Frederica - The Fort

" In the morning, Mr. Oglethorpe began to mark out a fort with four bastions, and taught the men how to dig the ditch, and raise and turf the rampart." Francis Moore 1736 A Voyage to Georgia General Oglethorpe chose this site for Frederica's fort. It was high ground on a river bend where cannon could hold off Spanish ships upstream or downstream. Flanking marshes gave protection against land attack, And there was plenty of timber for building fortifications. The fort at Frederica became the center of military operations along the Southern frontier of the British colonies. From here Oglethorpe launched offensives against the Spanish at St. Augustine. The Spanish invaded Georgia in 1742, but were turned back before they reached Frederica. The fort was eventually leveled-not by the Spanish, but by time and the elements. Archeological excavations in the 1950s confirmed the locations of palisades, walls, and buildings. Earthworks have been partially reconstructed.