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OLD FORT MADISONPRESERVATION

Established 1808

The Fort

Old Fort Madison was the first permanent United States military post on the Upper Mississippi River. It was built in the years after the Louisiana Purchase, fought through the War of 1812, and was burned by its own garrison in 1813. What stands on the riverfront today is a careful reconstruction of that frontier post.

Read the full historyPlan a visit
Aerial view of the reconstructed Old Fort Madison beside the Mississippi River, showing the palisade walls, corner blockhouses, barracks, and the open parade ground.
The reconstructed fort on the Mississippi riverfront. Select a marker to explore, or use the points of interest below. Photograph courtesy of Old Fort Madison Preservation.

Points of interest

The river and escape route
The Mississippi runs alongside the fort. In 1813 the garrison slipped out after dark through a trench to the river and escaped by boat. The night they left
A corner blockhouse
Timber blockhouses stood at the corners and rose above the walls, so defenders could fire along the palisade and out at attackers. Historic structures
The palisade
A wall of upright logs enclosed the post and tied the corners together. It was the line the September 1812 attackers nearly carried. Historic structures
The parade ground and flagstaff
The open ground at the center is where the garrison drilled and the flag flew, the flag Black Hawk later claimed to have shot down. Black Hawk and the flag
The barracks
Inside the walls stood the barracks and officers' quarters that housed the garrison of about sixty soldiers. Historic structures
The trading house
The fort included a government trading house where goods were exchanged with Native nations. Trade was part of the post's purpose. Historic structures

At a glance

A frontier post on the Mississippi

A few facts to orient you before the longer story.

1808
Established
One of three new Western posts
~60
Soldiers
A small frontier garrison
5
Corners
Roughly 120 by 160 feet
1813
Burned
Abandoned and set alight

The fort was one of three posts the United States planted in the West after the Louisiana Purchase, alongside Fort Belle Fontaine near St. Louis and Fort Osage near present-day Kansas City. It was meant to anchor American authority and trade on a river that the country had only recently come to control.

Its location worked against it from the start. The post sat at the base of a bluff next to a ravine, ground from which attackers could fire down on the garrison. That weakness shaped every fight the soldiers had here and the way the story ended.

Explore the section

Go deeper

Five pages cover the fort from its founding to the ground beneath the reconstruction.