Hi to all my cousins, Recently one of our cousins asked about the dates of Fort Robinson and Fort Patrick Henry on the Long Island of the Holston. I am just now beginning to feel a little better from an illness that had me in the hospital a couple of days. Although I have been reading the discussions, I had not felt "up to snuff" enough to reply until now. Here is a lengthy post on something written by a local historian Muriel Spoden on Fort Robinson, Fort Patrick Henry and the Long Island of the Holston. It gives the descriptions of the fort as well as some names of the early settlers here in what is now Sullivan County, TN. Excerpt: During the French and Indian War the Cherokees were closely allied with the British, and Fort Loudoun, the first British fort erected on Tennessee soil, was constructed by South Carolina provincial troops to protect the Cherokees from the French influence and to insure the Carolina Indian trade. By 1760, however, the amicable relations of the British and the Cherokees strained to the breaking point due to a series of Cherokee murders by white men. Powerful Cherokee chiefs, Connecorte, Oconostota, Attacullaculla and Ostenaco kept the peace and demanded punishment for these outrages. When their attempts proved fruitless, the Cherokees sought reprisals which reached extreme brutality. They massacred the Fort Loudoun garrison during the winter of 1760 and destroyed the fort. South Carolina appealed to Virginia for aid in bringing the Cherokees to the peace table and Long Island was chosen as the launching point for the campaign. Colonel William Byrd III was the first commander of the large expedition but resigned complaining that six hundred men was insufficient for such a perilous operation. Colonel Adam Stephen, a most competent man, was then assigned the command. He immediately appointed Major Andrew Lewis to supervise the construction of a wagon road from present-day Chilhowie, Virginia to the Long Island of the Holston. On July 16, 1761, Mayor Lewis and three companies began cutting the road through the primeval forest. This is the oldest road in Tennessee and as a western frontier road was preceded only by the road which General Braddock built to western Pennsylvania in 1754 and 1755. The Island Road was completed in September and Stephen's militia soon marched down it to a spot opposite the eastern end of the Long Island. Here they erected Fort Robinson, the second British fort built on Tennessee soil. The fort was "situated on a beautiful level, and was built up on a large plan, with proper bastions, and walls thick enough to stop the force of a small cannon shot. The gates were spiked with large nails, so that the wood was all covered. Cannons were mounted on its bastions and within the enclosure were houses used for storing food and arms. The six hundred Virginians in the fort were soon joined by four hundred North Carolina troops under the command of Colonel Hugh Waddell. This imposing force stood poised to march against the Cherokees but the Indians wisely decided to treat for peace. Four hundred Cherokees arrived at the Long Island where they made camp in November, 1761. Chief Standing Turkey sent a speech to the British in which the chief expressed his sorrow for the war and vowed, "the Hatchett that has been so long at War is now buried under the ground, never to be seen by the English again." Thus hostilities with the Cherokees ceased, and the Long Island of the Holston was witness to peace for almost fifteen years. After this Fort Robinson Treaty was concluded, Colonel Waddells regiment returned to North Carolina and all but one company of Virginia's regiment were mustered out of service. Captain John McNeill's company stayed for a short time to garrison the fort. The beauty and fertility of the Holston Valley in this region induced some of the soldiers to remain and build a small settlement. These early settlers were John Sawyer, John Anderson, Robert Christian, William Anderson, John McNair, Nathan Page and Gilbert Christian. During the winter of 1761-2 they built cabins and made numerous improvements on Reedy Creek about a mile above its junction with the Holston River opposite the Long Island. Early in 1762 they planted corn, and had they remained they would have been the first permanent settlers on Tennessee soil. By late summer of 1762, they discovered, much to their disappointment, that their settlement was within Edmund Pendleton's land grant and they were obliged to abandon their claims and return to the Valley of Virginia. Gilbert Christian, however, was determined to one day return. He returned to explore the lower Holston region in the autumn of 1762 and again in 1769. >From ancient times the Long Island was a stopping place on the Great Indian Warrior Path, the major pathway to the Southwest, which later became the Great Stage Road. With the restoration of peace on the frontier and the convenience of the Island Road, the Long Island became a favorite spot for trading with the Cherokees, especially since the Indians had been reduced to a state of extreme distress by the late war and were consequently in a poor bargaining position which enabled the traders to gain handsome profits. The Long Island was also a frequent stopping place for traders on their way to the Cherokees Overhill Towns along the Little Tennessee and