# Fort Hyndshaw

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18th century fort in colonial Pennsylvania

Fort Hyndshaw Route 209 in Middle Smithfield Township Near East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania in US Site information Type Fort Owner State of Pennsylvania Open to the public Yes Condition Destroyed by nature Location Fort Hyndshaw Location of the fort in northeast Pennsylvania Coordinates 41°05′10.3″N 75°00′27.2″W / 41.086194°N 75.007556°W / 41.086194; -75.007556 Height 70 feet (21 m) (at time of occupation) Site history Built 1756 (1756) In use 1758 (1758) Fate Abandoned Events French and Indian War Garrison information Past commanders Captain James Van Etten Pennsylvania Historical Marker Designated January 7, 1949 (1949-01-07)

**Fort Hyndshaw** (sometimes referred to in contemporary records as **Hyndshaw's Fort**, or **the Fort at Hyndshaw's**) was a fort in [Middle Smithfield Township, Monroe County, Pennsylvania](/source/Middle_Smithfield_Township%2C_Monroe_County%2C_Pennsylvania), built in 1756. It was the northernmost of a line of Pennsylvania defenses erected during the [French and Indian War](/source/French_and_Indian_War).[1]: 300 The fort was abandoned by its militia garrison in July 1757, but was still used by local settlers as a refuge from Native American attacks, until June 1758 when it was captured by Native American warriors and its inhabitants were taken prisoner.[2]: 270

## The need for fortifications

At the beginning of the French and Indian War, Braddock's defeat at the [Battle of the Monongahela](/source/Battle_of_the_Monongahela) left Pennsylvania without a professional military force.[3] [Lenape](/source/Lenape) chiefs [Shingas](/source/Shingas) and [Captain Jacobs](/source/Captain_Jacobs) launched dozens of [Shawnee](/source/Shawnee) and [Delaware](/source/Lenape_people) raids against British colonial settlements,[4] killing and capturing hundreds of colonists and destroying settlements across western and central Pennsylvania.[5] In late 1755, [Colonel John Armstrong](/source/John_Armstrong_Sr.) wrote to Governor [Robert Hunter Morris](/source/Robert_Hunter_Morris): "I am of the opinion that no other means of defense than a chain of [blockhouses](/source/Blockhouses) along or near the south side of the [Kittatinny Mountains](/source/Kittatinny_Mountains) from the [Susquehanna](/source/Susquehanna_River) to the temporary line, can secure the lives and property of the inhabitants of this country."[1]: 557

In December 1755, [a series of attacks](/source/Northampton_massacre_1755) on people in the area east of what is now [Stroudsburg](/source/Stroudsburg%2C_Pennsylvania) had terrified the population, who then demanded that the Pennsylvania government provide military protection. On 10 December, a war party of about 200 Native American warriors attacked the Hoeth family farm and killed Frederick Hoeth, his wife, and seven of their eight children.[2]: 226 The next day, warriors set fire to [Daniel Brodhead](/source/Daniel_Brodhead)'s Plantation, and attacked and burned farms belonging to the Culvers, the McMichaels, and the Hartmanns.[6] The [Moravian mission at Dansbury](/source/Moravian_Historical_Society) was also destroyed.[7]: 450 A number of settlers died when they were trapped inside burning buildings. Over 300 people fled to [Bethlehem](/source/Bethlehem%2C_Pennsylvania) and [Easton](/source/Easton%2C_Pennsylvania).[1]: 138 In an account of the attacks from the Union Iron Works in Jersey, dated 20 December, 78 people are listed killed and about 45 buildings destroyed.[8]: 569–572 On 25 December, the Provincial Commissioners reported that "The Country all above this Town, for 50 Miles, is mostly evacuated and ruined, excepting only the Neighbourhood of the Dupuy's, five Families, which stand their Ground."[2]: 271

In response to these attacks, the [Pennsylvania Legislature](/source/Pennsylvania_Legislature) placed [Benjamin Franklin](/source/Benjamin_Franklin) and [James Hamilton](/source/James_Hamilton_(Pennsylvania_politician)) in charge to erect [a chain of forts](/source/Pennsylvania_forts_in_the_French_and_Indian_War) along the [Blue Mountain](/source/Blue_Mountain_(Pennsylvania)) in the [Minisink](/source/Minisink) region.[9] Franklin, via a letter dated January 12, 1756 to Captain James Van Etten, ordered him to "proceed immediately to raise a Company of Foot, consisting of 30 able Men, including two Serjeants, with which you are to protect the Inhabitants of [Upper Smithfield](/source/Smithfield_Township%2C_Monroe_County%2C_Pennsylvania) assisting them while they thresh out and secure their Corn, and scouting from time to time as you judge necessary on the Outside of the Settlements."[10][1]: 300 Franklin wrote to Governor Morris that "I have also allow'd 30 Men to secure the Township of Upper Smithfield, and commission'd Van Etten and Hinshaw as Captain and Lieutenant."[2]: 266

## History

### Origin of the name

Map showing the location of Fort Hyndshaw in Monroe County.[1]: 301

The fort was named after Lieutenant James Hyndshaw (1720-1770), who was born in [Ulster County, New York](/source/Ulster_County%2C_New_York) and was married to Maria Dupui/DePuy, a niece of Nicholas DePuy, one of the earliest European settlers from [Esopus, New York](/source/Esopus%2C_New_York), in Northampton County (present-day [Monroe County](/source/Monroe_County%2C_Pennsylvania)), whose home became [Fort Depuy](/source/Fort_Depuy) during the [French and Indian War](/source/French_and_Indian_War), around the same time as Fort Hyndshaw was built.[11] Hyndshaw was second in command to Van Etten.

