The Fort
Timeline
The life of the fort by date, from the 1808 founding to the present day.
Showing 9 of 9 entries.
- 1808Founding
The fort is built
First Lieutenant Alpha Kingsley begins construction of the first permanent United States military post on the Upper Mississippi. The soldiers first call it Fort Bellevue, then rename it for President James Madison.
- 1809Early conflict
Turned back at the gate
In April, during a council inside the unfinished stockade, Sauk (Sac) warriors dance their way toward the gate meaning to get inside. Lieutenant Kingsley, forewarned, wheels the cannon to the gateway with a soldier ready to fire it, and the Sauk leaders call the dancers back. No shot is fired. The peace around the post is already thin.
- March 1812War of 1812
The war reaches the fort
As tensions with Britain rise toward war, Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) war parties working the country around the post kill two soldiers, one ambushed while hunting and one shot at his sentry post. Many Native nations in the region are allied with the British.
- September 1812War of 1812
The four-day attack
About two hundred Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) and Sauk (Sac) warriors surround the fort and fight it for four days, firing from a river bank thirty paces from the walls and trying to burn the garrison out. The soldiers burn their own trading house rather than leave it as cover, and the attackers withdraw with their ammunition spent. The Sauk leader Black Hawk takes part and shoots the halyard in two, bringing the fort's flag down.
- 1813War of 1812
Supply crisis, evacuation, and destruction
Native attacks remain a serious threat during the summer, and six soldiers are killed in two July encounters. By fall, however, the garrison faces a critical shortage of usable provisions. With winter approaching, Lieutenant Thomas Hamilton orders the post evacuated. In November, the soldiers withdraw by boat and burn Fort Madison before leaving.
- 1965Rediscovery
The fort found again
Archaeological work in the Sheaffer Pen Company parking lot uncovers the fort's central blockhouse and the foundations of the officers' quarters, still in place beneath the pavement.
- 1973Rediscovery
National Register listing
The site is added to the National Register of Historic Places, recognizing its place in the early history of the country.
- Mid-1980sReconstruction
Rebuilt by volunteers
A replica of the fort is built near the original site, much of it by volunteers, including inmates from the Iowa State Penitentiary.
- TodayLiving history
A site on the riverfront
Old Fort Madison is a living-history site with tours, reenactments, and education programs. A $3.5 million capital campaign is underway to raise the site above the flood plain, preserve it, and add a new Welcome Center/Living History Center.