Description:
Framed line engraving of a working sawmill titled on the top: "A View of a Saw Mill & Block House upon Fort Anne Creek the property of Genl Skeene," and below the print: "Which on Genl Burgoyne's Army advancing, was set Fire to by the American. / Published as the Act directs, 1 Jan 1789 by W. Lane Leadenhall Street London." The print has three men working the in the two building comprising the sawmill and the block house on the right, all on the side of a steep embankment; and two British soldiers on the left and four indians on the right next to a body of water in the foreground. Now known as Whitehall, New York, Major Philip Skene (1725-1810) established Skenesborough in 1759, which was the first English-speaking settlement on Lake Champlain and thrived as Skene built a logging operation, a foundry, and a ship-building enterprise to provide the ships for his shipping industry. Major Skene also constructed a saw mill and a block house at Fort Ann, halfway between Skenesborough and Fort Edward. Skene was a staunch Tory and loyal to the British cause; on May 9, 1775, a party of armed American patriots arrived at Skenesborough and captured Skene’s sailing schooner, the Katherine. Renamed the Liberty, and subsequently mounted with cannons, this vessel gave the Americans control of Lake Champlain. It was one of the first vessels armed by the rebellious colonies. In 1776, Skenesborough served as a supply depot for materials coming north from Albany, NY. When the American army retreated from Canada in June 1776, the waterfront drastically changed. To match the navy the British constructed on the Richelieu River, the Americans, under the direction of General Benedict Arnold, turned Skenesborough into a shipyard. Using the forges and sawmill of Philip Skene and other mills in the region, American shipwrights constructed a fleet from local timber. By the fall, they built a total of twelve vessels. Due to this military activity, Whitehall proudly states it as being "The Birthplace of the United States Navy." In July 1777, the sawmill and blockhouse at Fort Anne were burned by American forces, reteating in advance of the British army under the command of General John Burgoyne (1722-1792). After the war, Philip Skene attempted unsuccessfully to regain his property and returned to England. According to George Sheldon, a Deerfield military company was involved in miliarty action against Burgoyne's forces, and Captain Joseph Stebbins (1749-1816) and Captain Hugh Maxwell (1733-1799) of Charlemont brought back some of Burgoyne' s personal effects (brass candlestick, linen towel, and book) which are displayed at Memorial Hall.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/test/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+79.014 |
