Map of Forts (Click to Enlarge)
Forts
Click on a fort's name to view its information.
—Fort Buffington
—Cedar Town Station
—Chastain's Station
—Camp Scott
—Fort Cumming
—Fort Campbell
—Fort Gilmer
—Fort Means
—Fort Wool
—Fort Hetzel
—Fort Hoskins
—Fort Newnan
—Fort Floyd
—Perkins Encampment
—Sixes Encampment
Harmony Church area near Fort Buffington
Fort Buffington
County: Cherokee
City: Canton
National Register of Historic Places: No
Local Designation:
In the 1970s, the Cherokee Historical Society placed a stone boulder on Harmony Drive north of GA Highway 20, between the highway and the church. The inscription reads "Fort Buffington."
State Designation:
A 1992 bronze state historic marker on GA Hwy 20 five miles east of I-575: One-half mile north is the site of Fort Buffington, built in the 1830s by local militia. It was one of about 25 stockades in the Cherokee Indian Nation used by Federal and State troops during the Cherokee removal in 1838. In May and June, 1838, 7,000 soldiers forced over 15,000 Cherokee Indians from their homes and held them in the stockades until removal west could take place. Many Indians from the local area were held at Fort Buffington. As many as 4,000 Cherokees may have died while in the stockades and on the 800 mile journey west. Their ordeal has become known as the "Trail of Tears."
Site Significance:
One of fifteen roundup posts in Georgia, Ft. Buffington was one of the earliest established (October 1837), one of ten that were stockaded, and one of three occupied and stockaded by the winter of 1837. The post was also one of two repositories for munitions that were distributed to other posts. On June 9, 1838, 479 Cherokees were sent from Fort Buffington to New Echota before deportation to Ross’s Landing, Tennessee.
Significant Dates: October 1837 - July 1838
Significant Persons:
Capt. Ezekiel Buffington
Maj. Robert Pope
Moses Perkins
Nehemiah Garrison
Return to the Top
Site of Cedar Town Station
Cedar Town Station
County: Polk
City: Cedartown
National Register of Historic Places: No
Local Designation: None.
State Designation: None.
Site Significance:
One of 15 roundup posts in Georgia, the camp at Cedar Town was one of five that remained unfortified. Capt. Isaac Vincent of Clark County commanded the post’s company of 80 men who were part of the 1st Georgia Regiment. The Cedar Town camp is the only post of the 15 in Georgia for which provision returns have been located. The returns indicate that a maximum of 199 Indians were in custody at Cedar Town in late June 1838.
Cedar Town was also the home of the ungovernable militia company commanded by John Witcher. On behalf of his company, Witcher requested to be mustered into the service of the United States for the removal of Cherokees but was turned down by the governor and then by Gen. Winfield Scott. Agent Lacy Witcher wrote that officers of John Witcher’s company were lawless and often intoxicated. The governor confidentially ordered Col. Samuel Stewart of the state militia to forward Witcher’s correspondence. After removal was well underway in Georgia, Floyd ordered a staff officer to Cedar Town to investigate Witcher’s behavior. The governor chose not to prosecute since the Cherokees had already been removed. Witcher was subsequently exonerated.
Significant Dates: March 16, 1838 - July 1838
Significant Persons:
Capt. Isaac S. Vincent
Capt. John Witcher
Return to the Top
Chastain’s Station
County: Fannin
City: Blue Ridge
National Register of Historic Places: No
Local Designation: None.
State Designation: None.
Site Significance:
One of 15 removal posts in Georgia, Chastain's was one of five that were never stockaded. Its proximity to the North Carolina mountains where the most numerous conservative Cherokees lived made the post particularly important to the Georgia governor. The post was assigned to the Eastern Military District commanded by Gen. Abraham Eustis. Lt. Col. Camp commanded three infantry companies who were sent to a post "near Chastain's." One of the three was Capt. John Fowler’s DeKalb County militia company.
While Capt. Peake and his Tennessee company waited at the post for the Georgia companies, Gen. Charles Floyd received reports of their disorderly behavior, drunkenness, and tardiness. Floyd alerted Eustis and Camp resigned his command. The three companies remained at the post until relieved some time after the removal from Georgia was completed. They reported back to Gen. Floyd.
