Fort Bainbridge was an earthen fort located along the Federal Road on what is today the county line between Macon and Russell counties in Alabama.[1] Fort Bainbridge was located twenty-five miles west of Fort Mitchell.[2]
| Fort Bainbridge | |
|---|---|
| Boromville, Alabama in United States | |
 | |
  Fort Bainbridge  Fort Bainbridge | |
| Coordinates | 32°19′08″N 85°26′06″W / 32.31889°N 85.43500°W |
| Type | Earthen fort |
| Site information | |
| Owner | Private |
| Controlled by | Private |
| Open to the public | No |
| Site history | |
| Built | March 1814 |
| Built by | North Carolina militia |
| In use | 1814 |
| Battles/wars | Creek War |
History
editCreek War
editFort Bainbridge was named in honor of naval captain William Bainbridge.[3][4] Fort Bainbridge was built in the style of a bastion fort with eight outcroppings. The bastions were surrounded by a ditch that was filled with pickets and the fort was entered by a drawbridge.[5] It was constructed in March 1814 by North Carolina militia under the command of General Joseph Graham in an effort to protect the supply route from Fort Hull to Fort Mitchell.[6] Captain Jett Thomas directed the fort's construction.[7] Fort Bainbridge allowed supply wagons to travel between Fort Mitchell and Hull in one-day intervals and was garrisoned by 100 to 300 troops.[8] Fort Bainbridge was garrisoned by Tennessee militia until July 31, 1814.[2]
Postwar
editIn 1820 on his North American tour, Adam Hodgson described Fort Bainbridge as being a "small stockaded mound".[7] Captain Kendall Lewis (who commanded Benjamin Hawkins' scouts), along with his Creek chief father-in law, Big Warrior, operated a tavern as a stagecoach stop about 400 yards west of Fort Bainbridge, which stayed open under the care of Lewis' widow until at least 1836.[9] During his return tour, the Marquis de Lafayette stayed at the Lewis Tavern for his first night in Alabama.[10] Prince Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach stayed at the Lewis Tavern on his 1826 travels through North America.[11] The site of the fort also lies along naturalist William Bartram's four-year journey through the Southern United States, during which he documented the flora, fauna and Native Americans of the area.[12] The fort site was later used as a plantation.[13]
Present
editToday, it remains unmarked and its legacy lies in a small unincorporated community, Boromville, that developed from it.[14] Though unmarked, the location is known and the area has been damaged by relic hunters.[15]
References
edit- ^ Harris 1977, pp. 36.
- ^ a b Jackson 1927, pp. 23.
- ^ Bunn & Williams 2008, pp. 42.
- ^ Brannon, Peter A. (April 17, 1932). "Fort Bainbridge, In Russell". The Montgomery Advertiser. Montgomery, Alabama. Retrieved September 4, 2021.
- ^ Waselkov & Christopher 2012, pp. 42.
- ^ Waselkov & Christopher 2012, pp. 222.
- ^ a b Brannon, Peter A. (April 17, 1932). "Fort Bainbridge, In Russell". The Montgomery Advertiser. Montgomery, Alabama. Retrieved September 4, 2021.
- ^ Owsley 2008, pp. 60.
- ^ "Stage Stops and Taverns of Early Alabama Prior to 1840". Genealogy Trails. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
- ^ "Alabama threw parties for Lafayette [photographs] and Selma played a prank on the citizens of their town". Alabama Pioneers. 3 May 2016. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
- ^ Waselkov & Christopher 2012, pp. 204.
- ^ Bartram Trail Conference 1979, pp. 134.
- ^ Braund, Waselkov & Christopher 2019, pp. 100.
- ^ "Highlights". The Ridge Macon County Archaeology Project. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
- ^ Braund 2012, pp. 249.
Sources
edit- Bartram Trail Conference (1979). A Study of the Life of William Bartram. Montgomery, Alabama: The Bartram Trail Conference.
- Braund, Kathryn; Waselkov, Gregory; Christopher, Raven (2019). The Old Federal Road in Alabama. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: University of Alabama Press. ISBN 978-0-8173-5930-0.
- Braund, Kathryn E. Holland (2012). Tohopeka: Rethinking the Creek War & the War of 1812. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: University of Alabama Press. ISBN 978-0-8173-5711-5.
- Bunn, Mike; Williams, Clay (2008). Battle for the Southern Frontier: The Creek War and the War of 1812. Charleston, South Caroline: The History Press. ISBN 978-1-62584-381-4.
- Harris, W. Stuart (1977). Dead Towns of Alabama. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: University of Alabama Press. ISBN 0-8173-1125-4.
- Jackson, Andrew (1927) [Composed 31 July 1814]. Bassett, John Spencer (ed.). Correspondence of Andrew Jackson. Vol. 2. Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Institution of Washington.
- Owsley, Frank Lawrence (2008). Struggle for the Gulf Borderlands. Gainesville, Florida: Library Press@UF. ISBN 978-1-947372-34-4.
- Waselkov, Gregory; Christopher, Raven (April 2012). Archaeological Survey of the Old Federal Road in Alabama (Technical report). Montgomery, Alabama: Alabama Department of Transportation.
Submitted by the Center for Archaeological Studies University of South Alabama.