News Release

Historian John Weaver Presents Anatomy of Fort

John R. Weaver II

News Release Date: August 20, 2019 On Tuesday, August 27, historian John Weaver will give a presentation at Fort Stanwix National Monument discussing the anatomy and design of Fort Stanwix. Like many early American forts, geometry and intentional design created multiple levels of defense and made it very hard for attackers to overrun the fort. This free history talk will take place inside Fort Stanwix at 1 p.m. inside the fort at the Gregg Building.

“Because of the fort’s shape, an approaching attacker would be completely exposed to the gunfire and cannon blasts of the defenders,” said Ranger Dael Sumner, “Discovering how the fort helped defend itself lets us better understand the story of how Fort Stanwix became ‘the fort that never surrendered’ in August 1777.”

John R. Weaver II is a nationally known expert on masonry coastal defenses, and is the author of the highly acclaimed A Legacy in Brick and Stone: Coastal Defense Forts of the American Third System, 1816-1867. He is an active member and former chair of the Coast Defense Study Group and a member of the Council on America’s Military Past.

The next event taking place at Fort Stanwix National Monument is the puzzle game Operation Escape Stanwix, on Saturday, September 7. A full schedule of park events can be found on www.nps.gov/fost. All park events are free.

Fort Stanwix National Monument is open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission to the park is free. For more information about upcoming events please call the park at [phone]. Please visit the park’s web page at www.nps.gov/fost, or follow us on Facebook, YouTube, or Instagram, for additional information about the park and up-to-date news about park events. Fort Stanwix is one of over 400 parks in the National Park System. To learn more about national parks, visit www.nps.gov.

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