Revolutionary War and Fort Stanwix
At the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, American Continental forces took control of the Fort Stanwix site, rebuilding and improving the fort. The installation survived a siege by the British in the Saratoga Campaign of 1777, and it became renowned as "the fort that never surrendered". Patriot militia, regulars, and their Oneida Nation allies under the command of Col. Peter Gansevoort, successfully repelled a 21-day siege in August 1777 by British, German, Loyalist, and Canadian troops and warriors from several Native American nations, all commanded by British Gen. Barry St. Leger. The failed siege, combined with the battle at nearby Oriskany as well as the battles of Bennington, and Saratoga, thwarted a coordinated British effort to take the northern colonies. Following this success, the Americans were able to gain alliances with France and the Netherlands, as both countries were becoming more confident that the rebels had a chance to win.
After the repulsion of the British at Fort Stanwix, bloody fighting erupted along the American northern frontier and throughout the Mohawk Valley. There were heavy losses for both American settlers and the people of the Six Nations, as each side made retaliatory raids against the other in a round of violence. Because many of the Oneida were fighting with the rebels and against the four nations allied with the British, especially the Mohawk and Seneca, the Iroquois had members attacking each other, which they had avoided doing earlier in this century.
The Americans used Fort Stanwix as the primary staging point for attacks against British loyalist units and their Haudenosaunee allies. The Sullivan Expedition of 1779 was launched from here as a scorched earth campaign against villages of Iroquois nations that were allied with the British. Commander George Washington ordered the campaign in retaliation for the fierce frontier attacks in New York, such as the Cherry Valley Massacre by Loyalist irregulars led by Mohawk Chief Joseph Brant and John Butler. The Sullivan campaign destroyed nearly 50 Iroquois villages and their food stores, leading to starvation of many people of these nations during the following winter. Many Iroquois went to Upper Canada for refuge but struggled with starvation there, too.
The American forces abandoned the fort in 1781. After the war, as the area became settled, pioneers took materials to use in constructing their own homes and barns. They built the Rome Canal along Wood Creek, to connect it to the Mohawk River and enable continuous passage by water from Lake Ontario via the Mohawk and Hudson rivers to New York City.
After completion of the Erie Canal in 1825, development of Rome increased. The city became an industrial and trade center in the western Mohawk Valley. The fort site was reduced to a mound of dirt, with bushes and grasses growing over it. During the Great Depression in the early 20th century, Congress passed the Fort Stanwix Act of 1935 to establish the fort as a National Monument because of the site's historic importance. The site was administered by the National Park Service (NPS).
In 1973, the NPS began reconstruction of Fort Stanwix, based on historical evidence related to 18th-century construction and occupation. It was completed in 1976. The fort is operated by the National Park Service as a museum. On July 2, 2005, the Marinus Willet Center opened on the grounds of the monument. It provides audio-visual programs to orient visitors, as well as secure storage space for the museum's collection of artifacts and related historic materials.
