemen were stationed opposite each fort, on the west side of the 0cmulgee, to reconnoitre as far as the next fort and prevent surprise attacks. Major James Taylor was appointed Forage Master to furnish sup-plies for the troops building and occupying these forts. These exertions by General Blackshear, together with a letter from Governor Mitchell to Col. Allen Tooke reiterating that the frontier would be protected, had great effect in removing the apprehension of danger felt by the inhabitants of Pulaski. Just about one year after the forts were erected the people of Hartford and Pulaski again experienced the greatest alarm from an anticipated attack by the Seminoles. On September 4, 1814, Christian Linebaugh, Principal Assistant Agent for Indian Affairs, Creek Nation, addressed a communication "To the Inhabitants of Pulaski County and the Town of Hartford," in which he advised that the Seminole Indians are preparing to make an attack upon Hartford, or that neighborhood. This information produced the gravest apprehensions of an Indian massacre in the minds of the people. Colonel Tooke wrote General Blackshear pleading for immediate aid and advised that he had already garrisoned the forts of Pulaski and stationed an ensign's command at Forts Pike, Greene, and Lawrence; at Fort Mitchell he had placed a lieutenant, two sergeants, two corporals, and forty privates. Fortunately, these prompt measures of Colonel Tooke and the efforts of Governor Early, together with the attacks made upon the Indians at other points, again saved the citizens of Pulaski and Hartford from attack and probable massacre. These forts, says the letter of General Blackshear to Governor Mitchell, dated August 13, 1813, were about one hundred feet square, to have two block-houses, and enclosed with a stockade eight feet above the ground. Letter from Col. Allen Tooke to General Blackshear: Hartford, Sept. 8, 1814. Sir: I have this day received information from Christian Linebaugh, assistant agent, which contains alarming news, and in order that you may be fully acquainted with the same, I hereunto annex a copy of the official note received for your perusal. Chattahoochee Camp, near Fort Mitchell, Sept. 4, 1814. To the inhabitants of Pulaski County and the town of Hartford. It becomes my duty to make known to my fellow citizens of Georgia that I have received information from down this river that the Seminole Indians are preparing to make an attack upon Hartford or this place. They have not yet determined at which place they will strike first. If the information I have received is correct, Hart-ford, or that neighborhood, will be the first place they will aim for. I think it would be advisable for the inhabitants to be able, watchful, and have guards and spies out in those quarters, and be prepared for the events. In a short time we shall know how affairs will be with these Lower Indians. I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, CHRISTIAN LINEBAUGH. Prin. Asst. Agt. for Indian Affairs, Creek Natives: Dear Sir: Sir; I have repeatedly laid letters before you which go to show the foregoing facts. . . . The foregoing has created great alarm among the inhabitants of the county. I have therefore ordered an ensign's command to Forts Pike, Green and Lawrence, and 40 privates, a Lieut., 2 sergeants and 2 corporals to Fort Mitchell, and one Captain to take command of the whole. . . . The first class militia being organized and given up for the U. S. service, I have thought proper, therefore, not to order or request them not to per-form any service unless in case of invasion. Therefore, will you be so good as to instruct me whether or not I should order the first class into service. As we are very weak after deducting the first class, which is within your own knowledge, I hope you will as early as possible aid us in the protection of our defenseless frontier. I am, your most obedient servant, ALLEN TOOKE, Lieut. Cap. 36th Reg. Ga. Militia. p. 31 It is a very regrettable fact that, with the flight of the years, the sites of these forts have been lost. This was probably due to the perishable nature of the material used in constructing them, and again, many of the inhabitants who knew of their location moved on to the new lands west of the Ocmulgee. As the forts fell into decay people forgot them, not thinking it worth while to conserve the knowledge of their sites for future generations when historic interest in their location should awaken and sentiment would want to mark them. However, the writer is confident that he has succeeded in locating Forts Mitchell and Greene. For the benefit of any who may now or later become interested in their locations the writer will give the supposed sites and the reasons why he thinks they are the above-named forts. If after all he be found in error, his effort may stir up interest in their locations and bring to light information that would be very valuable on the subject. He would locate the site of Fort Mitchell about one-half mile north of Hartford. Standing in the upper river road at the point where it