FORT EDWARD, N.Y. – A mistake made along the Hudson River is offering archaeologists a rare glimpse into how colonial military engineers built wooden forts, including the key stronghold constructed here by the British during the French and Indian War.

A formal excavation of the original Fort Edward was called after crews dredging PCB-contaminated sediment from the Hudson River last month accidentally ripped out wooden beams thought to have been part of the original fort, which was built in the 1750s. Redcoats, rangers, American Indians and settlers mingled at the site as England and France fought for control of North America.

Archaeologists, after spending two weeks scraping away layers of soil from the river's steep east bank, have uncovered more evidence of the foundation of what was once Britain's largest fortification on this continent.

"There's absolutely no doubt that this is part of Fort Edward and these timbers are specifically from the water bastion," said nautical archaeologist Adam Kane, referring to the southwest section of the fort that jutted into the river.

Although just a dot on 18th-century maps of the northern New York wilderness, Fort Edward was known to common soldiers and kings during the French and Indian War (1754-63), when it blocked French movement south toward Albany. Newspapers and magazines in the American colonies and England published dispatches from the fort, manned by thousands of British regulars and colonial militia and a base of operations for the famed Rogers' Rangers.

The French never launched a direct attack but soldiers and officers posted here often wrote home about the grisly aftermath of frequent Indian ambushes sprung outside the walls.

"A lot of the action that people read about took place between here and Lake George," said Charles Vandrei, historic preservation officer for the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

The DEC and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are overseeing the archaeological work that began earlier this month, three weeks after the mistake by a dredging crew contracted by General Electric as part of the company's $750 million project to remove PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, from the river. PCBs, used as coolants and lubricants for years, were dumped into the Hudson by a GE factory in Fort Edward and another nearby. The chemical, banned in 1977, is a suspected carcinogen.

Dredging was temporarily suspended in August after potentially dangerous levels of PCBs kicked up by the activity drifted downstream. Only days after the dredging resumed, the wooden beams were ripped from the riverbank.

Locals insisted the removed beams were from the original fort, while some experts thought the timbers could have been part of a later structure. Examination of the beams has pegged them to the fort's construction period of 1755-58, said Kane, a nautical archaeologist with the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum in Vergennes, Vt.

The beams pulled from the fort site will be analyzed for PCB contamination to determine whether they can be publicly displayed, said John Vetter, the EPA archaeologist at the site.

Meanwhile, the excavation is revealing how military engineers built large fortifications in a wilderness where resources were few and soldiers were the only source of labor.

The biggest surprise so far is the discovery of "sleeper" timbers, 3-foot-long, hand-hewn crossbeams placed on the river bottom. Kane said sleeper timbers served as a base similar to railroad ties, with longer beams placed perpendicular on top to form the water bastion's outer walls.

The museum's marine archaeologists found the sleeper timbers submerged in shallow water, under a longer beam protruding from the bank into the river. Archaeologists say the wet, muddy conditions have helped preserve the wood, which still bears the ax marks made by the colonial troops who built the fort.

The underwater work has given way to a land-based excavation being conducted by archaeology consultants from San Francisco-based URS Corp., hired by GE to handle excavations along this history-rich stretch of river.

Other than the beams that were removed from the site and the timbers that remain there, no other artifacts dating back to the fort's early years have been recovered. Dan Cassedy, who's leading the dig for URS, expects that to change as the dig progresses deeper into the river bank.

Property owner Neal Orsini was incensed at first to learn that the beams had been ripped out of his river bank, since he had previously alerted GE's dredging managers to their location. But like others involved in the dig, he now sees this as an opportunity to learn more about the old fort while drawing attention to the community's colorful history.

"Both personally and community-wise, we're trying to make the best of a difficult situation," said Orsini, a town board member and restaurant owner. "As long as they make my river bank pretty again, I'll be happy with that."

"We think it's wonderful," said neighbor JoAnne Fuller, a French and Indian War buff who lives in a house built on the site of the old fort. Her home is filled with maps, books, journals, muster rolls and artwork pertaining to the war, and her husband Richard has built detailed scale models of the fortification, right down to the bunk beds in the fort's smallpox hospital.

"We're obsessed," Richard Fuller said. "Sitting on history has given us the impetus to do a lot of this stuff."

The fort fell into disrepair after the war ended in 1763 with France handing over Canada to the British, and the village of Fort Edward grew up on the site. Previous archaeological digs uncovered buried remnants of the fort, while excavations on neighboring Rogers Island found evidence of barracks and other structures.

The island is named for Maj. Robert Rogers of New Hampshire, leader of Rogers' Rangers, the British army's main scouting unit. It was there, in the fall of 1757, that Rogers wrote a list of rules for wilderness fighting. His "Rules for Rangering" would find their way into Army Ranger training manuals two centuries later, and they're still used by today's U.S. Special Forces.

Wow...That's terrific.

