Barracks at Ft Mackinac

Ft Mackinac was a good place to serve, despite the sordid history. Two soldiers stand on the green as a woman enters the Commissary. Fort Mackinac... more

by Charles Robinson

Title

Barracks at Ft Mackinac

Artist

Charles Robinson

Medium

Photograph - Landscape Photograph

Description

Ft Mackinac was a good place to serve, despite the sordid history. Two soldiers stand on the green as a woman enters the Commissary. Fort Mackinac has a very interesting history, During the War of 1812 the British invaded the Island from the North and shelled the Fort from the highest point on the island about two miles from the Fort. The British captured the Fort and built Fort George on the high point. So there was both a British fort, Ft. George, and an American fort, Ft. Mackinac, on the Island at the same time. After the American loss, the Island was under British control through the end of the War of 1812. Following the Treaty of Ghent, the American forces reoccupied Fort Mackinac in July 1815. After the War of 1812, Fort Mackinac gradually declined in military significance. No longer needed as a front line border defense against the British in Canada, the fort instead took on the role of a strategic troop reserve. The Army essentially could deploy troops not needed elsewhere to Fort Mackinac until a need arose to transfer them to other locations of military importance. This arrangement led to the near-total abandonment of Fort Mackinac on numerous occasions. People also used the fort as a fur trading post

Uploaded

February 15th, 2014