Colonel Clapham was succeeded by Colonel James Burd, who left such a fascinating journal of his experiences at that frontier fort.
Expeditions were sent out from the fort to the Great Island, now Lock Haven; to Chinklacamoose, now Clearfield; to Penn’s Creek, to Wyoming, and other places.
The fort faced the main river and was nearly 300 feet square, with bastions at the four corners. The total length of the fortification was more than 600 feet. A magazine was later built in the south bastion and a covered way to the river. This was strongly built with a brick arched roof and was reached by a narrow stairway descending into it. This is now the surviving structure of that dark and gloomy period in the State’s history. It is the property of the Commonwealth and it is well marked and well kept.
Fort Augusta was far in advance of any English settlement in the Province, holding the only passage by water and blocking the pathway along the river by land, to the settlements below.
The Assembly wanted to dismantle the fort and save the expense of the garrison, but no Governor would agree to this plan, as it was an actual protection for the inhabitants.
During the Revolution Fort Augusta again became an important place, the headquarters of the Military Department of the Susquehanna. Colonel Samuel Hunter, the county lieutenant, mustered and trained troops there for the Continental Army. It was here where Colonel Thomas Hartley drew his supplies for his expedition against the Indians in 1778.
It was at Fort Augusta where the terrified inhabitants found safety in the “Great Runaway,” following the Indian incursions which culminated in the Wyoming massacre, July 3, 1778.
The work of dismantling the fort began about 1780, as the ground then passed into private hands. Thus this old fort has crumbled into ruins, its story unsung, its heroes forgotten.
But for the wisdom of the Indians this fort would not have been built and the horrors of the French and Indian War would have been carried to the banks of the Delaware. This fort was where the high tide of the Revolution was turned backward and the English and their Indian allies forced to turn their faces again toward Canada. It was the largest and most important provincial fortification on the frontier of this continent.