The Fight for the Continent

Fort Ontario Celebrates the 250th Anniversary of the French and Indian War

The French and Indian War Comes to Life at Fort Ontario

Twenty years before the American Revolution, France and Britain's struggle for North America sparked what was the first world war. Known as the French and Indian War, it would ultimately determine who would control North America and forever change the face of America, especially for the colonists and Native Americans.
         The war (commonly called the English & Indian War in Canada) resulted in France's loss of all its possessions in North America, except for some Caribbean islands and Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, two small islands off Newfoundland. The British acquired Canada, while
Spain gained Louisiana in compensation for its loss of Florida to the British.

THE ULTIMATE HISTORY LESSON

Few people realize the importance of the nine-year conflict from 1754 to 1763 that left the British in control of North America. Fort Ontario State Historic Site, in Oswego, changed that by celebrating its 250th anniversary of the important battle fought there in 1756. The reenactment took place on August 11, 12 and 13, 2006, both at the fort and at the
Battle Island State Golf Course, in Fulton.
         Britain and France had been battling for two years for control of the continent. Oswego, England’s only toehold on the Great Lakes, was seen as both an economic threat through the fur trade, and a military one as well, for it was a likely spot to launch an offensive into Canada. Fort Oswego had been constructed in 1727 by the British to protect fur traders who had set up a very lucrative business. Native American tribes from as far away as Hudson Bay and Lake Superior came to Oswego to trade their furs in what became one of the most successful trading posts in the original 13 colonies. Sometimes up to 300 Dutch and English traders operated out of Oswego with their own permanent village of 70 log huts.

THE FIRST FORT ONTARIO

The first Fort Ontario was built in 1755 and was simply an eight-pointed stockade. Along with forts Oswego and George, Oswego lost half of its garrisons to disease, starvation and exposure during the cold winter of 1755 to 1756. Some 300 troops perished. Reinforced in the spring, the British and Colonial troops were constantly harassed by scalping parties of couriers de bois and Indians. Fort Ontario was attacked in May and June but held out. A convoy of 300 bateaux men was ambushed on the Oswego River in July, but under the command of John Bradstreet, they defeated their attackers near Battle Island.
         In a massive attack in August, 1756, the Marquis de Montcalm led 4000 French and Indians and began siege operations against Fort Ontario which quickly fell on Friday the 13th. After British commander Colonel James Mercer was cut in two by a cannonball, the other two forts quickly surrendered. All three forts were destroyed, the trader’s village leveled, and the British fleet taken. Additionally, 100 to 150 prisoners were massacred and Indians and Canadians who had broken into the rum supply.
         In 1759, the British returned and under General Thomas Gage built a large pentagon-shaped fort, the earthworks of which still exist today. While being constructed, an 1,800-man attacking force under the missionary Abbe Picquet and Duc de la Corne was rebuffed when Picquet halted his force to say a prayer in view of the garrison, sacrificing the element of surprise! In 1760 General Jeffrey Amherst and nearly 12,000 men encamped here to prepare for the final offensive against Canada, which resulted in the capture of Montreal. Fort Ontario was also the setting for much of James Fenimore Cooper’s classic novel “The Pathfinder.”

BATTLE ISLAND REENACTMENT

         On Friday, August 10, 2006, the waterborne action known as “Battle Island”was recreated. Reenactors with period boats, including bateau or whaleboats, attended. Native American reenactors and their French allies opened with a fusillade on the startled colonials, who responded by landing their boats on a small island which was quite probably the actual location.
         Historically, the battle then spread over to the western shore where participants on foot continued the action. This created a reenactment unlike any other staged in North America. Today the area is the Battle Island State Golf Course. On Saturday the French troops manned siege lines and attempted an assault on Fort Ontario. The final assault was on Sunday as
French forces stormed the fort through a specially created collapsible wall. Surrender negotiations were conducted and British and Colonial troops were marched out as Oswego was given over to the victorious French. A reproduction of the large victory cross erected by Montcalm was erected near the lake.
         History-filled seminars were also part of the commemoration, including a program detailing Fort Ontario’s monumental role in the French and Indian War as well as a critical examination of the French and British fleets that served on Lake Ontario.
 
WHEN TO VISIT

Fort Ontario is located at the end of E. Fourth St. in Oswego, New York. The fort is open Tuesday through Sunday, 10 AM until 4:30 PM from May through the end of October.
         Besides the pivotal role the fort played in the French and Indian War, the orientation exhibit explains the incredible importance of the post in eight other conflicts as well as being the site of the only refugee camp in America during WW II.
         Fort Ontario State Historic Site is one of six historic sites and sixteen parks in the Central Region administered by the NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. For more about NYS Parks, visit www.nysparks.com. Explore Fort Ontario on line at www.fortontario.com or call 315-343-4711.

REENACTMENTS IN OTHER AREAS

In addition to the reenactment at Fort Ontario, other historic sites will host French and Indian War commemorative events through the year 2013. Old Fort Niagara, Youngstown, holds annual reenactments and encampments interpreting the French and Indian War  period, and retains a fine collection of 18th century military buildings. Ogdensburg plans a 2010 commemorative event tied to efforts to rebuild historic Fort La Presentation there.
         Go to “The War That Made America” website (www.thewarthatmadeamerica.org) for more information about the French and Indian War documentary, narrated by noted actor Graham Greene, whose Oneida Indian ancestors fought in the war

FRENCH & INDIAN WAR BATTLES

Battles and skirmishes of note along the Seaway Trail took place at Ogdensburg; along the Lake Ontario shoreline; at Fort Ontario in Oswego; at Fulton, Sodus Bay, Rochester, Braddock’s Bay, Lakeside, Four Mile Creek, Youngstown, Lewiston, Niagara Falls, Barcelona, and Mayville, NY; and along Seaway Trail Pennsylvania at Presque Isle and Erie, PA.