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Mid-19th Century New York Fortress Built to Keep the British Out Sold to Canadians [1]
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Date: 2022-12-05
Fort Montgomery, on Lake Champlain in upstate New York
A fortress in upstate New York once designed to defend the US border from British incursions from Canada was recently sold to two Canadian brothers.
The United States has been invaded by the British using Lake Champlain as their highway three times: twice during the American Revolution and once more during the War of 1812. The first attack was stalled by Benedict Arnold at the battle of Valcour Island in 1776 and withdrawl of the British with the onset of winter, the second ended with the surrender of General John Burgoyne’s British and Hessian army at Saratoga in October 1777, and the third was stopped by the US Navy at the Battle of Lake Champlain in 1814.
In order to defend the lake and the border, the US Army Corps of Engineers designed and started construction of permanent fortifications near the border in 1816. Due to poor surveying, the original fort was built nearly a mile on the northern side of the US-Canadian border. This became known as “Fort Blunder.”
The second fort, properly surveyed this time, was built between 1844 and 1871 at Rouse’s Point in Clinton County, New York. Unlike many contemporary forts built out of bricks, this fort was built out of stone. The fort was named after General Richard Montgomery who was killed leading an American attack on Quebec in 1775 (during the first American invasion of Canada). At its height, the fort mounted over eighty guns on three levels (it was designed for 125) and was surrounded by a moat which could only be crossed by a drawbridge.
Postcard of the fort, probably from the late 1800s. All of the walls are still standing.
With advances in military technology, particularly in rifled artillery and high explosives, Fort Montgomery gradually became obsolete and was abandoned and sold at auction by the US government in 1926. The fort was plundered by locals for building materials, particularly wood, stone, and ironwork, and has had several owners over the years as parts of the walls collapsed or were demolished for landfill. The previous owners of the property tried to sell the fort on eBay in 2016, but this deal was not consummated.
In September of this year, the fort was sold to two Canadian brothers according to the Plattsburg Press-Republican. The brothers, Martin Benoit, 55, and Benoit Benoit, 46, purchased the fort and the adjoining grounds for $750,000. The brothers envision using the old structure and grounds as a winery, a wedding venue, with possibly a restoration of the fort itself as a tourist attraction.
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