Fort Wentworth was built by order of
Benning WentworthBenning Wentworth was the colonial governor of New Hampshire from 1741 to 1766.-Biography:The eldest child of the John Wentworth who had been Lieutenant Governor, he was born and died in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Wentworth graduated from Harvard College in 1715...
in 1755. The fort was built at the junction of the
Upper Ammonoosuc RiverThe Upper Ammonoosuc River is a tributary of the Connecticut River that flows through Coös County in northern part of the northeastern U.S. state of New Hampshire...
and
Connecticut RiverThe Connecticut River is the largest and longest river in New England, and also an American Heritage River. It flows roughly south, starting from the Fourth Connecticut Lake in New Hampshire. After flowing through the remaining Connecticut Lakes and Lake Francis, it defines the border between the...
, in
Northumberland, New HampshireNorthumberland is a town located in southwestern Coos County, New Hampshire, U.S., north of Lancaster. It is part of the Berlin, NH–VT micropolitan statistical area...
, by soldiers of Colonel
Joseph BlanchardJoseph Blanchard was born in Dunstable, New Hampshire on February 11, 1704 to Capt. Joseph Blanchard and his wife Abiah Hassell. In 1724 he joined the New Hampshire Militia as a lieutenant and served in Capt. Eleazer Tyng's Company. On September 26, 1728 he married Rebecca Hubbard of Groton,...
's
New Hampshire Provincial RegimentThe New Hampshire Provincial Regiment was a composite regiment made up of units of the New Hampshire Militia during the French and Indian War for service with the British Army in North America. It was first formed in 1754 with the start of hostilities with France.-1755:In 1755 Col...
including
Robert RogersRobert Rogers was an American colonial frontiersman. Rogers served in the British army during both the French and Indian War and the American Revolution...
. In 1759,
Rogers' RangersRogers' Rangers was an independent company of colonial militia, attached to the British Army during the Seven Years War . The unit was informally trained by Major Robert Rogers as a rapidly deployable light infantry force tasked with reconnaissance and conducting special operations against distant...
returned here hoping for resupply after
their raidThe St. Francis Raid was an attack in the French and Indian War by Robert Rogers and a band of his Rangers on the primarily Abenaki village of St. Francis, near the southern shore of the Saint Lawrence River in what was then the French province of Canada, on October 4, 1759...
on
St. FrancisSaint-François-du-Lac is a community in the Nicolet-Yamaska Regional County Municipality of Quebec, Canada. The population as of the Canada 2006 Census was 2,002...
,
QuebecQuebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, but the fort had no garrison and no supplies. Rogers had to travel down the Connecticut River to
Fort at Number 4The Fort at Number 4 was the northernmost British settlement along the Connecticut River in New Hampshire until after the French and Indian War. Now known as Charlestown, it was more than from the nearest other British settlement at Fort Dummer. Construction began in 1740 by brothers Stephen,...
for reinforcements and supplies for his hungry men.
During the
American Revolutionary WarThe American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
, Jeremiah Eames' Company of rangers garrisoned and repaired the unused fort from 1776–1778 in order to protect northern
New HampshireNew Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
from attack from the
BritishThe former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...
nearby in
CanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. Other units of
New Hampshire MilitiaThe New Hampshire Militia was first organized in March 1680, by New Hampshire Colonial President John Cutt. The King of England authorized the Provincial President to give commissions to persons who shall be best qualified for regulating and discipline of the militia. President Cutt placed Major...
also formed part of the garrison until the end of the war in 1783.
A stone monument stands near the village of
GrovetonGroveton is a census-designated place in the town of Northumberland in Coos County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,118 at the 2010 census. It is located at the intersection of U.S...
on
U.S. Route 3U.S. Route 3 is a north–south United States highway that runs from its southern terminus in Cambridge, Massachusetts through New Hampshire to its terminus near Third Connecticut Lake at the Canadian border, where the road continues north as Quebec Route 257.In New Hampshire parts of US 3 are...
near the site of the fort.
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