I hope the site isn't too contaminated. It would be a waste

quote:

Originally posted by O4Psyoper:
It was there, in the fall of 1757, that Rogers wrote a list of rules for wilderness fighting. His "Rules for Rangering" would find their way into Army Ranger training manuals two centuries later, and they're still used by today's U.S. Special Forces.

I remember those neat little GTAs that TSC use to have which listed Roger’s Rule for Rangers.
I’ll have to check with the head TSC guy at work to see if they are still available… I loved to read them and they are as applicable today as they were back “In The day” when they were written!!!

Original Rules

All Rangers are to be subject to the rules and articles of war; to appear at roll-call every evening, on their own parade, equipped, each with a Firelock, sixty rounds of powder and ball, and a hatchet, at which time an officer from each company is to inspect the same, to see they are in order, so as to be ready on any emergency to march at a minute's warning; and before they are dismissed, the necessary guards are to be draughted, and scouts for the next day appointed.
Whenever you are ordered out to the enemies forts or frontiers for discoveries, if your number be small, march in a single file, keeping at such a distance from each other as to prevent one shot from killing two men, sending one man, or more, forward, and the like on each side, at the distance of twenty yards from the main body, if the ground you march over will admit of it, to give the signal to the officer of the approach of an enemy, and of their number, &c.
If you march over marshes or soft ground, change your position, and march abreast of each other to prevent the enemy from tracking you (as they would do if you marched in a single file) till you get over such ground, and then resume your former order, and march till it is quite dark before you encamp, which do, if possible, on a piece of ground which that may afford your sentries the advantage of seeing or hearing the enemy some considerable distance, keeping one half of your whole party awake alternately through the night.
Some time before you come to the place you would reconnoitre, make a stand, and send one or two men in whom you can confide, to look out the best ground for making your observations.
If you have the good fortune to take any prisoners, keep them separate, till they are examined, and in your return take a different route from that in which you went out, that you may the better discover any party in your rear, and have an opportunity, if their strength be superior to yours, to alter your course, or disperse, as circumstances may require.
If you march in a large body of three or four hundred, with a design to attack the enemy, divide your party into three columns, each headed by a proper officer, and let those columns march in single files, the columns to the right and left keeping at twenty yards distance or more from that of the center, if the ground will admit, and let proper guards be kept in the front and rear, and suitable flanking parties at a due distance as before directed, with orders to halt on all eminences, to take a view of the surrounding ground, to prevent your being ambuscaded, and to notify the approach or retreat of the enemy, that proper dispositions may be made for attacking, defending, &c. And if the enemy approach in your front on level ground, form a front of your three columns or main body with the advanced guard, keeping out your flanking parties, as if you were marching under the command of trusty officers, to prevent the enemy from pressing hard on either of your wings, or surrounding you, which is the usual method of the savages, if their number will admit of it, and be careful likewise to support and strengthen your rear-guard.
If you are obliged to receive the enemy's fire, fall, or squat down, till it is over; then rise and discharge at them. If their main body is equal to yours, extend yourselves occasionally; but if superior, be careful to support and strengthen your flanking parties, to make them equal to theirs, that if possible you may repulse them to their main body, in which case push upon them with the greatest resolution with equal force in each flank and in the center, observing to keep at a due distance from each other, and advance from tree to tree, with one half of the party before the other ten or twelve yards. If the enemy push upon you, let your front fire and fall down, and then let your rear advance thro' them and do the like, by which time those who before were in front will be ready to discharge again, and repeat the same alternately, as occasion shall require; by this means you will keep up such a constant fire, that the enemy will not be able easily to break your order, or gain your ground.
If you oblige the enemy to retreat, be careful, in your pursuit of them, to keep out your flanking parties, and prevent them from gaining eminences, or rising grounds, in which case they would perhaps be able to rally and repulse you in their turn.
If you are obliged to retreat, let the front of your whole party fire and fall back, till the rear hath done the same, making for the best ground you can; by this means you will oblige the enemy to pursue you, if they do it at all, in the face of a constant fire.
If the enemy is so superior that you are in danger of being surrounded by them, let the whole body disperse, and every one take a different road to the place of rendezvous appointed for that evening, which must every morning be altered and fixed for the evening ensuing, in order to bring the whole party, or as many of them as possible, together, after any separation that may happen in the day; but if you should happen to be actually surrounded, form yourselves into a square, or if in the woods, a circle is best, and, if possible, make a stand till the darkness of the night favours your escape.
If your rear is attacked, the main body and flankers must face about to the right or left, as occasion shall require, and form themselves to oppose the enemy, as before directed; and the same method must be observed, if attacked in either of your flanks, by which means you will always make a rear of one of your flank-guards.
If you determine to rally after a retreat, in order to make a fresh stand against the enemy, by all means endeavour to do it on the most rising ground you come at, which will give you greatly the advantage in point of situation, and enable you to repulse superior numbers.
In general, when pushed upon by the enemy, reserve your fire till they approach very near, which will then put them into the greatest surprise and consternation, and give you an opportunity of rushing upon them with your hatchets and cutlasses to the better advantage.
When you encamp at night, fix your sentries in such a manner as not to be relieved from the main body till morning, profound secrecy and silence being often of the last importance in these cases. Each sentry therefore should consist of six men, two of whom must be constantly alert, and when relieved by their fellows, it should be done without noise; and in case those on duty see or hear any thing, which alarms them, they are not to speak, but one of them is silently to retreat, and acquaint the commanding officer thereof, that proper dispositions may be made; and all occasional sentries should be fixed in like manner.
At the first dawn of day, awake your whole detachment; that being the time when the savages choose to fall upon their enemies, you should by all means be in readiness to receive them.
If the enemy should be discovered by your detachments in the morning, and their numbers are superior to yours, and a victory doubtful, you should not attack them till the evening, as then they will not know your numbers, and if you are repulsed, your retreat will be favoured by the darkness of the night.
Before you leave your encampment, send out small parties to scout round it, to see if there be any appearance or track of an enemy that might have been near you during the night.
When you stop for refreshment, choose some spring or rivulet if you can, and dispose your party so as not to be surprised, posting proper guards and sentries at a due distance, and let a small party waylay the path you came in, lest the enemy should be pursuing.
If, in your return, you have to cross rivers, avoid the usual fords as much as possible, lest the enemy should have discovered, and be there expecting you.
If you have to pass by lakes, keep at some distance from the edge of the water, lest, in case of an ambuscade or an attack from the enemy, when in that situation, your retreat should be cut off.
If the enemy pursue your rear, take a circle till you come to your own tracks, and there form an ambush to receive them, and give them the first fire.
When you return from a scout, and come near our forts, avoid the usual roads, and avenues thereto, lest the enemy should have headed you, and lay in ambush to receive you, when almost exhausted with fatigues.
When you pursue any party that has been near our forts or encampments, follow not directly in their tracks, lest they should be discovered by their rear guards, who, at such a time, would be most alert; but endeavour, by a different route, to head and meet them in some narrow pass, or lay in ambush to receive them when and where they least expect it.
If you are to embark in canoes, battoes, or otherwise, by water, choose the evening for the time of your embarkation, as you will then have the whole night before you, to pass undiscovered by any parties of the enemy, on hills, or other places, which command a prospect of the lake or river you are upon.
In paddling or rowing, give orders that the boat or canoe next the sternmost, wait for her, and the third for the second, and the fourth for the third, and so on, to prevent separation, and that you may be ready to assist each other on any emergency.
Appoint one man in each boat to look out for fires, on the adjacent shores, from the numbers and size of which you may form some judgment of the number that kindled them, and whether you are able to attack them or not.
If you find the enemy encamped near the banks of a river or lake, which you imagine they will attempt to cross for their security upon being attacked, leave a detachment of your party on the opposite shore to receive them, while, with the remainder, you surprise them, having them between you and the lake or river.
If you cannot satisfy yourself as to the enemy's number and strength, from their fire, &c. conceal your boats at some distance, and ascertain their number by a reconnoitering party, when they embark, or march, in the morning, marking the course they steer, &c. when you may pursue, ambush, and attack them, or let them pass, as prudence shall direct you. In general, however, that you may not be discovered by the enemy upon the lakes and rivers at a great distance, it is safest to lay by, with your boats and party concealed all day, without noise or shew; and to pursue your intended route by night; and whether you go by land or water, give out parole and countersigns, in order to know one another in the dark, and likewise appoint a station every man to repair to, in case of any accident that may separate you.


