Fort William Henry - A Place to Put Your Cannons!!!! (1 Viewer)

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Fraxinus

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FWH Drawing.jpg

Fort William Henry, 1757. Last of the Mohicans - still an all time favorite, but the artillery discussions between Colonel Monro and Major Heyward are horrid.

Note the nearly hidden gate of the right side, only "seen" via the path and two of the curtain walls lack gun embrasures - no attack expected from those directions. Curtain walls are the long walls between the bastions (pointy things). Montcalm attacked from the west (to the left). Barracks and storehouses line the interior walls. Exterior staircases and building geometry not always rectangular, but conforms to allow narrow passages and ramps while maximizing the footprint of the building. The figures in the parade ground illustrate just how little open space there was in the interior of the Fort.

Maybe next month Carlo, maybe next month!!!
 
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PlansAndFortsp26.jpg

The actual map the "Engineer" is holding in his hand!!! No idea how John did that!!!

Orientation is different, water and lake to the bottom of screen. Underground Casement (Basement) shown in building section. Note: Exterior wall height is equal to the roof line. Ditch with short stature palisade wall in bottom, not too tall.
 
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Ok, it is Spring and the Cannons haven't arrived yet. This is getting hard.
 
Ken...that looks great...a total labor of love...you did a fantastic job...I think you need a wide angle camera it's so big...
 
when I look at all the detail...and meticulous little things you did so precisely...that really is a great fort...I know you were pretty close to scale...as that was important to you...and it turned out to be a one of a kind...never to be reproduced show stopper...you're one of the few people that actually has a big enough collection to man and siege this fort...

WELL DONE!!!
 
I just got rid of a 15mm scale Fort William Henry because it was 3'x3'.I had a 28mm section done a few years ago and that was 3'x2' so I can't imagine how big Ken's fort is and he also did it himself which is amazing.
Mark
 
Fraxinus said:
Maybe next month Carlo, maybe next month!!!
Click to expand...

you know I can't wait to get them.
....the Fort William Henry Museum on Lake George should be proud to display your fortress, assuming you'll be able to get it out of your workshop!!
Awesome building!
 
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Fantastic achievement,to build a fort of that size.Your dedication to detail, emphasizes your love for the period and love for the hobby.That is why us other forum members admire you and Mike for your contributions to the forum.Regards Greg.
 
Thanks for the kind comments, much appreciated.

Proper fortifications followed certain rules and standards. Either you complied with the rules or you did not, but the rules were well known and established. The real Fort William Henry (FWH) followed those rules, but only to the minimum. FWH was built to the minimum as it regards all aspects of geometry, length, widths, wall thickness, and gun embrasure dimensions. FWH was roughly 300 feet x 300 feet, bastion tip to bastion tip - actually about 350 feet x 280 feet. Any smaller than 300 feet per side is too small as it regards the minimum warehouse and barracks space in relation to the number of men needed to defend the walls. Smaller forts would require numerous outbuildings and storehouses, outside the fort proper to support the garrison. This is a case bigger is nearly always better. Logistics and logistics and more logistics. By the time of the American Civil War, the rifled musket increased the minimum size for a fort to about 375 feet per side.

As to scale issues, some things in the model are "correct", others are not. Things that are close to being "correct" ---- the dimensions of individual gun embrasures on the curtain walls, wall heights, building heights and widths. Only the curtain walls supporting cannon are the full minimum wall width. Actually, the curtain walls with the cannon is one of the few things that is done "correct."

Reducing the wall length to 75% of the minimum generated nearly all the subsequent dimension and scale issues (model is 90 inches from bastion tip to bastion tip; true minimum would have been 120 inches from bastion tip to bastion tip). The length of the model walls (225 feet) represent only 75% of the textbook minimum. The parade ground is subsequently reduced to 56% of the minimum and the individual bastion floor spaces are reduced to 59% of the textbook value. Upper wall thickness of the individual bastions was reduced from 15 feet to 10 feet.

Earlier this year, I learned I could have purchased 8 X 10 foot composite boards at the hardware store (Lowes), instead of the 8 x 8 foot composite boards that I did. This would have made a world of difference as it regards the model without generating that much additional work :mad::mad::mad:.

One thing I will not change is the "green color" which I stole from Carlo ^&grin^&grin^&grin. Carlo, the next month came and went, so maybe next month!!!! Just hope the next month does not become next year.

Ok, now that I dug up the board length fiasco from the past, time for a stiff one.
 