In 1930 a dam was completed across the Toccoa River forming Lake Blue Ridge and inundating the sites of Benjamin Chastain’s and the camp nearby.
Significant Dates: May 11, 1838 - July 5, 1838
Significant Persons:
Benjamin Chastain, store owner
Lt. Col. Benjamin J. Camp
A. P. Bush, Quartermaster, 2nd Regiment, GA Foot
Capt. John W. Fowler
Return to the Top
Camp Scott
County: Floyd
City: Rome
National Register of Historic Places: No
Site Significance:
One of 15 removal posts in Georgia, Camp Scott was also one of 5 that were encampments rather than forts. Capt. John T. Storey of Rome commanded a militia company and on May 28, 1838 reported the capture of 28 Indians. The 1838 camp was likely an extension of and perhaps on the site of an 1836 camp established to protect local residents from feared Indian uprisings and to assist in the removal of Creeks from Alabama. The 1836 camp was commanded by Maj. Charles Nelson of the state militia and housed as many as 200 men. It included a blockhouse and an entrenchment.
Significant Dates: July 1836 - June 10, 1838
Significant Persons:
Maj. Chas. N. Nelson, commander of the Georgia Volunteers 1836
Capt. John T. Story, station commander during removal
Return to the Top
Site of Fort Cumming
Fort Cumming
County: Walker
City: Lafayette
National Register of Historic Places: No
Local Designation: None.
State Designation:
A 1916 state historic site marker is located in Big Spring Park at the corner of Probasco Street and Bradley Avenue northwest of downtown Lafayette. The marker reads: Fort Cumming Cherokee Indian Stockade with block house on hill built by U.S. Government 1836. Capt. Samuel Fariss and a Company of Georgia Volunteers guarded the Indians before removal west. Marked by William Marsh Chapter N.S.D.A.R. 1916.
Site Significance:
One of fifteen roundup posts in Georgia, Fort Cumming was also one of ten that were fortified. It is the only stockade that was commanded by a local resident, although his company was supposedly gathered from other areas of the state. Initially commanded by Capt. Samuel S. Farris of Lafayette, the post gained a second mounted company and temporary commander during Farris’s absence on railroad business. Capt. Benjamin Watkins of Carroll County commanded the second company.
Approximately 500 Cherokees were kept at Fort Cumming for about ten days, and then escorted directly to Ross’s Landing. During their incarceration the Cherokees declined to accept any of the treaty money offered by the commissioners.
Significant Dates: March 6, 1838 - July 5, 1838
Significant Persons:
Capt. Samuel Farris, Lindsay’s Georgia Mounted Militia
Capt. Benjamin Watkins
Return to the Top
Site of Fort Campbell
Fort Campbell
County: Forsyth
City: Hightower
National Register of Historic Places: No
Local Designation: None.
State Designation: None.
Site Significance:
One of fifteen roundup posts in Georgia, Fort Campbell was also one of the ten posts that were stockaded and one of five located on the Federal Road. It housed one or possibly two companies of mounted militia under command of Capt. James Word. On June 9, 1838 Lt. M.D. Rogers escorted 223 Indians from Ft. Campbell to Ross’s Landing via Fort Wool.
Significant Dates: April 3, 1838 - June 30, 1838
Significant Persons:
Capt. James Word, acting commander
Lt. M. D. Rogers, escort for Cherokees sent to Ross’s Landing
Jacob M. Scudder (1788-1870), trader and innkeeper
Return to the Top
Fort Gilmer Marker
Fort Gilmer
County: Murray
City: Chatsworth
National Register of Historic Places: No
Local Designation: None.
State Designation:
Bronze state historical marker on Old U.S. Highway 411 four miles north of Carters, GA, reads as follows:
FORT GILMER
One hundred yards east is the site of Fort Gilmer, built in 1838 to garrison U.S. troops ordered to enforce the removal from this region of the last Cherokee Indians under terms of the New Echota treaty of 1833.
One of seven [sic] such forts erected in the Cherokee territory, Gilmer was the temporary headquarters of Gen.Winfield Scott, under whose command the removal was effected. The reluctant Indians were brought here and guarded until the westward march began.
