Fort Juniata Crossing
Fort Juniata Crossing, also known as Fort Juniata or simply Juniata Crossing, was a British French and Indian War era fortification located along the Forbes Road, near a strategic ford of the Raystown Branch of the Juniata River about west of the current site of Breezewood, Pennsylvania. It was built in 1758 as a fortified supply depot, to support the British Army during the Forbes Expedition. After the campaign, it fell into disrepair and was abandoned in 1763.
Location
Located about halfway between the British fortifications at Fort Lyttleton to the east and Fort Bedford to the west, Fort Juniata Crossing protected a vital ford across the Raystown Branch of the Juniata River. As this was the only major river ford along the road between Carlisle and Fort Duquesne, the site was of particular strategic importance. Colonel Henry Bouquet, General Forbes' principal lieutenant on the campaign, chose the site of the fort, writing:Construction and garrison
The fort was constructed in the summer of 1758 as part of a string of forts located along the line of supply and communication, westward from the British Army's forward base at the frontier settlement of Carlisle, as General Forbes' army pushed toward the French at Fort Duquesne. Under the command of Captain Jacob Morgan, and with the supervision of engineer Captain Harry Gordon, construction was started on 21 June and completed on 13 July 1758.Forbes had intended the fort to be "a stockaded inclosure for the security of the convoys and to hold the river crossing if unfordable." On 21 June 1758 Colonel Bouquet wrote to Forbes: "...arrived here this morning and found only three and a half feet of water in the river. Captain Gordon has laid out a stockade to hold 100 men...The post will suffice as a protection for the detachments necessary for escorts and to maintain the communication." Michael Lindenmuth, a soldier with the Second Battalion, Pennsylvania Regiment, camped at Juniata Crossing on 21 June and says in his journal that 200 men were engaged in the construction of the fort. Smaller, and with a smaller garrison than larger forts such as Fort Bedford and Fort Ligonier, Fort Juniata Crossing consisted of a log stockade with four bastions, surrounding a barracks 200 feet long and four storehouses on the west side of the river. Two reservoirs were dug out along the river to facilitate the collection of water.
On 23 July, soon after the fort was completed, army chaplain Thomas Barton, attached to the Third Battalion of the Pennsylvania Regiment, stopped at Juniata Crossing, writing in his journal: "Reach'd Juniata Crossing that Night--distant from Sidling Hill 9 miles. Here we found Captain Morgan encamp'd with some companies of the Pennsylvania Regiment. A small Fort just erected, & the Ford of Juniata piquetted in, in order to protect Waggons etc. in passing."
Initially, 700 men were assigned to guard the fort, as it contained supplies essential for the Forbes Expedition, but this number was significantly reduced following the campaign. By November, 1760 the garrison was reduced to one sergeant and 8 soldiers.
Pontiac's War
The fort was of little use to the British Army after the campaign and immediately went into a state of decline. George Woods, a local surveyor placed in command of the garrison at the fort, attempted to repair it in anticipation of attacks during Pontiac's War, but was unable to do so. He and his men finally took refuge in Woods' home instead. On 4 July 1763, He wrote to Colonel Bouquet:When Colonel Bouquet arrived at the fort on 26 July, he wrote to General Jeffery Amherst: "The little Post of Juniata being totally decayed, & having no Time to repair it, I have evacuated it."