Fort Laurens (Bolivar, Ohio, Ohio)
Bolivar, Ohio · Ohio · American Revolutionary War
History & Significance
Brigadier General Lachlan McIntosh departed Pittsburgh in October 1778 with 1,200 regulars and militia, reaching the Tuscarawas River by November where he ordered Fort Laurens constructed on the west bank. The fort was named for Henry Laurens, president of the Second Continental Congress.
It served as a base for a planned campaign against the British at Detroit and was intended to deter Indigenous Nations allied with the British. After McIntosh returned to Pittsburgh in December, Colonel John Gibson led a garrison of 152 men from the 13th Virginia Regiment while the British learned of the fort's construction from Indigenous allies.
In January 1779, Simon Girty and Mingo warriors ambushed the escort of a resupply column, killing two Americans, wounding four, and capturing one. The siege began on February 22, 1779, with a work party surprised outside the fort; 17 were killed while two were taken prisoner.
The garrison endured four weeks of siege on half-rations, ultimately boiling moccasins and hide strips for food before the British lifted the siege due to harsh winter conditions. Colonel Daniel Brodhead, McIntosh's replacement, decided the fort's location was untenable and ordered it abandoned in August 1779. The fort's east wall was destroyed during the Ohio and Erie Canal construction in 1832; the site was added to the National Register in 1971, with archaeological excavations in 1972–1973 revealing the fort's outline and cemetery.
Key Facts
Map
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🧳 Visiting
What you’ll see when you visit:
- Only Revolutionary War fort built in Ohio; museum exhibits on soldiers and frontier warfare
- Tuscarawas River setting with scenic historic park grounds
- 1778-1779 siege story by Indigenous and British forces during brutal winter
- Reconstructed fort layout helps visualize original earthworks and palisade
Sources
- https://www.ohiohistory.org/visit/browse-historical-sites/fort-laurens/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Laurens
- https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/fort-laurens-ohio
- https://www.friendsoffortlaurens.org/history
- https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=3277