Fort Venango

Fort Venango, a small British fort built in 1760 near the site of Franklin, Pennsylvania, replaced Fort Machault, a French fort burned by the French in 1759 near the end of the French and Indian War. About June 16, 1763, during Pontiac's War, the fort was captured by Seneca and Mingo warriors. The 12 to 16 soldiers of the fort were killed outright, except for the commander, Lieutenant Francis Gordon, who was forced to write a letter detailing why the Indians had risen against the British. He transcribed two complaints: the scarcity of gunpowder for the past two years and the fact that the English, contrary to their promises, were keeping forts, and building new forts, in Indian territory. He was then slowly tortured and roasted to death at the stake, and the fort was burnt to the ground.[1]

Fort Venango
Near Franklin, Pennsylvania, United States
Fort Venango
Former location of the Fort Venango in Pennsylvania
Coordinates41.38932°N 79.82217°W / 41.38932; -79.82217
TypeFort
Site information
Controlled byUnited Kingdom
Site history
Built1760
In use1760-1763
MaterialsWood
Battles/warsPontiac's Rebellion
DesignatedOctober 10, 1972

The fort was named after the nearby Delaware/Munsee Indian village, Venango.

References
  1. Pontiac and the Indian Uprising; Peckham, Howard H.; University of Chicago Press; 1947; Pgs. 167-8
  • Charles M. Stotz, Outposts of the War for Empire: The French and English in Western Pennsylvania: Their Armies, Their Forts, Their People, 1749-1764 (Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1985).
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