For
me, the most visually striking feature of any fort is its fortifications. When
looking at the architecture of Fort St. Joseph I found myself drawn to this
topic because of that. Fort St. Joseph didn't have cannons, there was a
garrison that was stationed there but it’s not primarily a military fort. What
then might these fortifications have looked like? I find myself more and more intrigued
by this question over the semester because I have been finding links between fortifications
and the functions of forts.
The
design of French fortifications in the colony of New France we influenced
heavily and modified from Sebastien Le Preste de Vauban, a French military
engineer who designed fortifications in France and Europe. The designs was
taken to the New World by French settlers and adapted by using local resources
and landscapes such as the abundant lumber supply and proximity to rivers. One
aspect his design was the bastion which are on the corners of fortifications and
used for either artillery or for troops to fire upon the outside of the palisade
or stockade wall. This defensive focus allows the fort to be easily defended by
a smaller number of soldiers.
 |
| Part of the Plan for a Vauban Bastioned fortification. Notice the hexagonal shape. |
In
New France fortifications are constructed for a variety of reasons. Forts had
the ability to be places of trade, religion, communication and government.
These functions are not mutually exclusive, as we know Fort St. Joseph was a
place of trade, military, as well as also being a mission. The French built
their fortifications all around North America as a way to prevent land claims
by the English. Once built these forts would have supported themselves through trade
networks.
Perhaps
the largest symbol of a fortification is the palisade wall. These are typically
constructed around the perimeter of the fort. Evidence from sites like Fort
Massac in Illinois and Fort Michilimackinac in Michigan help us get an idea of
how palisades were constructed. Evidence supports palisades being made of wooden
materials like cedar, and having two doors on opposite ends (North and South)
of the palisade. The walls at Massac are said to be 20 feet high while Michilimackinac’s
are 12 feet. These forts are also built more resembling a square showing
another modification to Vauban’s design. This could have made it easier to
build with fewer resources and time.
 |
| Detail map by a military engineer of Fort Massac in Illinois. |
Since
we have not found any evidence archaeologically about the fortifications of
Fort St. Joseph we only have historical sources to use. While the account from
Charlevoix detailing the ‘poor’ quality of the palisade at Fort St. Joseph has
been challenged, there are other stories that support this idea. One of these
is an Iroquois raid where their guns were able to be placed between gaps in the
palisade wall. The lack of defense in this situation can support the idea that
perhaps there were no bastions at Fort St. Joseph, and that individual logs in
the palisade wall are actually spread apart.
I
would love to leave the post with a detail map of the Fort or a picture, but it
would be wrong. It is not that we can’t know what the Fort looked like, but
archaeological evidence will really help us understand the fortifications of
Fort St. Joseph. It most likely wasn’t pristine and picturesque like an
artists’ rendition, but it would have had character just like the people who
lived and traded there.
Sincerely,
Joe Puntasecca
