Fort Plank

Fort Plank was a fort located in Minden Township, Montgomery County in the U.S. state of New York. The fort was located upon the lands of the German Reformed Church at Canajoharie in Expense Lot A of the Rutger Bleecker/Otsquago (Land) Patent. Though the fortress known by the name Fort Plank appears to have been constructed in the spring of 1778 by Canajoharie District Militiamen of Tryon County under the command of Captain Abraham Coapman and Jacob Diefendorf , contemporary sources such as Revolutionary War Pension Applications [RWPA] suggest that there was a dilapidated blockhouse on the site which had been used by the Tryon County Militia as a camp site and rendezvous in 1776 & 1777. A map of the 1772 Division of the Rutger Bleecker Patent shows a “diamond” shaped symbol often used to mark the location of a redoubt. This same diamond shaped area remains visible on satellite photographs as recently as 1994. Today the site may be located on the north-side of New York State Route 5S, just to the east of the intersection of “River Road” & New York State Route 5S, and just to the west of a small stream which flows northward towards the Mohawk River.

History

Fort Plank makes it first documentary debut in the Papers of Colonel Charles Stewart, Commissary General of the United States (ca. 1778-1784), on October 1, 1778. On that date Assistant Commissary General of Issues Doctor James Gray, reported that 3,205 rations consisting of 3,604½ pounds of flour, 3,260½ pounds of beef, 30 gallons of rum, 32 pounds of candles, and three bushels and 33 pounds of salt had been issued from Fort Plank. On December 21, 1778, it was noted in Dr. Gray’s report to Colonel Stewart that the Assistant Deputy Commissary General of Issues, Joseph House, had retired on November 21, 1778. Reports of rations issued from Fort Plank are extant through January 1, 1781. Interesting letters, written in mid-1779 in the hand of Assistant Quarter Master General Henry Glen of Schenectady note that amongst those being served by the Commissary were Native Americans.

Located at the eastern terminus of the Oneida Trail, and at the head of the road which led to Lake Otsego and the Susquehanna Valley , Fort Plank was often the first to receive the reports of Indian scouts.

Troops from Fort Plank marched to the relief of Cherry Valley on November 11, 1778, but were delayed by orders issued by Colonel Jacob Klock. On the November, 14, 1778, Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Clyde reported to the commanding officer of Fort Plank that Fort Alden at Cherry Valley was again under siege, and later that same night Lieutenant Colonel James Gordon reported that the Fort Plank settlements were in peril of the “enemy”.

On December 13, 1778, the Fourth New York Regiment took up Winter Quarters within Fort Plank, and remained in the immediate area until June 1779, when they marched for Lake Otsego to take part in the Clinton-Sullivan Campaign. Previous to the arrival of the Fourth New York Regiment the company of Cornelius T. Jansen of the Third New York Regiment garrisoned the fortress.

On August 2, 1780, Fort Plank was attacked by Captain Joseph Brant and 24 square miles surrounding the Fort were destroyed. 52 women and children were carried away as captives. All told, 32 men, women and children were reported dead by various Rebel authorities, but Captain Brant reported only [...] 29. Of the dead, nine children and an old woman were buried at the fort in a common grave.The carnage could have been much worse, but troops under the command Colonel Abraham Wemple of the Schenectady District Regiment arrived unexpectedly and relieved the inhabitants. Interestingly, Catharine Gansevoort, sister of Colonel Goosen Van Schaick and wife of Colonel Peter Gansevoort, stated that the bulk of the women and children had been saved by entering Fort Plank.

Shortly after the August, 1780 Raid, Fort Plank was renamed “Fort Plain” by which name it is still known.

In September of 1780, Fort Rensselaer, construction of which had been began in the summer of 1779, became operational and the Assistant Commissary General of Issues moved his office to it in late December of 1780. However, Fort Plank continued on as the headquarters of the Canajoharie District Regiment of Tryon County Militia through the end of the war.

The last of the refugees living within Fort Plank left it in 1786, and the fortress is believed to have been dismantled shortly thereafter.