Fort Bute facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Fort Bute |
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British West Florida in 1767
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| Location | British West Florida, now East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana |
| Built | 1776 |
| Built by | Kingdom of Great Britain |
| Demolished | 1779 |
| Important events | Capture of Fort Bute Gulf Coast campaign |
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Fort Bute was a fort built by the British in 1766. It was located in what was then British West Florida, near where Bayou Manchac meets the Mississippi River. The fort was named after the Earl of Bute, a famous British leader.
Fort Bute was about 115 miles (185 km) up the Mississippi River from New Orleans. It was on the western edge of British West Florida. This fort was one of three important British outposts in the lower Mississippi area. The others were Fort Panmure and the Baton Rouge outpost.
Why the British Built Fort Bute
On October 20, 1763, Major Robert Farmar announced that everyone in West Florida was now a subject of England. The British wanted to connect their lands. Colonel Taylor led efforts to clear the Iberville River. They also built a path from British West Florida to Mobile, which was called the "14th British colony."
Captain James Campbell and 50 African slaves helped clear a channel to the Mississippi River. During this time, Major Robert Farmar planned to build Fort Bute. Its purpose was to protect the workers and the settlers living nearby.
Building the Fort
In 1765, building materials arrived at Bayou Manchac. An engineer named Archibald Robertson came from Pensacola to help. Archibald Robertson oversaw the design and building of Fort Bute.
The fort was quite simple. It had one main building called a blockhouse. This blockhouse was surrounded by a strong wooden fence called a stockade. The fort was designed to hold up to 200 soldiers. It also had a separate living area for the officers.
The Capture of Fort Bute
On September 3, 1779, Colonel Alexander Dickson removed almost all the soldiers from Fort Bute. Only 23 soldiers were left behind. The other troops were ordered to march to the Baton Rouge outpost.
Meanwhile, Bernardo de Gálvez was the Governor of Spanish Louisiana. He was also the commander of the Spanish troops. Gálvez gathered a large force of 1,427 men. This group included 600 settlers from different countries, 160 Native Americans, and 667 Spanish soldiers.
Gálvez slowly led his troops toward Bayou Manchac. They marched through the muddy swamp, covering about nine miles each day. The Spanish army arrived at Fort Bute 11 days after they started their march.
At dawn on September 7, 1779, the Spanish army attacked. They captured Fort Bute without any of their own soldiers getting hurt. They took one British Captain, one Lieutenant, and eighteen soldiers as prisoners. Three British soldiers managed to escape the battle and ran towards Baton Rouge.
