Fort Patrick Henry (1)
Fort Patrick Henry (1) (1776-1780s) - A Revolutionary War Fort first established in 1776 on site of earlier Fort Robinson near present day Kingsport, Sullivan County, Tennessee. Named Fort Patrick Henry after Patrick Henry, first Governor of Virginia and Revolutionary War Patriot. Garrisoned throughout the Revolutionary War and abandoned in the 1780s.
History of Fort Patrick Henry
Established in September 1776 on the site of old Fort Robinson by Lt. Colonel William Russell, commander of the Fincastle Rangers. The post served as a base for their campaign against hostile Cherokee. The fort was built as a 100 yard square bastioned post and enclosed some three acres. Three sides were enclosed by the stockade and the fourth side was along the high bank of the Holston River. The fort was garrisoned throughout the Revolutionary War.
General Griffith Rutherford assembled a force of about 2,400 and defeated the hostile Cherokees. The Avery Treaty was negotiated with the Cherokee on 20 Jul 1777 on the Long Island in the South Fork of the Holston River.
Fort Patrick Henry became a jumping off point for settlers heading to White's Fort (Knoxville) and French Lick (Nashville).
The fort was abandoned as a military post sometime in the 1780s.
No remains, recently replaced marker on TN 93. The fort site is reportedly a part of the Eastman Chemical manufacturing site.