Fort Dobbs North Carolina

I have written previously about settlements in North Carolina and the fort in Bethabara near the Yadkin Valley. Many were kept alive by the charity of the Moravian Wachovia settlement. There were harsh times in this area and although so many things went wrong for the people settling here, somehow God seemed to smile on the Moravian and made them a blessing to many and most not of that faith. Military too; traveled through there and took what they needed and the government did pay back a large portion but not near all that was taken. Some traveled many, many miles to these people to buy flour and things they just did not have. Many rented their lands and often this rent was not paid and the renters simply moved on when ready and left nothing. The houses they built though were not theirs so they were not reimbursed for that. That house could then be sold, but never the land. The land was the almost 100,000 acre purchase of an Englishman that later signed over to the Moravian totally and it was held together as a package to not be sold off but to plant and flourish as a survival for this Wachovia settlers. As hard and crazy as it sometimes went, it managed to do that for the most part. These people were settlers and missionaries; up and down the east coast. They readied pastors for their own personal settlements, including ones in Bethania and Friedland also.

They went on to build the town of Salem which was a highway of many traveling up from Charleston, South Carolina; going north and vice versa. The town of Salem though having a tavern for the travelers did turn some profit and they along with the town of Bethabara and Bethania managed to be self-sufficient in as much as they could, sending south for what they could not manage. They were formed a year though after the fort in Statesville. They had travelers coming through with word from Fort Dobbs and the happenings and warnings from there of Indian attacks.

Being in danger of attack in Statesville, Governor Arthur Dobbs in 1755 convinced the legislature to fund a fort. The building began on Fort Dobbs of Statesville in Iredell County in the spring of 1756 to protect North Carolina's settlements on the frontier from Indians who sided with the French during the French and Indian War.

The fort built at Dobbs was said to be, “A good and substantial building of the dimensions following; the Oblong Square fifty three feet by forty, the opposite angles twenty four feet and twenty-two, in height twenty four and a half feet as by the plan annexed appears, the thickness of the walls which are made of oak logs regularly diminished from sixteen inches to six, it contains three floors and there may be discharged from each floor at one and the same time about one hundred Muskets the same is beautifully situated in the fork of Fourth Creek a Branch of the Yadkin River.”

That Yadkin River must really be some river. I had no idea it was here near this fort too.

The fort served as military headquarters for the frontier company of about fifty men and a base to conserve guards for the surrounding area. On the night of February 27, 1760 it was attacked but more than seventy Cherokees were kept away. A colonial boy was killed, two soldiers and a volunteer injured with about twelve Cherokee wounded and killed.

France in 1754 was trying to unite her many colonies in North America by uniting Canada with Louisiana. Doing this, she took over lands claimed by England to be within the Province of Virginia and started a route of military posts from the Great Lakes to the Ohio Valley. North Carolina was the first colony to react to Virginia Governor's call for military help, making the first time a British colony voted to support troops outside its own borders for a common cause and protection.

Dispersed in the latter part of 1754, North Carolina locals went back to service under Major Edward Brice Dobbs in 1755, also later, in the New York Expedition in 1756. North Carolina continued to send troops throughout the war to help other colonies and took part in the 1758 Forbes Expedition.

Beneath Colonel Hugh Waddell, in 1759, North Carolina locals were brought back from South Carolina after the fall of Fort Loudoun. North Carolina was once more at the aid of Virginia in 1761; during the Cherokee War, where the Cherokees were at last defeated

At the ending of 1761, the British had practically won the war. Leaders of the colonies dispersed the troops, and the fort had been torn down for building materials by 1766. What was left over the years was picked up for souvenirs until virtually nothing remains other than the well, land and the scooped out hole that was under Fort Dobbs to store food and ammunition.

The cabins there we were told were brought from other locations and reassembled there. They have pottery like the pottery used then and some chocolate as were in my stories of Anna Catharina. They made these for special company in Salem. Even if that company was not wanted and would make a hardship, they were always treated as if they really mattered.

There are samples of the fences the fort used to make it hard to enter near the fort. It was like spears in all directions and we were told the real fences were much higher where these were only about three feet high if that.

There is the original well here on the grounds although the covering is not from back then of course but needed to make it safe. The well was inside the fort so they did not have to go out for water. They are raising money to rebuild the fort and I think they should give drinks from that well, wouldn't that be a wonderful idea. It has to be as good or better than the Fountain of Youth water in St. Augustine. There is no charge to go there but with a few more things added, they very well could. I mean a couple dollars here and there would add up, and as it is now with the goal they have it may be be we will never see another fort built. As far as I know they only take donations. They are over a million dollars short of their goal.

Today, Fort Dobbs State Historic Site preserves the site of the original fort. Living History demonstrations are offered daily Tue.-Sat. from 10:00 until 4:00 and several special events with encampments of soldiers occur throughout the year.

Information from brochures, site, site guide and online @

http://www.fortdobbs.org/history-fortdobbs.htm