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The more I look at this the more impressive it gets truly amazing work. Besides being an excellent model the woodwork alone is a work of art. What kind of wood did you use and did you mill it all yourself? Please post all of the construction details :)
 
Yes, the figures on Tab 1 and Tab 2 would be the from the Last of the Mohicans. The Fort could only hold 400-500 men (20% of the British Force). The vast majority of the British Forces were in entrenched camp 700 yards to the southwest (1,800 men - 80%). Colonel Monro was in the entrenched camp during the Siege, not in the Bastion Fort. Entrenched camp had the same "wall" design as John's Ticonderoga log wall sculpted for the French, including the 4 swivel guns plus four brass 6-pounders and two brass 12-pounders. The Fort itself had another 22 pieces of artillery plus 13 more swivel guns. Including two 32-pounders.

I will work on a short write-up on the construction method - the vast majority of the walls and bastion floor are 5/8-inch square dowels of yellow poplar (tulip poplar) Lowes or buy in bulk. Nailed together with 16 oz. hammer, not gently. Will detail more later.

http://www.treefrogtreasures.com/fo...French-amp-Indian-War/page8&highlight=Bastion
 
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Some documents related to Siege Fort William Henry. Lt. Collins commanded the artillery in the Fort. Collin's List here does not fully cover the Entrenched Camp which included two additional brass 12-pounders and two additional brass 6-pounders.

A Return of the Ordnance at the Time of the Capitulation. This is the entire document. Much more fun to read the text in the original pen, but included a typed version for those who do not have the time to decipher the pen.

Collins List FWH.jpg

Collins Narrative FWH.jpg

The Complete Narrative by Lt. Collins (Italics):

"The Timbers of the Face of the East Bastion knocked over two or three Foot.
The Timbers many of them of the Northwest Curtain knocked into the Parapet three or four foot.
A thirteen Inch shell knocked in the passage of the Magazine under the North Bastion.
A thirteen Inch shell knocked in four or five Timbers of the Casement where the Laboratory was.
Thirteen of the Artillery and Additionals killed and wounded by one of the Mortars bursting.
A Ten Inch shell fell on the Ammunition box on the north Bastion by which were blown up killed and wounded sixteen, One of which was a provincial Officer that never was heard of but part of this coat was found.
When a Shot would strike any Timbers of the Fort or a Shell burst within Twenty of Thirty Yards it would shake like an Earth Quake."

 Note: Collins' thirteen-inch shell references are not correct. The largest shells that the French fired were from their single 9-inch mortar. Smaller shells would have been fired from the two howitzers and their second mortar (6-inch).
A Laboratory was the room under a Bastion or other protected location where the shells and gunpowder were prepared. At the time of the surrender, the walls were damaged, but not breached

Warning: I have just figured out how to modify PDFs into JPEG Files, much more dangerous now.
 
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Fraxinus said:
Some documents related to Siege Fort William Henry. Lt. Collins commanded the artillery in the Fort. Collin's List here does not fully cover the Entrenched Camp which included two additional brass 12-pounders and two additional brass 6-pounders.

A Return of the Ordnance at the Time of the Capitulation. This is the entire document. Much more fun to read the text in the original pen, but included a typed version for those who do not have the time to decipher the pen.

View attachment 190161

View attachment 190162

The Complete Narrative by Lt. Collins (Italics):

"The Timbers of the Face of the East Bastion knocked over two or three Foot.
The Timbers many of them of the Northwest Curtain knocked into the Parapet three or four foot.
A thirteen Inch shell knocked in the passage of the Magazine under the North Bastion.
A thirteen Inch shell knocked in four or five Timbers of the Casement where the Laboratory was.
Thirteen of the Artillery and Additionals killed and wounded by one of the Mortars bursting.
A Ten Inch shell fell on the Ammunition box on the north Bastion by which were blown up killed and wounded sixteen, One of which was a provincial Officer that never was heard of but part of this coat was found.
When a Shot would strike any Timbers of the Fort or a Shell burst within Twenty of Thirty Yards it would shake like an Earth Quake."

 Note: Collins' thirteen-inch shell references are not correct. The largest shells that the French fired were from their single 9-inch mortar. Smaller shells would have been fired from the two howitzers and their second mortar (6-inch).
A Laboratory was the room under a Bastion or other protected location where the shells and gunpowder were prepared. At the time of the surrender, the walls were damaged, but not breached

Warning: I have just figured out how to modify PDFs into JPEG Files, much more dangerous now.
Click to expand...

Great stuff! Thanks for sharing your knowledge and info.

Best,
Jason
 
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