Fort Loudoun (Tennessee)
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Fort Loudoun was a colonial American fort in present-day Monroe County, Tennessee, near the towns of the Overhill Cherokee.
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[edit] History
The British colony of South Carolina built the fort in 1756, naming it for John Campbell, 4th Earl of Loudoun, to defend the frontier against American Indians allied with France during the French and Indian War. The Cherokee themselves requested the fort's construction. Its nominal purpose was to maintain the Cherokee-British alliance and guard against French attempts to gain influence among the Cherokee. The fort was located a few miles downstream of the Cherokee "capitol" Chota and also served as a diplomatic outpost.
Mutual suspicions and betrayals repeatedly undermined the Cherokee-British alliance. Open warfare erupted between the Cherokee and the British in 1759, and the Cherokee laid siege to the fort late in the year. It fell on August 6, 1760, and part of the garrison died in an ambush four days later on their return trek to South Carolina. Although the Cherokee and British fought several wars, their alliance was always reestablished afterwards.
The site of the fort was abandoned for nearly two centuries after being burned sometime soon after the British left.[1] In 1917, the Colonial Dames of America placed a marker at the site of the fort. With sporadic support from the state, and from the federal government via the Works Progress Administration, preservationists researched the fort's history and reconstructed it. The reconstructed fort became a National Historic Landmark in 1965.
The present-day reconstruction of the fort sits on the bank of the Little Tennessee River, but it was not originally on the waterfront. When the construction of Tellico Dam by TVA threatened to flood the original fort site, preservationists dismantled the reconstruction, used fill dirt to raise the site 17 feet (5m), and rebuilt it.
Today the fort is part of Fort Loudoun State Park along with an interpretive center and recreation area. The Tellico Blockhouse site is also part of the park and features reconstructed foundations based on archaeological investigations. The blockhouse was built on the river opposite the fort by the U.S. Government in 1794 and was in operation until 1805.
Loudon County, Tennessee; Loudon, Tennessee; and Fort Loudoun Dam are named for the fort.
Also located on the same island as the fort is the Sequoyah Birthplace Museum. The land around the museum was deeded back to the Eastern Band of the Cherokee by the TVA.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Historic Fort Loudoun, Paul Kelley, Fort Loudoun Association, 1958.
