Long Description:Fort Laurens is located in northeast Ohio, the small town of
Bolivar. It is Ohio's ONLY Revolutionary War Fort.
(Taken from friendsofftlaurens.org) In early 1778, General George
Washington prepared a military plan to attack the British. The plan
was to attack Fort Detroit because the British were encouraging
their Indian allies in the area north of the Ohio River to attack
American settlements in the frontier region.
Due to political pressure from the states of Pennsylvania and
Virginia, and the inability to secure the necessary numbers of men
and supplies, the expedition’s original purpose was changed by the
Continental Congress to simply attacking Indian towns and villages
along the southwestern edge of Lake Erie.
Following a well-established Indian trail known today as the
Great Trail, an American army of 1,200 men and their Delaware
Indian guides marched west into the Ohio territory from Fort Pitt
in the fall of 1778 under the command of Georgia native General
Lachlan McIntosh. Twenty miles down river from Fort Pitt near
present-day Beaver, Pennsylvania, Fort McIntosh was constructed to
store provisions and supplies. On November 4, 1778, McIntosh
departed from there to head west toward the Sandusky towns.
As they neared the end of the year and the weather worsened,
McIntosh arrived in the Tuscarawas Valley. He decided to forego the
attacks on the Indian towns and to build a fort near the crossing
of the Great Trail and the Tuscarawas River.
He would then leave a small garrison of 172 men and women at the
fort and return to the area the following spring to continue his
march toward Detroit or the Sandusky Towns.
Fort Laurens was built in late November, 1778, on the banks of
the Tuscarawas River near what is now Bolivar, Ohio. General
McIntosh named the fort in honor of the President of the
Continental Congress, Henry Laurens. The wooden stockade was
approximately one acre in size. It was a quadrangular-shaped fort
with four bastions approximately 240 feet from the top of one angle
of a bastion to another. Barracks and storehouse buildings were
located inside the walls.
A Significant Link to Ohio’s Past
Fort Laurens remained an active American military post from
November of 1778 through August of 1779. During that time, the fort
was clearly perceived by the British and their Indian allies in the
northwest as a very serious threat. This was evident from the
numerous attacks on the fort by Indians, Loyalists and British
soldiers. These attacks resulted in the death of more than 20
American soldiers, who were later buried a short distance from the
fort, near the fort hospital.
Just outside the Fort Laurens Museum, which houses many
artifacts from the fort site, is The Tomb of the Unknown Patriot of
the American Revolution. It pays lasting homage to at least one of
the unknown defenders of the fort. The young man was laid to rest
with full military honors from the Ohio National Guard in 1976.
Fort Laurens today is, in reality, a military cemetery of the
American Revolution.
Visit Instructions:
PLEASE NOTE: This category is for American Revolutionary
War Veterans only. Veterans of other revolutions are not part of
this category.
I have allowed one entry for a grave of British solders, but it
was an exception. Please only list graves for Colonial
soldiers.
Simply visit the locations. Please provide as much information
as possible. Pictures would be a great addition.
