This essay was originally published in the 1940 OCHS Yearbook. Please note that this essay was published over 80 years ago. While still useful for general education, language may be outdated and at times offensive. The Oswego County Historical Society does not stand by the language used in this essay. All photos were added in 2024 when this article was uploaded to the web. To view the original document, please visit NYHeritage.org.
Paper Prepared by Ralph M. Faust, Vice-President of Oswego Historical Society for Presentation in Connection with “Oswego Remembrance Days” July 4-7, 1940
On the high-banked shores of sparkling Lake Ontario, at the place where the historic Oswego pours out, still stands old Fort Ontario, one of the last grim guardians of a colorful frontier of earlier days.
At a time when the blue flag of France with its gold fleur-delis waved over the far-flung St. Lawrence and Great Lakes region, the battlements of old Oswego took shape to challenge the dominion of the French king. The first foothold of the English on the Great Lakes, in 1727, Oswego continued for a long time to be “the hinge on which the fate of empire creaked.” As Niagara was the great portal to the west and an indispensable link in the French chain of water communications which gradually encircled the English colonies, so Oswego became the gateway from the Great Lakes Frontier to the English settlements along the entire eastern seaboard. Recognized early for its strategic importance and its location for trade, Oswego bethe center of English barter with the Indians just as Niagara was the center of the French trade. From across the blue waters of Ontario, the French at Frontenac and Niagara watched it with covetous eyes.
The dream of empire—that vision which inspired the picturesque activities of the courier-de-bois, the heroic deeds of Jesuits, and the valour of French soldiery—seemed almost realized when the intense rivalry flamed into the decisive struggle known as the French and Indian War. It began in America in 1755 when General Braddock lost his claim to military fame by sheer ignorance of the ways of war on a strange continent. The place was Duquesne, and today it is a story known to every child. Then to strengthen the Ontario link of their great chain of forts, and to throw fear into the Iroquois allies of the English, the French turned to the hated Oswego.
Montcalm Accomplishes the “Impossible”
With unique skill commensurate with the great warrior that he was, the Marquis de Montcalm, supreme commander of the French armies in America, laid the plans and directed the attack upon the three fortifications at Oswego which challenged French supremacy on the inland seas. Impregnable to any fire other than heavy artillery, which, it was vouched, could never be brought before Oswego, Montcalm accomplished the impossible and in August 1756 stood before the English posts with three thousand soldiers and Indians, and his heavy artillery. Then four days of terrific bombardment, four days of stubborn resistance by the Royal American regiments holding the forts, and finally Fort Ontario, Fort George, and Fort Oswego capitulated to a superior leader and a more inspired army.
image: Louis-Joseph de Montcalm, 1790 by Antoine-François Sergent-Marceau
With sixteen hundred prisoners, great quantities of stores, arms, and ammunition, the French left the “pouring-out-place” with its bastions leveled and the emblem of France alongside the cross of the Jesuits standing victorious over the charred ruins of what had once been the only important English frontier post west of Albany. The colonies were plunged in despair, and the Iroquois allies were ready to break the covenant with their English white father which was saved only by the rare eloquence of Sir William Johnson. Louis XV eager to announce his claim to world dominion had struck off medals commemorating the event. Today the medal is the prized possession of the Oswego Historical Society.
Once again Ontario became “a French lake” as everywhere French arms continued to hold strategic points along the entire frontier. Truly the English cause seemed lost on the continent until the young William Pitt took over the reigns of King George’s government. Money and men then poured into the colonial campaigns, and after three fruitless years the English star began to shine.
Death Blow To French Power
In the story of the fall of New France, Oswego played its most significant role. Out of its ashes and ruins rose anew the battlements of Fort Ontario; soldiers and carpenters arrived; whaleboats and bateaux took shape: and at various times for three years it became the great rendezvous for the regiments of the British line, for the Scotch Grenadiers, and the great Black Watch, for the colonial militia, and for the painted red allies. The summers of 1758, 1759, and 1760 saw determined expeditions —first to Frontenac (Kingston) under General Bradstreet, then to Niagara under Sir William Johnson, and finally to Montreal under General Jeffrey Amherst— sweep out from Oswego to deal death blow after death blow to French power across Lake Ontario. Montreal was the last stronghold to fall, and with it came the complete collapse of the French empire in America. By the terms of the peace treaty signed in 1763, the fleur-de-lis came down reluctantly throughout the whole of the great continent, and the cross of St. George rose aloft over the broad domain. Thus Anglo-Saxon culture became the heritage of a vast part of the New World.
Pontiac’s Conspiracy
But while the sovereigns of France, England, and Spain were signing the treaty of Paris putting an end to their rivalry in two continents, countless Indians warriors were chanting the war songs and whetting their scalping knives. From the head of the Potomac to Lake Superior, and from the Alleghanies to the Mississippi, in every wigwam and hamlet of the forest a devilish scheme was being shaped. Back of the clever intrigue was Pontiac, chief of the Ottowas, despotic and ambitious warrior. Beneath an apparent friendship for the English was his secret desire to send the Indians on the warpath, to wipe out the English settlements, to embrace the French again, and thus hold the English in check along the Atlantic seaboard. Although the general plan was nipped in the bud, the red men struck swiftly at frontier posts and settlements over a wide area and spread death and destruction in their wake. Stubbornly the English held their ground until the tribes lost patience and one by one withdrew. Disappointed at the promised assistance of the French, chagrined at the dropping off of his allies, and discouraged at the long drawn out struggle * which he sensed was hopeless, Pontiac agreed to accept the peace which was proffered and to patiently await his hour of vengeance.
In the spring of 1766, Pontiac came to Oswego to smoke the calumet with Sir William Johnson. In view of the ramparts of Fort Ontario, the great treaty was concluded after days of long speeches and the usual exchange of gifts. Proud in defeat, and thoroughly believing in the justice of his cause, the great Pontiac was destined never to have his hour of vengeance.