105-2 GEORGIA HISTORICAL COMMISSION 195
Site Significance:
One of fifteen roundup posts in Georgia, Gilmer is also one of ten that were stockaded and one of five located on the Federal Road. The fort may have been established as early as March 1837 when Capt. William Derrick and a mounted detachment of 50 men were sent from Ft. Wool to Coosawattee to capture Creek Indians who had sought refuge there. The detachment remained for nearly two weeks. Their post was referred to as "Coosawattee."
Ft. Gilmer may have housed as many as four companies, making it one of the two most densely occupied of the Georgia posts. Capt. Charles W. Bond of Franklin County commanded a mounted company at Coosawattee and was joined by Maj. Bluefield Venable and a second company. The companies of Capts. John Horton of Jackson County and Sherif Brewster of Walton County were also sent to Ft. Gilmer.
On May 31, Maj. Venable reported 109 Indians sent from Ft. Gilmer to Ross’s Landing; and on June 5 he reported 225 [additional? total?] Indians sent from Ft. Gilmer to Ross’s Landing.
Significant Dates: March 1837 - July 1838
Significant Persons:
Capt. William Derrick, 1837
Maj. Blueford Venable, commanding officer, 1838
Lt. Col. L. B. Crane
Capt. Crane: Left in charge of two companies and 210 prisoners
Maj. Howard, Quartermaster
Return to the Top
Site of Fort Means
Fort Means
County: Floyd
City: Kingston
National Register of Historic Places: No
Local Designation: None.
State Designation: None.
Site Significance:
Of the fifteen roundup posts established in Georgia, Means was also one of the ten that were fortified. Capt. John S. Means commanded one mounted company and took 253 Indians and "7 negroes" as prisoners on May 29-30. He escorted a total of 467 prisoners from Ft. Means to Ross’s Landing. Ft. Means is notable for two acts of violence. On May 28, a militia private named Samuel R. Gilbreath of Capt. F. W. Cook’s company, shot and killed a Cherokee who attempted to escape from captivity. Subsequently, Gen. Floyd, commander of the middle military district, ordered that no weapons were to be used against the Indians except in the case of assault or resistance with a deadly weapon, or attempt to escape from custody. At New Echota on June 6, an Indian among the Ft Means prisoners struck a soldier with a rock and was chained in the blockhouse by Gen. Floyd.
Significant Dates: April 2, 1838 - June 30, 1838
Significant Persons:
Capt. John S. Means
Capt. F. W. Cook
Pvt. Samuel R. Gilbreath
Return to the Top
Site of Fort Wool
Fort Wool
County: Gordon
City: Calhoun
National Register of Historic Places: No
Local Designation: None.
State Designation:
New Echota staff erected an interpretive marker on the New Echota historic site property and 250 meters north of the suspected fort location.
Fort Wool military fort used during the Cherokee Removal
New Echota became a major military headquarters and supply depot during the Cherokee Removal. Fort Wool was constructed about 250 yards south of here in 1837. During the forced removal in May and June 1838, several hundred Cherokee were held at Fort Wool. The site of the fort is now on private property and is not open for touring.
On Tuesday, June 19, 1838 the last group of Cherokees left New Echota.
"I have the pleasure to inform you that I am now fully convinced there is not an Indian within the limits of my command, except a few in my possession who will be sent to Ross' Landing tomorrow. None can escape our troops. Georgia is ultimately in possession of the Cherokee country."
Gen. Charles Floyd
New Echota
June 18, 1838
The 7,000 troops sent into the Cherokee Nation constructed a series of forts on the presumed threat of war with the Cherokees. When the forced removal took place without warfare, the forts became prisons for the Cherokees. On a daily basis, beginning May 26, 1838, detachments of troops left each fort to find and take prisoner, Cherokees from the surrounding area. By mid June almost 15,000 Cherokees had been forced from their homes and held at the forts. From there they were transferred to emigration depots or internment camps in Tennessee."
