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Historic Site | Fort/Outpost
Fort Ontario
Fort Ontario was a staging ground for the British’s 1777 invasion of New York. It served as a base of operations for British, Native, and Loyalist raiding parties targeting upstate New York. In 1782, the British committed a full-time garrison to the fort.
New York
Oswego, NY
Between 1756 and 1814, a series of five different forts stood at the mouth of the Oswego River – a location so important it was attacked seven times in that 58-year period, resulting in the successive Fort Ontarios being taken and destroyed three times. By the time of the American Revolution, Fort Ontario was largely abandoned but still lightly garrisoned as a part of the British military supply route to other posts in the upper Great Lakes region. Fort Ontario was the site of General George Washington’s last ordered offensive of the Revolutionary War. In February 1783, an American force under Colonel Marinus Willet attempted to take the fort. The expedition failed, and the British refused to abandon Fort Ontario, even after the peace treaty was signed nine months later.
