In 1791, Fort Jefferson was the first fort built 70 miles north of Fort Hamilton in an intact virgin climax forest. It preceded Ft. St. Clair, Greene Ville, and Fort Recovery by two years. It was built as a support fort for St. Clair’s Army. Near completing, the army left Ft. Jefferson and two weeks later camped 28 miles north on a tributary of the Wabash. The following day, Indians attacked, and St. Clair’s Army was routed.
It had taken St. Clair’s Army two weeks to reach the battle area where Fort Recovery would later be built, and the remnants of that army returned to Fort Jefferson in one day. The soldiers had dropped their weapons and baggage and ran for their lives. Some historians state that this battle was the worst defeat ever received by the United States.
Fort Jefferson was only 100 ft. by 100 ft. in size and could keep about 116 men comfortably at the time. After the battle, about 40 wounded men could not make the trip back to Fort Washington. Food rations were scarce. Those that held the fort were expecting to be attacked at any moment. Fortunately, the Indians did not attack the fort head-on, but they laid siege around the fort for the next two years. Any soldier leaving the fort to hunt food or send a message took his chances.
There was a spring about 90 feet down a hill from the South-West bastion of the fort. A sally port gate was at the bastion. Men would stand guard as water was drawn for fort use. It seemed safe enough since all the trees in that area had been cut down, and the spring was surrounded by a swamp on the south and west. It was in August 1792 when the Indians fired upon men watering their animals. One man took a ball in his hip, and he and the others made for the fort. It was a narrow escape.
This must have been the incentive for the first tunnel to be dug for safe access to the spring. When the fort was excavated in 1930, the tunnel was found. It was a three-foot-deep trench lined with puncheon logs six feet high. The trench dirt was thrown to reinforce the sides and cover the log roof. The tunnel was partly underground and partly above ground. A spring house appeared to be built under roof at the spring. This tunnel and spring house are shown in a drawing of the fort that resides at the Indiana Historical Society.
The story of the tunnel number two will follow in the next article.
A book, “Fort Jefferson,” written by historian Frazer Wilson, is available for sale at Garst Museum.