“Black Watch” Becomes The Garrison
Of all the picturesque soldiers of the British line who were sent to Fort Ontario during the trying years of the French War, none were perhaps more striking than the kilt-clad Forty-second Battalion of the Royal Highlanders, or “the Black Watch” as they were called. Raised in the highlands of Scotland about 1740, and fighting in different parts of Europe, they landed in New York in 1756, the year that Montcalm destroyed the forts at Oswego. After participating in Abercrombie’s attack on Fort Ticonderoga in July of 1758, they were withdrawn to Fort Ontario where they spent the winter of 1758-1759. In the meantime a second battalion of the same regiment had been raised in the highlands and joined the Fortysecond at Fort Ontario early in 1759. They formed a part of Lord Amherst’s army of six thousand which successfully attacked Fort Ticonderoga, and thence marched north to take part in the capture of Montreal from the French in 1760.
During the days immediately following the French War, Fort Ontario was garrisoned by the Fifty-fifth Infantry of the wearers of the tartan under command of Major Alexander Duncan. The period, the local setting, the commander, and his activities gave James Fenimore Cooper the scene for his renowned romance of Mable, Jasper, and the Pathfinder. It was while Cooper was stationed at Oswego as a young midshipman in 1808-1809 that he acquired the background for his “Pathfinder” published a quarter-century later.
The Fort During The Revolution
In the War of the American Revolution, Fort Ontario was the place where Guy Johnson, loyalist nephew of Sir William Johnson, induced the Iroquois nations to declare for the British cause. Here were organized many of the raiding parties which went scalping and killing through the Mohawk valley, and here passed Colonel Barry St. Ledger’s army from Montreal intending to meet Burgoyne at Albany, only to be set upon by Herkimer at Oriskany and forced to turn back to Oswego and thence to Canada . General George Washington directed the last but unsuccessful offensive of the Revolution against Fort Ontario carried out by Col. Marinus Willett in February 1783.
For thirteen years after the treaty of Paris in 1783, Fort Ontario continued to be held by the English. During the period it protected many families of escaping loyalists who fled to upper Canada to give the Province of Ontario the mighty impetus which marked its subsequent development. In July of 1796— just one hundred and forty-four years ago—Fort Ontario, a cherished fortification passed from a great power across the sea, the last bit of territory to be surrendered to the United States.
Ontario’s Role In 1812
In the War of 1812, and in the hectic days preceding it, Oswego played still another part in the drama of the old frontier. To Fort Ontario, President Jefferson ordered a detachment of troops to intercept smuggling across the border after he had placed the embargo on all trade with its empire. During the period, Sacket’s Harbor became the center of shipbuilding operations on Lake Ontario, but Oswego was the key-point for trans-shipment of equipment and supplies destined for the great ships of war there under construction. As such, great quantities of materials were often stored at Oswego awaiting shipment to Sackets.
Determined to destroy the link in the American line of communication and seize the equipment said to be stored there, Sir James Yeo, commander of the British squadrons on the Great Lakes, stood before Fort Ontario in May of 1814 with a fleet Of the British line. After a teriffic bombardment the ill-prepared fort was evacuated as its garrison executed an orderly retreat to Oswego Falls (Fulton) where, it so happened, the great mass of the stores awaited shipment down the river to Oswego.
image: Sir James Yeo, 1810 by Adam Buck
Again the old fort suffered destruction at the hands of invaders. In the days of peace which followed, some of its stone work found its way into the foundations of the old homes of early Oswego. Left to the mercy of the elements, the old ruin continued to raise its ghostly head above the blue waters of Ontario until the federal government once more ordered it rebuilt and made of it a single company post in 1841. Intervening years saw additional improvements made and various companies of infantry come and go.
Ontario Trained Units See Action in Foreign Wars
From Madison Barracks and Fort Ontario went the several companies of the Ninth Infantry to bring honor and fame to American troops in the attack on Tientsin, China, during the Boxer rebellion. Except for a battalion of Marines, the Ninth Infantry was the only American military force engaged in that battle. During the action, Colonel Emerson H. Liscum, the regimental commander, was killed. In his honor a gigantic silver punch bowl was dedicated, fashioned from a portion of melted Chinese pigot the whole of which was rescued from the ruins of a Tientsin mint by American troops during the engagement. In appreciation for their prompt action, Chinese officials presented to the regiment some; of the ore from which the bowl was made. Today it is the Ninth Infantry’s prized possession.
Fort Ontario was made a battalion post in 1903, and from its gates went one of the first of the American combat units to land in France during the World War—Company K of the Twenty-eighth Infantry. In 1918 it was converted temporarily into a huge hospital where many sick or wounded were brought from the battle fields of France.
(Fort Ontario was made the headquarters of the Second Brigade in 1931 and continued as such until within the present year [1940]. Still garrisoned by the headquarters company and detachments of the 28th Infantry, the future of the fort is at present undetermined as a part of the general reorganization of the United States Army now in progress but it is believed that the post will be developed as the training ground of National Guard units. For a decade or more the fort has been used during the summer months for the training of regulars and national guard anti-aircraft regiments.)
Recognized as the oldest garrisoned post in the country, Fort Ontario today embraces a frontier that has been blessed with peace for over a hundred years. Its story tells not only local history but the destines of nations. As such, Oswego might well move along with its neighboring post, Niagara, in teaching the great and glorious history of the conquest and development of the North American continent.
A Note: In 1944, the US War Relocation Authority temporarily housed 982 refugees of the holocaust at Fort Ontario, creating the Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter. The fort was closed again after World War II. The fort is now a New York State Historic Site and open to the public.