### Construction

Construction was initiated in January, 1756 and included a 70-foot square [stockade](/source/Stockade) built around Hyndshaw's home. The first garrison numbered only eight men, so it is likely that local settlers assisted in building the fort. On 23 January, Captain Van Etten's home was attacked and his "Barn, Barracks, and all his Wheat are likewise burnt, and three of his best Horses, with Gears, carried off by the Enemy." Van Etten and his men pursued the attackers, killing two of them and wounding several more. One of the dead was erroneously reported to have been the [Lenape](/source/Lenape) chief [Captain Jacobs](/source/Captain_Jacobs).[2]: 266

Construction was evidently completed by early February, when Franklin reported that Captain Van Etten, Lieutenant Hyndshaw, and thirty men occupied the fort.[2]: 267

[Commissary General](/source/Commissary_General) James Young visited the fort on 24 June 1756, writing "This Fort is a Square ab't 70 f't Each way, very Slightly Staccaded. I gave some direction to alter the [Bastions](/source/Bastions) which at present are of very little use, it is clear all round for 300 yards, and stand on the Banks of a Large Creek, and ab't a quarter mile from the [River Delaware](/source/Delaware_River), and I think in a very important Place for the Defence of this Frontier."[2]: 268[1]: 301

### Abandonment, 1757

In March 1757, Captain Van Etten was transferred to take command of [Fort Hamilton](/source/Fort_Hamilton_(Pennsylvania)), and Lieutenant Hyndshaw was sent with 25 men to [Reading](/source/Reading%2C_Pennsylvania). As the garrison was now reduced to about half a dozen men, Van Etten insisted that local settlers share sentry duty at night, as there had been a few attacks in the area.[2]: 269

On 14 June, Captain Van Etten was ordered by [Deputy Governor William Denny](/source/List_of_colonial_governors_of_Pennsylvania) to evacuate Fort Hyndshaw and the garrison was sent to Fort Hamilton on 19 June. In July, Lieutenant Hyndshaw returned to the fort with 10 men, probably to remove the fort's remaining stores before it was abandoned.[2]: 270

### Fort Hyndshaw Massacre

Local settlers apparently used the fort as a refuge from attacks during the following year, until it was captured in 1758. On 15 June, Samuel Dupui wrote:

- "...this morning we heared the Disagreeable news of a Fort being taken at the upper end of the minisinks by a party of Indians supposed to be 40 in number, the whitemen it's said belonging to that Garrison were Farmers and were out in their plantations when the Indians fired on them and killed them, whereupon the Indians marched up to the Fort and took all the women and Children Captive and Carryed them away."[2]: 270

Archaeologist Danny Younger has proposed that the Native American warriors who captured the fort killed most or all of their prisoners, who may have been the families of Moravian missionaries.[12] The nearby Nazareth Moravian Cemetery contains 46 unmarked graves, where the victims of the massacre may be buried.[13]

## Memorialization

A historical marker was placed in East Stroudsburg by the [Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission](/source/Pennsylvania_Historical_and_Museum_Commission) in 1949.[14] In 2003, a replacement historical marker was erected in the same location.[15]

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Montgomery_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Montgomery_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Montgomery_1-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-Montgomery_1-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-Montgomery_1-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-Montgomery_1-5) [Thomas Lynch Montgomery, ed. *Report of the Commission to Locate the Site of the Frontier Forts of Pennsylvania,* vol 1, Harrisburg, PA: W.S. Ray, state printer, 1916](http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/1pa/1picts/frontierforts/ff13.html)

