Fort at Number 4

The Fort at Number 4 was the northernmost British settlement along the Connecticut River in New Hampshire until after the French and Indian War. Now known as Charlestown, it was more than 30 mi from the nearest other British settlement at Fort Dummer. Construction began in 1740 by brothers Stephen, Samuel and David Farnsworth. By 1743, there were 10 families settled in a square of interconnected houses, enclosed in a stockade with a guard tower.

King George's War
In 1744, during King George's War, many of the area's outlying farms and buildings were burned by the French and their Indian allies. Some settlers, along with some Indian warriors, were killed in ambushes and small skirmishes. Other settlers were taken prisoner, to be ransomed back in Canada. The settler families would abandon the fort in the fall of 1746, and it was then occupied by Capt. Phineas Stevens and 30 militia troops in the spring of 1747. On April 7, 11 days after Capt. Stevens and his men arrived, the fort was besieged by a large force combining French militia and Abenaki warriors (said be 700 strong, although probably much less), under the command of Ensign Boucher de Niverville of the French Marines. The siege lasted 3 days, until the French and Indians decided to head back to Canada rather than risk a direct attack on the fort, thus preventing further raids on settlements to the south and east.

French and Indian War
One Indian raid against the Fort in August 1754, immediately prior to the French and Indian War, led to the capture of Susanna Willard Johnson and her family, who were eventually sold into slavery. Following Johnson's release several years later, she wrote a popular captivity narrative of her ordeal.

During the last of the French and Indian Wars, many soldiers were stationed in the Fort at Number 4 to protect the frontier. They included Colonel Nathan Whiting's Regiment of Connecticut, and Colonel John Goffe’s New Hampshire Provincial Regiment. Returning from a raid on St. Francis, Quebec, Robert Rogers in 1759 sought help here for his hungry Rangers at Fort Wentworth far up the Connecticut River. Also at that time, General Jeffrey Amherst ordered a road to be built between the fort and another fort newly captured at Crown Point, located on the shores of Lake Champlain in New York. Consequently, Capt. John Stark and a company of Rangers, together with Col. Goffe's Regiment, built the Crown Point Military Road. It was 77.5 mi long, with many blockhouses along its route to protect supplies and travelers through the wilderness that would later become Vermont. With the defeat of the French in 1761, and the Treaty of Paris in 1763, the need for the fort ended.

American Revolution
Although the fort no longer existed, General John Stark gathered the New Hampshire Militia regiments at its site while traveling to the Battle of Bennington in 1777.

Today
The Fort at Number 4 is now a living history museum, recreated to depict its appearance during King George's War. A group of historians and enthusiasts portray the settlers and town militia. During most summers, the fort hosts both French and Indian War and American Revolutionary War reenactments. The fort was closed for the 2009 season, was partly reopened in 2010 for selected events, and has reopened for a full summer season in 2011.