Shawnee Fort
Plymouth, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Designated in 1776 by the Continental Congress as one of a series of forts protecting American colonists from attack during the Revolutionary War. Defended Connecticut settlers from those with competing claims on Wyoming Valley lands. Garrison post of Capt. Samuel Ransom's Company, which served under Gen. George Washington. Burned in the aftermath of the Battle of Wyoming, 1778. Rebuilt; destroyed by flood, 1784. Located nearby.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
As the Revolution began, the Continental Congress ordered a chain of frontier forts to shield settlers in the contested Wyoming Valley, and Shawnee Fort was one of them. It guarded Connecticut-backed Yankee settlers — both from British-allied raiders and from Pennsylvanians who claimed the same lands — and served as the garrison of Capt. Samuel Ransom's company, which fought under Washington. Burned after the bloody Battle of Wyoming in 1778 and rebuilt, it was finally swept away by a flood in 1784.
Why it matters
The fort marks the Revolution's brutal northern frontier, where the war for independence tangled with Native alliances and rival colonial land claims far from the famous battlefields.
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Related people
- · Samuel Ransom
- · George Washington
Related events
- · Battle of Wyoming
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Battle of Wyoming
Wyoming, PA · est. 1952
On July 3, 1778, the Revolution reached the Susquehanna frontier in one of its bloodiest backcountry episodes. A small force of about 300 patriots under Colonel Zebulon Butler marched out to meet a much larger column of British, Loyalists, and allied Iroquois led by Major John Butler. The patriots were routed, many captives were killed, and terrified survivors fled to the refuge of Forty Fort.
The Bloody Rock
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Sullivan's March
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Sugarloaf Massacre - PLAQUE
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