1794 image of Fort Jefferson

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This drawing of Fort Jefferson is from the Indiana Historical Society. It is a mislabeled south view of Fort Jefferson. It is the western view looking east. We have determined it can be dated 1794. The large building in the center of the fort is Mrs. Wilkinson’s house. She arrived on 19 Oct. 1793. It is built similarly to General Wilkinson’s headquarters in Fort Hamilton, except for the large cupola on top.

Fort Jefferson drawing 1794

Fort Jefferson was built by General Arthur St. Clair in 1791. It was initially 100’x100’, but the blockhouses on the fort’s four corners stretched the fort to about 114’x114’. An addition on the east side of the fort was later added for storing supplies and animals, which doubled the size of the fort. That addition is not visible on this drawing, except for the tall large Forage building at the fort’s right back corner (marked (d). Note that the fort logs are laid horizontally, and the fort does not have a protective picket around the fort.

When this drawing was made in 1794, Anthony Wayne had ordered the bricks be removed from the chimneys on the south side of the fort and repurposed to build the hearths for the officer’s houses at his new, much larger military headquarters at Greene Ville in November 1793.

A tunnel from the southwest blockhouse to the spring house has been built on the lower right of the picture. The triangular structure to the left of the fort is a bullock pen. Due to Indian mischief and skirmishes intended to scatter or capture cattle, a blockhouse was erected on the far left of the bullock pen to discourage attacks.

We believe the small buildings near the fort on the left and nearest to the viewer on the west side of the fort are called necessaries (today, we would call them Latrines or outhouses). Access to the necessary on the west side of the fort was a sally port (guarded entrance), which is seen in the fort wall right next to the blockhouse on the right.

A six-pound iron canon can be seen protruding through a firing hole in the blockhouse on the left, which would be the northwest corner of the fort. We have found 1” iron case shot fired from this location on private property (with permission, of course).

Those with good eyes can see a blockhouse structure in the distance about ¼ way across the drawing from the left. It has an American flag flying over it.

We have a significantly enlarged photo of this Fort Jefferson drawing that shows firing portals along the fort’s walls. It also shows a “cheval de frise” made out of sharpened sticks, and added to the top of the fort wall to discourage an attack on the fort. When Friends of Fort Jefferson has functions or gives programs, we bring the enlarged photos so these features can readily be seen.