Fort Boykin Archaeological Site (44IW20)

About this property

Fort Boykin is a historic site in Isle of Wight County, Virginia, located along the James River. The history of the site is believed to date back to 1623 when colonists were ordered to build a fort to protect them from attacking Native Americans or Spanish marauders. Today the remains of the fort, mostly from the American Civil War, are preserved in a public park. The fort was built in 1623 by Captain Roger Smith, in the wake of the devastating Indian Attack of 1622. The attack claimed 347 people in the Virginia colony, a quarter of the population, including 52 in Warrosquyoake Shire (an early name for Isle of Wight County). Potential attacks by the Spanish were also a consideration. On May 21, 1623, the Governor's Council ordered Smith to build a fort on "the Worrosquoyacke shore, opposite to Tindall Shoals". The fort, originally christened "The Castle" due to its deep natural ditches, high elevation and steep embankment fronting the James River, was also known as Roger Smith's Fort and the Fort at Warraskoyack. It took six months to build and was a triangular shaped earthenwork, surrounded by a ditch, topped by palisade walls. The James River became the main trade route to and from the interior of Virginia and The Castle overlooked it. During Bacon's Rebellion in 1677, Fort Boykin was active according to the journal of the ship Young Prince. During the American Revolutionary War, the Castle was enlarged, refortified, and renamed Fort Boykin in honor of Major Francis M. Boykin, a local officer in the Continental Army who was then the owner of the site. He had served on George Washington's staff. It was also known as the Fort at the Rocks, the Rocks being the name of the adjacent plantation. What little was left of The Castle was enlarged upon with new ramparts and gun emplacements added. Military records list no engagements with the enemy either at the fort or in its vicinity, and after the British surrender in 1781 the fort was again abandoned. The fort is believed to have been reworked again during the War of 1812 when it was enlarged to the shape of a five-pointed star. Although the records do not reveal any direct engagements with the fort, it is known that the British warship HMS Plantagenet lay offshore in the river for several months. During that time, the British attempted to land at the wharf of The Rocks plantation, only to be beaten back by the men stationed at the fort. After the war was over, the fort was left to the elements. The American Civil War brought a renewed interest in the fort by the Confederate Army, and the size was doubled from that of its previous incarnation.

Location

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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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