Fort Bainbridge | |
---|---|
Boromville, Alabama in United States | |
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 |
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 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]
In 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]
Today, 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]
Submitted by the Center for Archaeological Studies University of South Alabama.