Colonial Fort

Nearby on John Mathew’s land on Hunting Creek, Governor William Berkeley constructed a fort authorized by the Virginia House of Burgesses on 21 Sept. 1674. Militiamen from Lancaster, Middlesex, and Northumberland Counties garrisoned the fort under the command of Capt. Peter Knight. The fort defended the colony’s northern frontier against the Susquehannocks and other Indian groups. Berkeley intended it and other forts to serve as buffers that would enable the English and the Indians to coexist peacefully, but some colonists, especially those led by Nathaniel Bacon, favored a more aggressive approach, and Bacon’s Rebellion erupted in 1675–1676.

Alexandria, Virginia · United States