New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

Indigenous History

French Attacks On Old Saratoga During King George’s War (1744-1748)

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Map of British and French fortifications during King George's War (Hartgen, 2004)During King George’s War (1744-1748), the primary military encounters in the Saratoga area were focused on the Schuyler estate and associated settlements and Fort Saratoga/Fort Clinton.

The most significant event was the November 1745 First Battle of Saratoga in which a force of French and Indian allies from Fort St. Frederic (at Crown Point) attacked the village, burning 30 houses, several mills, and the fort as well as killing, scalping, and capturing soldiers and residents. (You can read about that here.) [Read more…] about French Attacks On Old Saratoga During King George’s War (1744-1748)

The American Revolution in the Finger Lakes

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Early illustration of the Iroquois Confederacy, by a EuropeanInitially, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy (Iroquois) claimed neutrality during the conflict between Britain and the colonists, seeing the disagreement as a civil war and valuing loyalty to their families and to their lands above all else. When the political discontent erupted into the American Revolutionary War, the member nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy split their support between the British and newly formed American forces. [Read more…] about The American Revolution in the Finger Lakes

1745: The First Battle of Saratoga

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Johannes Scuyler and his wife Elizabeth Staats Wendell Schuyler (New-York Historical Society)The First Battle of Saratoga took place during King George’s War (1744-1748) in November 1745. A force of French and Native allies set out from Fort St. Frederic at Crown Point to attack English colonies in either New England or Albany.

When deep snow made travel into New England impractical, they turned toward Old Saratoga, now known as Schuylerville in Saratoga County, NY (near where the 1777 Battles of Saratoga would later take place during the American Revolution). [Read more…] about 1745: The First Battle of Saratoga

300 Years of French Settlement at Prince Edward Island

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Map of Prince Edward Island in 1775On this episode of Ben Franklin’s World, Anne Marie Lane Jonah, a historian with the Parks Canada Agency, explores the history of Prince Edward Island and why Great Britain and France fought over the Canadian Maritime region.

2020 commemorated the 300th anniversary of French presence on Prince Edward Island. [Read more…] about 300 Years of French Settlement at Prince Edward Island

New Netherlanders’ Views of Indigenous People

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First Dutch Church at Albany as it appears in several of the works of James EightsBy 1642, the number of inhabitants of Rensselaerwyck (spelled Rensselaerswijck in Dutch), at the time basically what is now Albany and Rensselaer Counties, had grown and Patroon Kiliaen Van Rensselaer willingly complied with a requirement of the Dutch West India Company to secure a clergyman for a Dutch Church to conduct services for the settlers. [Read more…] about New Netherlanders’ Views of Indigenous People

The French and Indian War: A New York Perspective

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Miniature of Fort Prince George under attack by French troops (diorama in the Fort Pitt Museum, Pittsburgh)In the early 1750s, the French were establishing trading posts and building forts along western the frontiers of the British colonies. In the fall of 1753, in part to protect his own land claims, Virginia Lieutenant Governor Robert Dinwiddie had sent 22-year-old George Washington (then a militia leader and surveyor) to deliver a letter to Fort Le Boeuf at what is today Waterford in northwest Pennsylvania, demanding they stop.

When Washington returned without success, Dinwiddie sent a small force to build Fort Prince George at the confluence of the Allegheny  and Monongahela Rivers (today Pittsburgh). Soon a larger French force arrived, torn down the small British fort, and began and built Fort Duquesne, named for then Governor-General of New France, Marquis Duquesne. [Read more…] about The French and Indian War: A New York Perspective

Euro-American Expansion Into The Finger Lakes Region

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Map of the State of New York (1802) by Simeon DeWitt, (Library of Congress, Geography & Map Division)The Treaty of Paris of 1783 officially ended hostilities between the British and Americans; however, the treaty did not include the allied Indian Nations, leaving their legacy treaties with the Europeans unresolved and their future to be resolved through separate treaties with the new American government. [Read more…] about Euro-American Expansion Into The Finger Lakes Region

The Mississippi Gulf Coast in the 17th and 18th Centuries

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ben franklins world podcastIn this episode of Ben Franklin’s World, Matthew Powell, a historian of slavery and southern history and the Executive Director of the La Pointe-Krebs House & Museum, leads us on an investigation of the Mississippi Gulf Coast during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

The Mississippi Gulf Coast was the home of many different peoples, cultures, and empires during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. According to some historians, the Gulf Coast region may have been the most diverse region in early North America. [Read more…] about The Mississippi Gulf Coast in the 17th and 18th Centuries

Early Inhabitants of the Finger Lakes Region

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Lamoka Site diorama at the New York State MuseumAccording to archeological records, groups of nomadic Paleo-Indians traveled through the Finger Lakes region approximately 8,000 to 9,000 years ago. Small bands of these hunters and gatherers followed large game during the last stages of the Ice Age when the glaciers that formed the area’s notable lakes were receding.

Somewhat more recent early archaic archeological sites scattered across Western New York reflect a culture that was highly mobile and left little in terms of an archeological record. [Read more…] about Early Inhabitants of the Finger Lakes Region

Early Forts Near Old Saratoga: Some History

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Fort Vrooman, Fort Saratoga and Fort Clinton historic sign in 2012 (photographed By Bill Coughlin)Many of the descriptions about fortifications in the Upper Hudson Valley, close to New France, were written by soldiers, travelers and settlers during the wars in the 18th century and into the 19th century.

Since many of the North American colonies were defended by Independent Companies, the regular English and, later, British armies had little direct influence on fortification designs, which created a high demand for the assistance of military engineers. [Read more…] about Early Forts Near Old Saratoga: Some History