What did the Blockhouse look like?

There were only a few vague descriptions of the Blockhouse. In this Post, I'llsift through the evidence for what it really looked like.

The Clyde Blockhouse may have resembled Fort Western, Maine (above). Fort Western was a rectangular stockade with two blockhouses at opposite corners, with sentry boxes on top.

Old Trappers' Description

Some accounts claimed that the Blockhouse was the cabin built by John Fellows in 1789, and at one time it was thought that the British burned it sometime thereafter.

The old trappers in the Clyde area described the Blockhouse as being two stories in height, with the upper overhanging the lower, and having loopholes from which to fire down at attackers. Their recollection is the only account of what it looked like intact. Early pioneers, arriving in Wayne County in 1789, would have only seen the burned remains of the blockhouse. That they did, is evidenced by accounts from 1801 and 1804/5. It is said that the ruins clearly revealed the size and shape of the structure. Some accounts claimed that the Blockhouse was the cabin built by John Fellows in 1789, and at one time it was thought that the British burned it sometime thereafter. Fellows built his cabin for the purpose of storing his goods while bushing out a trail to Sodus Bay. He did not intend to stay in the cabin any longer than necessary, and he never returned to use it again. In the Military History of Wayne County, it was conjectured that perhaps Fellows had repaired the old Blockhouse. The cabin used by Fellows was used by others as a camping place, and was specifically described as being about 12 x 18 feet, with a floor of split logs and no chimney. It was said that the pioneers' description of the Blockhouse was virtually the same.

Based on what we know, Fellows' cabin, though it was probably built to be secure and somewhat defensible, was not the same as the Blockhouse. The old trappers made clear there had been an earlier Blockhouse, which they said had been built as a fort in 1756, for the inhabitants to congregate in. Pioneers were very sure that what they were looking at was a blockhouse and not a simple log cabin.

Sir William Johnson's Indian Forts

Research has proven that there was a fort built at Clyde in 1756, for protection of the Cayuga Indians. We know quite a bit about how that fort was built - not because of remains, but because it was built to a plan prepared by Captain James Gabriel Montresor, the chief British military engineer at Albany. Montresor's plan was an improvement upon a plan developed by Sir William Johnson. Sir William's basic design was a square stockade with walls 12 feet high, with two blockhouses at opposite corners. These blockhouses were 24 feet square on the first floor, with an upper floor overhanging the lower by 18 inches or 2 feet on all sides. There was to be a sentry box on top of each. Sir William's forts varied in size, being 100, 120, or 150 feet square. These so-called "Indian forts "were built for each of the Iroquois nations. The last two forts for which written instructions were issued were built at Onondaga and at Canadesaga (Geneva). Both were to be 150 feet square.

A Change in Plans

After issuing orders for the forts to be built at Onondaga and Canadesaga, Sir William received Montresor's design and was ordered by General William Shirley (Commander in Chief of British forces in North America) to follow the plan. An earlier design by Montresor had already been rejected by Sir William as being too complicated for his workmen to complete. This new design was considered an "improvement" on Sir William's plan. Sir William proceded to Onondaga in early June 1756 for a conference with the Iroquois, bringing Montresor's plan with him to have executed by the workmen already there.

While at this conference, the Cayugas applied for a fort of their own. They were the last of the Iroquois to make such a request. Though no written instruction exists, it is clear that Sir William forwarded Montresor's plan to Canadesaga to have executed there as well. We know this because in 1845 the ground plan at Canadesaga was traced. The fort, as built, differed substantially from Sir William's written directive. The stockade was 100 feet by 200 feet, not 150 feet square. The south blockhouse, built before the rest of the fort, had no chimney (none was intended by Sir William). However, the northern blockhouse and another structure built inside the fort definitely had stone fireplaces. Unlike the earlier forts, the one at Canadesaga also had two 10 foot square bastions at the other corners. There was apparently only one gate instead of the two designed by Sir William. In the 1790's, the ruins of the fort at Onondaga included a blockhouse and, importantly, a bastion at one of the corners. This helps to identify the improvements that Montresor made to Sir William's original plan.

The Fort at Sodoms

The fort built for the Cayuga Indians was built immediately following Canadesaga, perhaps by some of the same workmen. It was not located at their chief village of Cayuga, but "near" it, at the site of the 1722 blockhouse. The new fort strategically guarded the trail from Sodus Bay and commanded the river. Though unlikely, it is possible that the new fort incorporated the older blockhouse in some way. There can be no doubt that the fort was built to Montresor's plan, and was 100 x 200, with two blockhouses and two bastions.

It is most likely, based on the available evidence, that the Blockhouse ruins visible after 1788 were the remains of the southeast blockhouse built in 1756. It is improbable that the 1722 blockhouse had remained a viable structure in the wilderness, without maintenance, for over 30 years. It is virtually impossible that it could have survived until 1788.

ort Clyde's layout was similar to Fort Western, Maine (right). Built in 1754, Ft. Western also doubled as a trading post and had blockhouses in opposite corners. It was slightly larger than Sodoms, being 120' by 220', and it did not have bastions at the other corners. It did have an outer line of pickets around the blockhouses and part of the stockade. Since there was never any evidence of trenches or earthworks at Clyde, similar pickets may have been used. Compare the plan of Fort Western to Montresor's plan (below, left). The blockhouses on Montresor's plan were located at the top-right and lower-left (NE and SW) corners of the stockade. At least one other building, probably a barracks, was located inside the fort.