From Kenneth's Robert's Northwest Passage


Don't forget nothing.
Have your musket clean as a whistle, hatchet scoured, sixty rounds powder and ball, and be ready to march at a minute's warning.
When you're on the march, act the way you would if you was sneaking up on a deer. See the enemy first.
Tell the truth about what you see and what you do. There is an army depending on us for correct information. You can lie all you please when you tell other folks about the Rangers, but don't never lie to a Ranger or officer.
Don't never take a chance you don't have to.
When we're on the march we march single file, far enough apart so one shot can't go through two men.
If we strike swamps, or soft ground, we spread out abreast, so it's hard to track us.
When we march, we keep moving till dark, so as to give the enemy the least possible chance at us.
When we camp, half the party stays awake while the other half sleeps.
If we take prisoners, we keep 'em separate till we have had time to examine them, so they can't cook up a story between 'em.
Don't ever march home the same way. Take a different route so you won't be ambushed.
No matter whether we travel in big parties or little ones, each party has to keep a scout 20 yards ahead, 20 yards on each flank, and 20 yards in the rear so the main body can't be surprised and wiped out.
Every night you'll be told where to meet if surrounded by a superior force.
Don't sit down to eat without posting sentries.
Don't sleep beyond dawn. Dawn's when the French and Indians attack.
Don't cross a river by a regular ford.
If somebody's trailing you, make a circle, come back onto your own tracks, and ambush the folks that aim to ambush you.
Don't stand up when the enemy's coming against you. Kneel down, lie down, hide behind a tree.
Let the enemy come till he's almost close enough to touch, then let him have it and jump out and finish him up with your hatchet.