Fort Sackville

Constructed by British Lieutenant Governor Edward Abbott in 1777 and named after Lord George Germain, Lord Sackville, Fort Sackville was one of several forts spread throughout the frontier during the American Revolution. Its quadrangular sides measured between 165 feet high, and angular platforms were set in the middle from which to fire. When Lieutenant Governor Henry Hamilton arrived in late 1778, he judged the fort insufficient and, though he first planned to rebuild it, instead improved Abbott's stockade by adding two blockhouses, a powder magazine, additional barracks, and an interior well. He ran out of time for further improvements when Colonel George Rogers Clark launched a surprise attack on February 23, 1779. The approximate site of Fort Sackville is considered to be at the George Rogers Clark Memorial, and historians also place a 1732 French fort and Fort Knox III, built in 1813, near today's memorial.

Vincennes, Indiana · United States