October 21, 2009

Fort Edwards in West Virginia

We visited the site of Fort Edwards in Capon Bridge, West Virginia. It was one of the frontier forts under command of George Washington during the French and Indian War. There is a visitors' center, a series of interpretive signs, and a reconstructed section of palisade wall.

The visitor center is open on weekends during the warmer months. The Fort Edwards website tells the history of the fort and reports on an archaeological investigation of the site.

"The fort at Joseph Edwards's home on the Cacapon River was one of these western forts guarding the road from Ft. Loudoun to the forts of the South Branch River valley." And in April 1756 at th Battle of Great Cacapon River, "Capt. John Fenton Mercer, Lt. Thomas Carter and 15 soldiers killed not far from Ft. Edwards. This is the largest encounter between French and Indian forces and Virginia soldiers of the War."

Capon Bridge is between Winchester and Romney. Of course, until the Civil War the area (like all of West Virginia) was part of Virginia.





SOLDIERS AND SETTLERS

In Memory of
the soldiers and settlers
who lost their lives
in Hampshire County
during the
French and Indian War

Dedicated by
the Fort Edwards Foundation
June 26, 2004 as part of our
commemoration of the
250th anniversary of the
founding of Hampshire County
and the 250th anniversary of
the French and Indian War

See my other posts related to the French and Indian War:
FaceTweet it!

2 comments:

  1. i grew up in Wardensville, so i love following your blog... i quite enjoy it and though i would let you know... :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Glad you enjoy it, Holly Ann. West Virginia is just over the mountain but it takes a while to get there. It's really beautiful though.
    Thanks for your comment.

    ReplyDelete

The View from Squirrel Ridge features thousands of views of the Shenandoah Valley and surrounding area. I post frequently so please visit often.

Your comments are appreciated. If you are responding to a post older than a few days, your comment will be held until we have a chance to approve it. Thanks for your patience!

Sorry, anonymous comments cannot be accepted because of the large number of spam comments that come in that way. Also, links that are ads will be deleted.