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Cultural District in Pittsburgh in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
 

Fort Lafayette

 
 
Fort Lafayette Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Mike Wintermantel, March 13, 2011
1. Fort Lafayette Marker
Inscription. Stood on this site. It was completed in 1792. Built to protect Pittsburgh against Indian attacks and to serve as a chief supply base for General Wayne's army from 1792-1794. Reactivated during the War of 1812. Site sold in 1813.
 
Erected 1958 by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.
 
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Forts and CastlesNative AmericansWar of 1812. In addition, it is included in the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1792.
 
Location. 40° 26.634′ N, 79° 59.901′ W. Marker is in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in Allegheny County. It is in the Cultural District. Marker is at the intersection of 9th Street and Penn Avenue, on the right when traveling north on 9th Street. Located on 9th Street just north of Penn Avenue in downtown Pittsburgh. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Pittsburgh PA 15222, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Sisters of Mercy (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); The Benedum Center (about 600 feet away); The Pittsburgh Agreement (about 600 feet away); Aria Cultural District Lofts (about 600 feet away); Ninth Street Bridge
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(about 700 feet away); The Granite Building (about 700 feet away); The Duquesne Club (about 700 feet away); Jane Grey Swisshelm Childhood Home (approx. 0.2 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Pittsburgh.
 
Also see . . .  Fort LaFayette - Behind the Marker. ExplorePAhistory.com (Submitted on March 14, 2011, by Bernard Fisher of Richmond, Virginia.) 
 
Additional commentary.
1. Captain Amos Stoddard’s Company of the U.S. Regiment of Artillerists Based Here January - June, 1803
There was much secrecy involved in Captain Amos Stoddard’s orders from Secretary of War Henry Dearborn in late 1802 to proceed with an a company of artillerists to Fort Lafayette (then named, Fort Fayette). The reason was two-fold: One, France had sent a military force to New Orleans in 1801, raising fears, and two, sensitive negotiations were afoot for an offer to buy New Orleans from France for $10 million dollars. There was no need to alarm the Spanish who controlled the territory west of the Mississippi. Sending an artillery company to support a company of infantry already posted out west (Captain Bissell’s
Fort Lafayette Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Mike Wintermantel, March 13, 2011
2. Fort Lafayette Marker
Company of Infantry at Kaskaskia) was a good way to protect American interests. The Lewis & Clark Expedition had not yet been even formulated but was also likely a third consideration for sending Captain Amos Stoddard’s Company of Artillerists westward.

After Captain Stoddard arrived at Fort Fayette, he wrote to his long-time friend and mentor, Col. Henry Burbeck, on January 19, 1803:

“I believe I have been remiss in not informing you of my arrival at this post, and the state of my Company. But the truth is, this omission was occasioned by constant Garrison duty and a want of something of real consequence to communicate...We now begin to puzzle ourselves about the place of our [ultimate] destination. People of great prominence tell me, that we are going to descend the Mississippi [to New Orleans] - others again will insist on it, that we are bound to Black Rock at the Out-let of Lake Erie. I have prepared for my fate, whatever it may be...”

President Thomas Jefferson only notified Congress (in a secret letter dated January 18, 1803) of his plan for an expedition westward and requested $2,500 to pay for it “for the purpose of extending the external commerce of the United States.”

On March 9th & 10th 1803, Captain Stoddard was ordered by both Secretary Dearborn and Adjutant General Thomas H. Cushing to “descend
Plan of Fort Fayette with detailed listing of buildings image. Click for full size.
3. Plan of Fort Fayette with detailed listing of buildings
This contemporary drawing indicates that Fort Lafayette was built on a typical eighteenth-century model, with walls and bastions to defend it from attack, and numerous interior buildings to house troops, military stores, and civilian contractors for the army. Courtesy: Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania
the Ohio on the first day of April” to Mississippi River, and to “ascend the Mississippi to Kaskaskia” to rendezvous with Captain Bissell’s Company of infantry. However, he was delayed in departing Pittsburgh. He left Fort Fayette either in late May or early June and arrived at Kaskaskia in late June or early July.

Capt. Meriwether Lewis did not arrive at Fort Fayette until July 15, 1803. William Clark had been offered the second in command position, but had not yet accepted. Capt. Lewis considered Moses Hooke, the assistant military agent at Fort Fayette, as a possible alternative. He wrote to President Jefferson on July 26th to introduce Hooke as a suitable replacement for Clark should it be necessary.

Major Amos Stoddard returned to Fort Fayette as deputy quarter master in September 1812 during the War of 1812. However, he is also referred to by Secretary of War Eustis as the “Senior Officer of Artillery” at that place [Pittsburgh].” His assignment was primarily to procure and funnel needed supplies (especially artillery guns) to the Northwestern army commanded by William Henry Harrison. This was a thankless task, as General Harrison clamored for every necessary supply, and showed little patience or understanding of the time it required to produce the necessary stocks. By November 18, 1812, Major Stoddard was ordered (regrettably)
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to join the Northwestern Army as the senior officer of artillery - serving directly under General Harrison. He had little faith and confidence in Harrison’s militia forces. But duty called. As he wrote to his mother from St. Louis in 1804, “A military man never knows what to depend on. He must always be ready when duty calls, and to consider his time and talents as the property of the public.” He departed Pittsburgh in early January 1813 to rendezvous with General Harrison. He arrived at Camp Meigs on the Maumee River (Ohio) in late January or the first of February 1813.

Amos Stoddard died of tetanus that developed from a shrapnel wound sustained during the first night of fighting during the siege of Fort Meigs. He passed on the night of May 11, 1813, at 11pm, after the siege was over and the British and their Indian allies had departed the area. He is buried at Fort Meigs, Perrysburg, Ohio.

Source: The Autobiography Manuscript of Major Amos Stoddard, 2016
    — Submitted March 19, 2021, by Robert Stoddard of Idyllwild, California.
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on February 2, 2023. It was originally submitted on March 14, 2011, by Mike Wintermantel of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This page has been viewed 1,126 times since then and 25 times this year. Photos:   1, 2. submitted on March 14, 2011, by Mike Wintermantel of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.   3. submitted on July 26, 2011, by Mike Wintermantel of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.

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Mar. 28, 2024