Edward's Fort Stockade Replica

Edward's Fort Stockade Replica. Preserving Our Colonial Heritage. , This structure replicates the original fortress stockade, erected nearby in late 1755 by early Cacapehon Valley settler, Joseph Edwards. On his homestead, the fortress encompassed Edwards's house, barn, outbuildings, and a spring. The original site of the stockade, known as Edwards's Fort, is just to the northeast a few hundred yards. The original site, the subject of continuing and future archaeological digs, is protected. This site was chosen as representative of the land configuration of the original; and this stockade exhibits the shape , determined by limited archeological findings , of the original fort, though not entirely complete., Following Maj. Gen. Edward Braddock's sound defeat on the Monongahela in July 1755, and the decimation of his officer corps and troop strength, there were no defense forces remaining on the Virginia frontier for protection of the few scattered families who braved weather, privation, and the wilds of settler life. When the Indians, at the instigation of French politicians and led by French officers, began attacking the settlements, homes and farms, killing, raping, burning, looting, and abducting hostages, most settlers fled toward safety , east to Winchester or beyond, or south to havens of refuge. Joseph Edwards refused to abandon his home, and with his sons and neighbors, fortified his farm to resist the savage attacks. According to some histories, the fort was attacked at least once and held fast; also unconfirmed are tales of a second attack. Accounts can agree, however: the fort was never taken!, A measure of the fort's importance is that the largest military engagement during the French and Indian War, on the Virginia frontier (the Battle of Great Cacapehon), took place on April 18, 1756, one mile north of the fort. The battle, an ambush by "hostiles," pitted Virginia Regiment troops from Edwards's Fort against Indians and French officers, and resulted in the deaths of two officers and fifteen private soldiers of the Virginia Regiment, along with a number of wounded; an unknown count of dead and wounded hostiles., When the war had moved on, east and north in late 1756-1758, the fortress walls, without a purpose, were allowed to fall, to weather away, or were removed for use in other construction projects., This structure suggests what a settler might have been able to accomplish with limited tools, assets and time. This stockade replica is an on-going project and will change over time. Come back; view our progress; watch our growth.