Everything about Fort Loudoun Tennessee totally explained
Fort Loudoun was a
colonial American
fort in present-day
Monroe County, Tennessee, near the towns of the
Overhill Cherokee.
History
The
British colony of
South Carolina built the fort in 1756, naming it for
John Campbell, 4th Earl of Loudoun, to defend the frontier against
American Indians allied with
France during the
French and Indian War. The
Cherokee themselves requested the fort's construction. Its nominal purpose was to maintain the Cherokee-British alliance and guard against French attempts to gain influence among the Cherokee. The fort was located a few miles downstream of the Cherokee "capitol"
Chota and also served as a diplomatic outpost.
Mutual suspicions and betrayals repeatedly undermined the Cherokee-British alliance. Open warfare erupted between the Cherokee and the
British in 1759, and the Cherokee laid siege to the fort late in the year. It fell on
August 6,
1760, and part of the
garrison died in an
ambush four days later on their return trek to South Carolina. Although the Cherokee and British fought several wars, their alliance was always reestablished afterwards.
The site of the fort was abandoned for nearly two centuries after being burned sometime soon after the British left. In 1917, the
Colonial Dames of America placed a marker at the site of the fort. With sporadic support from the state, and from the federal government via the
Works Progress Administration, preservationists researched the fort's history and reconstructed it. The reconstructed fort became a
National Historic Landmark in 1965.
The present-day reconstruction of the fort sits on the bank of the
Little Tennessee River, but it wasn't originally on the waterfront. When the construction of
Tellico Dam by
TVA threatened to flood the original fort site, preservationists dismantled the reconstruction, used fill dirt to raise the site 17 feet (5m), and rebuilt it.
Today the fort is part of
Fort Loudoun State Park along with an interpretive center and recreation area. The
Tellico Blockhouse site is also part of the park and features reconstructed foundations based on archaeological investigations. The blockhouse was built on the river opposite the fort by the U.S. Government in 1794 and was in operation until 1805.
Loudon County, Tennessee;
Loudon, Tennessee; and
Fort Loudoun Dam are named for the fort.
Also located on the same island as the fort is the
Sequoyah Birthplace Museum
. The land around the museum was deeded back to the
Eastern Band of the Cherokee by the
TVA.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Fort Loudoun Tennessee'.
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