Hiwasse rivers. The Long Island served as a "jumping off point" for adventurers and settlers heading west and northwest. During the French-Indian War lord Dunmore ordered the construction of forts all along the frontier. Consequently, in 1773 and 1774, a network of forts was erected or refurbished in the lower Holston region. There were nine known forts in the western- most settlements within the present-day boundaries of Sullivan County which included the Long Island. Evan Shelby's Fort was a large stockade built at the site of present-day Bristol. Jacob Womack's Fort and the Little Fort were on the Watauga Road at Shoate's Ford, now Bluff City, King's Mill Fort, commanded by Gilbert Christian, was on the North Fork of Reedy Creek beside Reedy Creek Road and it served as a depot for supplies. Three forts on the Island Road were Anthony Bledsoe's, near Sapling Grove, now Bristol, Moses Looney's Fort and Eaton's Fort, about six miles east of the Long Island. The forts closest to the long Island were southwest of Eaton's Fort on the Plantations of Thomas Ramsey and Bryce Russell. Sr . The half-breed Mingo Indian, Chief logan brought terror to the Reedy Creek settlement when his band of warriors sought white blood indiscriminately. On September 24, 1774 he massacred the John Roberts family while lieutenant Christian, commander of nearby King's Mill Fort, was away. As the news of the massacre spread, the families all along the lower Holston fled to the forts, and urgent appeals were sent for aid. Captains Daniel Boone, Daniel Smith, James Thompson and William Cocke together with what men they could collect were sent to defend the forts and scout the forest for marauding Indians. On October 4, Colonel Campbell ordered some of these rangers to operate from the Long Island of the Holston. By August 1st, virtually all the people in Fincastle County remained gathered in small forts while their men marched in Captain Evan Shelby's company to fight in the Battle of Point Pleasant. By August 1, 1776 Colonel William Christian was making preparations for the Cherokee Campaign against the Overhill Towns. There was "no doubt of raising the number required" for Christian's expedition because the frontiersmen, confident with victory at Long Island Flats, "were greatly exasperated against the Savages and anxious for Revenge." Captains Evan Shelby and Thomas Madison, and Lieutenant James McGavock were appointed to supply the arm with provisions. Word arrived on August 9 that "two exceedingly fine Companies of Riflemen at Watauga" were "willing to enter the service of Virginia, either to range the Frontiers, or to go on the Expedition." Colonel Preston wrote the Virginia Council for permission to place these North Carolinians on the payroll of the Virginia militia. Before the expedition could be undertaken, a large fort, formidable enough to protect the frontier, had to be erected. Colonel Christian assigned Lieutenant Colonel William Russell the command of the Fincastle Rangers, who were to erect the fort at the Long Island. Russell gathered supplies, loaded wagons with battle and construction gear, and led his men over the Island Road to build Fort Patrick Henry. On arriving at the Long Island, Colonel Russell selected an area in a field by several springs opposite the eastern end of the Long Island to erect the fort. The spot was, on or near the same location that Fort Robinson had been built in 1761. On this site the new imposing fort was constructed. Its bastions rose high over the Holston River about 200 yards below the upper east end of the Long Island, standing where the bank of the wide river was very high and where the river channel was quite deep. The stockade enclosing three acres of ground, about a hundred yards square, had three sides of the fort enclosed, the fourth side being the river bank, which was considered "almost impregnable." The Walls had bastions at every corner, and in the center of the enclosure stood log cabins for military stores, and a home for the commander. Several small springs broke out of the river bank by the fort, although the river itself was their main source of water. Fort Patrick Henry, named in honor of Virginia's first governor, was the largest fort west of the mountains. By September 5 Captain Joseph Martin of Pittsylvania County, Virginia had marched his men to Eaton's Fort where they camped until the erection of Fort Patrick Henry was completed. On September 22, the fort was ready for Colonel Russell's rangers, including a company from Black's Fort (Abingdon, Virginia) to guard it while Colonel Christian ordered the officers under his command to march their men "with all possible dispatch" to the "Big Island on Holston River in Fincastle Company, the Place of General Rendezvous," in preparation for the coming Cherokee campaign in the area of what is now Knoxville, and Chattanooga, Tennessee. I hope this helps clear up the dates and gives some information on the layout of the area around what is now Kingsport, TN. Until later, good hunting, Jerry Penley in Kingsport, TN. www.Penjaccphoto.com

Thanks, Jerry, for an interesting read on the forts. Sorry to hear you've been in the hospital and glad to know that you're on the mend. We miss your history and genealogy mails on this list, so let us hear from you more often when you feel like it. Ora Jane