Fort Armstrong, Illinois
Fort Armstrong was a continuation of the United States in the state of Illinois . It was located on the island called Rock Island in the Mississippi River . Today the island is located in the area of the city named after it Rock Island and is still used for military purposes. The Rock Island Arsenal , a facility of the United States Army , has been located on the former site of the fort since 1868 .
history
The place of construction of the fort goes back to the recommendation of the American lieutenant Zebulon Pike , who in 1805 received the order to look out along the Mississippi for strategically located places for the construction of forts. The British-American War broke out three years later , in the course of which in 1814 the two westernmost battles of the entire war were fought in the immediate vicinity of Rock Island. The location on the western border and the direct vicinity of the Sauk Indian tribe led to the decision in 1816 to build a fort on Rock Island. The Sauk, who still inhabited the area east of the Mississippi, but had already sold it to the American government in 1804, were in principle more on the side of Great Britain. A fort on Rock Island was intended to demonstrate strength to the Indians. The island seemed suitable for this, as up to 11,000 Indians lived in the area at that time.
Establishment and location
On 10 May 1816, the first soldiers reached the island and began the construction of the fort. Was named the Fort Armstrong by the then minister of war of the United States John Armstrong junior . 600 soldiers and 150 workers were involved in the construction. Only stone and wood material was used. The fort was built on the western edge of the island, so that it reached on two sides directly to the limestone cliffs that rose up to 10 m above the Mississippi .
Black Hawk War
Upon completion, up to 200 soldiers remained stationed at Fort Armstrong. Between 1824 and 1836 there were fewer than 100 soldiers. The fort provided shelter for settlers who settled near it. It was also used to monitor trade the Sauk made with other tribes and with the settlers. In the late 1820s, the Sauk were relocated to the west side of the Mississippi under the Treaty of 1804. However, a chief known as the Black Hawk returned to the east side of the river with some warriors. Fear of the Indians arose among the settlers, and Illinois Governor John Reynolds chose to respond with military strength. The conflict culminated in the Black Hawk War in 1832 .
Fort Armstrong was the headquarters of American troops in that war. General Winfield Scott set out for Rock Island with a reinforcement force of 1,000 soldiers. On the way, however, cholera broke out in the troops and only 220 soldiers survived the march and reached the fort. There there was another outbreak of the disease and another 189 soldiers died in the following days. They were buried on Rock Island. Fort Armstrong played another important role in the course of the war when a peace treaty was signed between the warring parties at the fort in 1833.
After the end of the Black Hawk War, Fort Armstrong became increasingly redundant for the American military. In 1836 all troops were finally withdrawn from the fort. In the following decades the fort deteriorated more and more. From 1840 to 1845 it served again as a warehouse for military material. A fire destroyed large parts of the building in 1855. In 1859 the remains of the fort fell victim to another fire. In 1916 one of the log houses was restored to its original location to commemorate the centenary of the construction.
investment
The fort was laid out in a rectangular shape and every corner pointed in a direction. In the north, south and east, log houses made of logs cut nearby formed the corner points of the outer walls, with the eastern block house being larger than the other two. The log houses were the main fortification, each comprised two floors, the upper one of which was offset by 45 degrees, so that each log house had walls in 8 directions. Each of these walls was equipped with loopholes that could even be equipped with cannons . The roofs of the log houses were used as a lookout.
Each side of the fort measured 270 feet (about 82 meters). In the interior of the fort there were barracks between the log houses , the outer walls of which also formed the outer wall of the fort. The gaps between the buildings were closed with a wall, the lower part (4 feet) of which was made of stone and then continued up to the level of the barracks with logs. To the west of the fort, directly on the steep rocky edge of the island, was the two-story main building of the fort command. This building was 20 by 30 feet and had smaller, single-story extensions on the sides.
Other buildings inside the fort were the officers' quarters and an infirmary. There was also a stone-built weapons and powder room that was lowered so that the natural rock of the island formed its bottom. There was a flagpole in the middle of the fort . There were two entrances to the fort, centered on the southeast and northeast sides.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Fort Armstrong Era ( Memento of the original from January 15, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , in Joe Nobiling: Rock Island, the Island a Study of Place
- ^ A b Rock Island County Historical Society: Official book of the Fort Armstrong centennial celebration. 1916.
literature
- Rock Island County Historical Society (Ill.): Official book of the Fort Armstrong centennial celebration: June 18th - 24th, 1916 . Rock Island and Moline 1916 ( archive.org ).
- Benjamin Franklin Tillinghast: Rock Island arsenal, in peace and in war . Chicago 1898 ( archive.org ).
Web links
Coordinates: 41 ° 30 '59.4 " N , 90 ° 33' 50.1" W.