Panel also has two photographs and one drawing: Photo of and label: Brig. General John E. Wool, Commander of Cherokee removal operations 1836-1837; Photo of and label: Major General Winfield Scott, Commander of Cherokee removal operations 1837-1838; Map of Cherokee territory listing Removal forts: Alabama forts: Fort Lovell, Fort Payne, Fort Likens Georgia forts: Means, Fort at Rome, Fort Cummings, Fort Wool, Fort Hetzel, Fort Hoskins, Fort Floyd, Fort Campbell, Fort Buffington, Fort Gilmer, Fort Newnan, Chastain's Fort; Tennessee Forts: Ross's Landing, Fort Morrow, Fort Foster, Fort Cass; North Carolina Forts: Fort Hembree, Fort Lindsay, Fort Montgomery, Fort Butler, Fort Delaney.
Site Significance:
One of fifteen roundup posts in Georgia, Ft. Wool was also the headquarters of the Middle Military District, headquarters of Brig. Gen. John E. Wool and Gen. Charles R. Floyd, site for distribution of rations to poor Cherokees, mustering in and out site for the Middle Military District; and the site where Cherokee prisoners were taken en route to Ross’s Landing. It was one of the first three posts that were stockaded, one of the five on the Federal Road, and the post that was occupied the longest time.
Significant Dates: 1819 - 1838
Significant Persons:
Brig. Gen. John E. Wool 1836 - 1837
Lt. William Lindsay 1838
Capt. William Derrick and Capt. Ezekiel Buffington, Winter 1836
Brig. Gen. Wm. Floyd 1838
Return to the Top
Site of Fort Hetzel
Fort Hetzel
County:Gilmer
City: East Ellijay
National Register of Historic Places: No
Local Designation:
Sometime prior to 1984 Lawrence Stanley (1902-1995) placed an inscribed granite marker at intersection of Yukon Road and Highway 515. Road grading subsequently destroyed the site and a Wal-Mart retail discount store now stands there. The marker was then moved about a mile to the intersection of 1st Street and Highway 515.
Granite marker inscribed as follows:
Fort Hetzel
1838 1868
In 1838 1100 Cherokee Indians were assembled on this site to take the trail of tears to Oklahoma.
State Designation: None.
Site Significance:
One of fifteen roundup posts in Georgia, Ft. Hetzel was one of the earliest established (October, 1837), one of ten that were stockaded, and one of three occupied and stockaded by the winter of 1837. Commanded by William Derrick, captain of a Georgia mounted company, the post gained a second company (infantry) by early spring. Ft. Hetzel was assigned to the eastern Military District commanded by Gen. Abram Eustis.
Located in a densely populated area of the Cherokee Nation, Ft. Hetzel briefly housed an unusually high number of prisoners. By late May 1838, Derrick had captured 425-450 prisoners and by early June thought he could start about 500 from Ft. Gilmer to Ft. Cass. He later reported he had sent 84 additional prisoners, "in all 884."
Significant Dates: Oct. 21, 1837 - July 20, 1838
Significant Persons:
Capt. William Derrick, commanding officer
Return to the Top
Site of Fort Hoskins
Fort Hoskins
County: Murray
City: Spring Place
National Register of Historic Places: No
Local Designation: None.
State Designation: None.
Site Significance:
One of fifteen roundup posts in Georgia Ft. Hoskins was also one of ten that were fortified and one of five located on the Federal Road. Capt. Hamilton Garmany of Gwinnett County was posted to Ft. Hoskins, and Capt. Thomas F. Jones of Newton County commanded the post with one mounted company. By the end of May 1838, Capt. Jones had captured 79 Indians (19 men, 24 women, and 36 children). In June, Gen. Floyd reported 122 Indians had been taken from Spring Place to Ross’s Landing.
Ft. Hoskins is notable for reports of insubordination and mutiny.
Significant Dates: March 30, 1838 - July 2, 1838
Significant Persons:
Capt. Thomas F. Jones
Capt. Hamilton Garmany
QM Maj. R. Agnew Howard
Return to the Top
Site of Fort Newnan
Fort Newnan
County: Pickens
City: Blaine
National Register of Historic Places: No
Local Designation:
The Georgia chapter of the National Trail of Tears Association placed a metal marker at the site.
State Designation: None.
Site Significance:
One of fifteen roundup posts in Georgia, Fort Newnan was one of the ten that were fortified and one of five located on the Federal Road. Capt. John Dorsey commanded the post and one mounted company. A second company commanded by a lt. colonel was subsequently sent to the fort.
