The Plattsburgh Barracks-- Part 6: War of 1812 Skeletons Found

All of the War of 1812 forts except Fort Brown were leveled to form a huge 40-acre parade ground known as the "U.S. Oval."  This happened in the early 1890s.

In 1892, during the removal of Fort Moreau which had been the main and largest of the War of 1812 forts during the Battle of Plattsburgh, numerous human remains, as many as twenty-five, were unearthed.  They had been hurriedly buried either during or immediately after the Battle of Plattsburgh.

When Fort Scott was leveled, perhaps thirty or more skeletons were also discovered.  Cannonballs and other War of 1812 artifacts were also found.  These were reportedly sent to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

All of the recovered skeletons were buried with full military honors in the nearby Old Post Cemetery in a mass grave marked by a large monument to the unknown dead of the War of 1812.

--Brock-Perry

The Plattsburgh Barracks-- Part 4: The War of 1812 Fortifications

During the Second Seminole War, nearly a quarter of the U.S. Army strength was sent to Florida and Congress realized that the Army needed to be expanded and that was when it was raised to 12,539.  Along with the increase in strength, housing became a big issue which was why the Army built the Plattsburgh Barracks.

A permanent Army post was planned and was to have four stone barracks surrounded by a wooden palisade.

A site was selected outside of the town of Plattsburgh and just south of the three remaining earthwork fortifications from the 1814 siege:  Fort Brown, Fort Moreau and Fort Scott.

These forts had been constructed under the direction of Major Joseph Totten, an expert military engineer during the war.  There were also two smaller redoubts erected later, Fort Tompkins and Fort Gaines.  All five of these fortifications formed the endpoints of a pentagon which featured a field of interlocking cannon fire.

--Brock-Perry

Fort Anne, Lake George and Plattsburgh Get Battlefield Funds

From the June 27, 2016, Post-Star (NY) by Bill Toscone.

Two local battlefields among 20 historic sites were awarded grants from the American Battlefield Protection Program last week.

The Battle of Fort Anne was a part of the 1777 Saratoga Campaign.  Lake George, the site of Fort George, was the site of several battles during the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War.

The City of Plattsburgh was awarded$54,000 to evaluate the needs and uses of six key northern New York battles sites from the Revolutionary War (Vancouver Bay) to the War of 1812 (Crab Island, Plattsburgh Bay, Fort Brown, Fort Moreau and Fort Scott.

SUNY Buffalo Research Foundation received $23,200 for architectural survey of the Battle of Scajaguada Bridge in August 1814 during the War of 1812.

--Brock-Perry