Fort Frederick State Park is a public recreation and historic preservation area on the Potomac River surrounding the restored Fort Frederick, a fortification active in the French and Indian War (1754–1763) and the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783). The state park lies south of the town of Big Pool, Maryland. The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal runs through the park grounds. The site was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1973.
SITE FEATURES
Surviving Structures
On this site...
Fort Frederick was built in 1756-57 by the colony of Maryland. During the French and Indian War in 1756, a £6000 appropriation was authorized by the Maryland Legislature at the request of Governor Horatio Sharpe to build a fortification on the frontier. The fort, named after Frederick Calvert, 6th Baron Baltimore, was completed the following year. The design of the fort conforms to the style developed early in the 18th century by Sebastien de Vauban, a French military engineer who is considered the father of modern fortification.
FORT
EST. 1756
FORTIFICATION
BATTLEFIELD
The large stone fort was designed primarily as a place of refuge for area settlers. Between 1757 and 1758, small raids by Native people in nearby settlements caused settlers in the surrounding countryside to flee eastward. At the same time men of the 60th Regiment of Foot and local militia soldiers garrisoned the fort. Ranging parties were sent from the fort to patrol the area and to deter if not prevent raids by Native Americans.
The fort was not designed to resist artillery, as it was correctly assumed that the French would not be able to transport artillery to the remote location from the west. The fort served its purpose in 1763 during Pontiac's Rebellion; however, the fort was never directly attacked.
The fort was used as a prisoner of war camp from 1777 to 1783. As many as 1,000 captured British and German soldiers[7] were incarcerated there after the Battles of Saratoga (1777) and Yorktown (1781).
HISTORIC PEOPLE
George Washington
Commander-in-Chief