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Hunter_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Hunter_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Hunter_2-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-Hunter_2-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-Hunter_2-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-Hunter_2-5) [***g***](#cite_ref-Hunter_2-6) [***h***](#cite_ref-Hunter_2-7) [***i***](#cite_ref-Hunter_2-8) [***j***](#cite_ref-Hunter_2-9) [Hunter, William Albert. *Forts on the Pennsylvania Frontier: 1753–1758,* (Classic Reprint). Fb&c Limited, 2018.](http://libsysdigi.library.illinois.edu/OCA/Books2012-06/fortsonpennsylva00hunt/fortsonpennsylva00hunt.pdf)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** [Samuel J. Newland, *The Pennsylvania Militia: Defending the Commonwealth and the Nation, 1669–1870*, Annville, PA, 2002](https://books.google.com/books?id=-rxZAAAAYAAJ)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** [Matthew C. Ward, *Breaking the Backcountry: The Seven Years' War in Virginia and Pennsylvania, 1754–1765*, Pittsburgh, 2003](https://books.google.com/books?id=EFd2AAAAMAAJ)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Hunter2_5-0)** [William Albert Hunter, "Victory at Kittanning", *Pennsylvania History*, vol. 23, no. 3, July 1956; pp 376-407](https://journals.psu.edu/phj/article/view/22479)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** [Amy Leiser,"Monroe County’s frontier forts: Fort Norris," Monroe County Historical Association, December 12, 2012](https://www.monroehistorical.org/articles_files/2012_1216_ftnorris.html)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** [Margaretta Archambault, *A Guide Book of Art, Architecture, and Historic Interests in Pennsylvania,* Philadelphia: The John C. Winston Co., 1924](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/66410/pg66410-images.html)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Nelson_8-0)** [William Nelson et al., *Archives of the State of New Jersey: Documents relating to the Colonial History of the State of New Jersey, 1751-1755,* first series, vol. XIX, Patterson NJ: The Press Printing & publishing Co., 1897](https://www.google.com/books/edition/Documents_Relating_to_the_Colonial_Histo/gEUVAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=Heiss)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** [Amy Leiser, "Benjamin Franklin and his tie to Monroe County’s frontier forts," Monroe County Historical Association, September 9, 2012](https://www.monroehistorical.org/articles_files/2012_09_fthamilton.html)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** [Amy Leiser, "Monroe County's frontier forts: Fort Hyndshaw," Monroe County Historical Association, November 11, 2012](https://www.monroehistorical.org/articles_files/2012_11_fthyndshaw.html)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** [Amy Leiser, "DePuy: The peaceful homestead that became a fort," *Pocono Record*, October 14, 2012](https://www.poconorecord.com/story/lifestyle/2012/10/14/depuy-peaceful-homestead-that-became/49351402007/)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** [Danny L. Younger, "Toward a New Understanding of the French & Indian War: Implications of the Fort Hyndshaw Massacre," paper presented at the 49th Annual Conference on Historical and Underwater Archaeology, Washington, D.C., January 6-9, 2016](https://core.tdar.org/document/434249/toward-a-new-understanding-of-the-french-indian-war-implications-of-the-fort-hyndshaw-massacre)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** [David Pierce, "Old Fort Sites Create Sense of Colonial Past," *Pocono Record,* October 19, 2012](https://www.poconorecord.com/story/news/local/2012/10/19/old-fort-sites-create-sense/49339684007/)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** [Don Morfe, "Fort Hyndshaw," Historical Marker Database, August 10, 2015](https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=86990)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-15)** [Candace McGreevy, "One of Monroe's 'forgotten' forts gets marked," *Pocono Record*, June 22, 2003](https://www.poconorecord.com/story/lifestyle/2003/06/22/one-monroe-s-forgotten-forts/51071127007/)

v t e Pennsylvania during the French and Indian War 1754 Battle of Jumonville Glen Battle of the Great Meadows 1755 Braddock Expedition Battle of the Monongahela Penn's Creek massacre Great Cove massacre Kobel massacre Gnadenhütten massacre Northampton massacre 1756 Battle of Sideling Hill Kittanning Expedition 1757 Hochstetler massacre Bloody Springs massacre 1758 Battle of Fort Duquesne Battle of Fort Ligonier Treaty of Easton Forbes Expedition Frontier Forts Fort Allen Fort Augusta Fort Bedford Fort Bigham Carlisle Fort Fort Chambers Fort Depuy Fort Deshler Fort Duquesne Fort Franklin Fort Granville Fort Halifax Fort Hamilton Fort Henry Fort Hunter Fort Hyndshaw Fort Juniata Crossing Fort Lebanon Fort Le Boeuf Light's Fort Fort Ligonier Fort Loudoun Fort Lyttleton Fort Machault Fort Manada McDowell's Mill Fort McCord Mercer's Fort Fort Morris Fort Necessity Fort Norris Fort Northkill Fort Pitt Fort Presque Isle Fort Prince George Redstone Old Fort Fort Robinson Fort Shirley Fort Swatara Fort Venango Whitefield House Fort William Heinrich Zeller House

## External links

- [Pennsylvania Archives, Volume 3](https://books.google.com/books?id=3_APAAAAYAAJ&dq=Fort+Hyndshaw&pg=PA226)

- [The Poconos: An Illustrated Natural History Guide](https://books.google.com/books?id=iAmNPAIGcyAC&dq=Fort+Hyndshaw&pg=PA248) By Carl S. Oplinger

- Wesley Schwenk, "[Benjamin Franklin](http://frenchandindianwarforts.weebly.com/benjamin-franklin.html)," Forts of the French and Indian War, accessed August 20, 2023.

- Mary H. Overfield France-Rice [Overfield History](https://books.google.com/books?id=4DVBAAAAMAAJ&q=Fort+Hyndshaw)

- Robert Mack Wallace [Ebenezer! Or, Memorial Discourse, Commemorative of the Founding and Progress of the First Presbyterian Church of Stroudsburg, Pa](https://books.google.com/books?id=-Q1QAAAAYAAJ&dq=Fort+Hyndshaw&pg=PA9)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Fort Hyndshaw](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Hyndshaw) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Hyndshaw?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.