In the summer and fall of 1776, American forces concentrated on fortifying the northern point of the rocky Mount Independence peninsula in anticipation of a British advance from Canada, but along the southeast and southern land-locked perimeters they only had time to construct log and stone breastworks as a first line of defense in case the British tried to encircle the Mount and assault it from the rear. During the grim winter of 1776-1777, Col. Anthony Wayne, commanding the under-strength garrison at Mount Independence and Fort Ticonderoga, sought to make the post more secure, and on February 4, 1777, he informed Gen. Philip Schuyler that he had provided timber for two blockhouses to be erected within days. That month, as a second line of defense, the Americans built the two substantial blockhouses about 600 feet apart on high ground overlooking the southern breastworks. Each stood 30 by 30 feet square and rose two stories on stone foundations; American maps from 1777 show that each held 100 men and two cannon, and soldiers on the second floor would have had an unlimited view of any enemy advancing by land to attack Mount Independence. No period drawings of the blockhouses survive, but based on plans of other blockhouses from the time, the second story was likely cantilevered over the first floor so defenders could fire through holes in the overhang floor at approaching enemies, while each wall had loopholes for muskets and portholes for cannon. After the British gained control of Mount Independence on July 6, 1777, they used the blockhouses as part of the defense against American forces to the south. When the British evacuated on November 8, 1777, they burned everything, including this blockhouse, leaving only foundation stones, lumps of charcoal, some nails, and a ruined fireplace.