makes its first curve to the left, about one-half mile beyond the Southern Railroad crossing in Hartford and looking directly ahead up the hill, one will see a narrow strip of land grown up in trees and evergreens. Approaching it, you will discover this strip of brambles and bushes to be about fifteen feet wide and three hundred feet long. In the center will be found an excavation about six feet wide and from two to three feet deep. On each side and in the bottom of this ancient ditch will be found growing trees of varying sizes while all around the soil has been cultivated. The writer believes this is probably the site of Fort Mitchell, and the following are his reasons. That Fort Mitchell was located near but not in Hartford is evident from Colonel Tooke's correspondence. This site is in easy access to the inhabitants of Hartford. That this ancient ditch was excavated before the lands around it were tilled is apparent from careful observation; that it was not constructed for drainage purposes is also evident, because it was constructed before the land was cultivated, is on top of a hill, leads nowhere, and drains nothing; it is too long, wide and deep to have been excavated for a barbecue pit, and it has had this same general appearance for forty years. The summit of the hill east of the ditch is slightly higher ground and furnishes a commanding view of all the surrounding country. It would make an ideal location for a fort because of its height and contiguity to Hartford. The unexplained excavation on top of the hill suggests it as the probable location of Fort Mitchell. The writer would locate Fort Greene on the left of the lower river road at Fort Pond, about six and one-half miles below Hart- p. 32 ford. This Fort Pond is about a quarter of a mile from the lower river road highway near the corner of H. J. McCorvey's plantation. It was pointed out to the writer by Mr. Lum Atkinson, who was reared not far away. When a young man, and before the ground was cultivated, Mr. Atkinson says there were two clean spots in the wiregrass which were repeatedly pointed out to him by his father and old settlers as the places where the fort houses stood. His mother, being above eighty years of age at the time of her death, and also reared near Fort Pond, always spoke of it as the place where a fort was erected in the time of the Indian wars. Mr. Atkin-son described these "clean places" as being twenty feet square and about fifty feet apart. No trace of these spots can be found today because the place is cultivated. Yet, two circular excavations about twelve feet in diameter and three feet deep may be found on the east side of the pond in a bit of uncleared land. These excavations were represented as being some thirty or forty feet from one of the "clean places" which was pointed out to Mr. Atkinson as a block-house site. Pine trees twelve or more inches in diameter are growing almost in these excavations. Mr. Atkinson assures me that he has known of their presence here for fifty years. The encircling pond to the west afforded a strong natural defense, and the open character of the pine woods afforded good opportunity for observation. The statement of Mr. Atkinson and the name of the pond seem to afford satisfactory reasons for accepting this as a fort site. As to the identification of this fort site with Fort Greene, the writer bases his opinion upon the order that Colonel Allen Tooke invariably followed when naming these forts in his correspondence. Fort Mitchell is always mentioned separately, and usually last, be-cause it was located at Hartford. The other forts are invariably mentioned in the following order: Forts Pike, Greene, and Lawrence. This was probably done because he thought of the forts as beginning at one end of the county line on the opposite side. It is a reasonable presumption that he did think of them in this manner. If such was the case, then Forts Pike and Lawrence would be thought of as the outside links in this chain of forts across Pulaski, and their location would he near the county lines, and Forts Mitchell and Greene would compose the two inner links. Fort Mitchell is definitely located near Hartford. The fort site on the east bank of Fort Pond is too far away from the county line to have been either of the outside links in the chain of forts. Therefore, if our supposition as to the order followed by Colonel Tooke be true, it would not matter whether he started at the Telfair or the Twiggs County line in his thinking of them. Fort Greene would be another of the middle links in the chain, and our presumption that this place is the old site of Fort Greene would probably be correct. Additional Comments: Extracted from "HISTORY OF PULASKI COUNTY GEORGIA" OFFICIAL HISTORY COMPILED BY THE HAWKINSVILLE CHAPTER DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION PRESS OF WALTER W. BROWN PUBLISHING COMPANY ATLANTA, GEORGIA File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/pulaski/history/other/gms64oldforts.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/gafiles/ File size: 14.1 Kb