Fort Newnan was notable for Capt Dorsey’s refusal to leave the post until he was threatened with arrest, and for the unusually late departure of the last of the Indian prisoners. Capt. H.C. Dodson wrote on July 2 that he had not left with prisoners because two of the 20 were too sick to move.
Significant Dates: March 25, 1838 - July 30, 1838
Significant Persons:
Capt. John Dorsey, commanding officer
Return to the Top
Site of Fort Floyd
Fort Floyd
County: Lumpkin
City: Dahlonega
National Register of Historic Places: No
Local Designation: None.
State Designation: A 1954 state historic sites marker is located on GA Highway 9E near Auraria. It reads: This is the site of one of the forts or stations used by the United States Government in Cherokee country in 1838 to round up the Cherokee Indians for their removal to the western reservations. General Winfield Scott, commander of the troops used to assemble and protect the Indians in that period, had his headquarters here at one time. It is believed that Federal troops also used this station as early as 1830 to guard the gold mines from intruders – Indians or whites – until the question of ownership of the territory was established.
Site Significance:
One of fifteen removal posts in Georgia, Fort Floyd was one of ten that were stockaded, one of two that served as repositories for munitions that were distributed to other posts, and one of two that lay outside the Cherokee Nation boundaries. The post was commanded by Capt. Benjamin Cleveland and housed one mounted company. Its quartermaster, V. M. Campbell, supervised the quartermaster departments at four additional posts (Ft. Gilmer, Ft. Hetzel, Ft. Newnan, and the camp near Chastain’s). The post was assigned to the Eastern Military District commanded by Gen. Abram Eustis. On May 27, 1838 Capt. Cleveland wrote that he would leave the next day with 60 of his best men to travel 12 or 15 miles to Tennsawattee Town or Big Savannah to capture Indians.
Significant Dates: January - July 1838
Significant Persons:
Maj. Chas. N. Nelson, commander of the Georgia Volunteers 1836
Capt. John T. Story, station commander during removal
Return to the Top
Perkins Encampment
County: Dade
City: Possibly Trenton
National Register of Historic Places: No
Local Designation: None.
State Designation: None.
Site Significance:
Camp Perkins was one of fifteen roundup posts in Georgia and one of five that were encampments rather than forts. It is the only one of the fifteen that was never occupied by a military company. On May 31, 1838 by Special Order, Charles H. Goldsborough, agent of the Indian Department, was appointed assistant quartermaster in the western district and ordered to take post near Perkins’ in Dade County. Located in the northwest part of Georgia, the post was assigned to the Western Military District. By June 11, Col. Lindsay had decided not to send troops to Camp Perkins and ordered Goldsborough to leave.
Significant Dates: May 14, 1838 - June 11, 1838
Significant Persons:
Charles H. Goldsborough, assistant quartermaster, Western Division of the Army of the Cherokee Nation
Isham Perkins, possible land owner
Return to the Top
Sixes Encampment
County: Cherokee
City: Southwest of Canton
National Register of Historic Places: No
Local Designation: None.
State Designation: None.
Site Significance:
Sixes in the Cherokee district of Hickory Log was one of the most populous Cherokee towns at the time of removal. The Sixes Gold Mine was one of the richest in the Cherokee Nation in Georgia and was abandoned by 1834. The federal government established Camp Hinar at Sixes, commanded by Lt. A. C. Fowler, after the Georgia governor requested troops to guard the mines. An estimated four to five thousand men, mostly white, were reported to be digging for gold in the Cherokee Nation.
On May 11, 1838, five companies totaling 324 soldiers were sent to Sixes. On June 6, two militia companies escorted 950 Indians from Sixes to Ross’s Landing via New Echota. By June 25, all Indians had been removed from the area and the companies were ordered to New Echota to muster out.
Significant Dates: 1798; 1830; May 11 - June 25, 1838
Significant Persons:
Chief Stopp (1834-38)
Lt. A.C. Fowler (1830)
Capts. John D. Stell, James Daniel, Thomas J. Bowman, Matthew T. Hamilton, James T. Ellis
Return to the Top