"The Broaddus Flats Site and Virginia Frontier Fortifications in the Seventeenth Century"
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Many questions about the Broaddus Flats site remain unanswered at this writing. Was the site occupied by English colonists before 1690? Was the “kitchen” wing actually the original house? It would have been almost in the center of the palisade. What about the size of the palisaded enclosure? Does it enclose an area that is large enough for 50-100 men and their horses, equipment, etc.? Was the parlor and hall section with it’s end chimneys added later? The front porch of the parlor and hall section is so close to the palisade trench that if the palisade were still standing when the porch was built, people would have had a difficult time gaining access to the front door. Was the palisade gone when the parlor and hall section was built? What other structures were located within the palisade? Could this site have had a military use or was it always just a private dwelling? Artifacts such as clay tobacco pipes, horse furniture (bridle parts, ornamental brasses, stirrups,) gun flints, a sword hilt, and food remains, have been found at the site. There is also a large number of domestic artifacts such as pottery, thimbles, spoons, table wares, tobacco hoe blades, and a monogrammed sealing wax stamp. Can the quantity of these artifacts, or any other data concerning them provide clues to possible use of this site as a military fort rather than just a homestead? Of course residents of a domestic dwelling would have owned guns and horse equipment. Fort Menaskn, one of the fall line forts built in 1675, is known to have been located on the Pamunkey River somewhere near the Broaddus site, although its exact location has not been discovered. Could Broaddus Flats have been Fort Menaskin, a military fort, converted into a private homestead by the 1690s or was it just a fortified homestead that eventually ceased to need a palisade fence?

Another question that arises when examining the Broaddus Flats site concerns the curious shape of the palisade enclosure. The enclosure is shaped very much like a large baseball diamond. It is almost a triangle but the triangle’s baseline is curved with a semicircular concave indentation at it’s mid point that looks like a gateway. The concave structure of the gate would have made it easy to defend with enfilading musket fire. This gateway faces what are now large open fields. The apex of the palisade comes to an apparent point at the edge of the river bank. There are historic precedents for military triangular forts, the fort at Jamestown being the most famous. The fort at Jamestown is placed such that it’s baseline faces the river, the direction from which enemy ships might attack the settlement. Another triangular military fort in Virginia was Fort Algernoun, built at Point Comfort in 1609. Fort Algernoun had bastions at each corner. The fortification at Broaddus Flats has it’s narrowest point closest to the river. It is symmetrical with the sides of the triangle/baseball diamond following straight lines that must have been measured rather than haphazardly dug. The curious shape of the enclosure was certainly intentional. Although it is not a perfect triangle, the above mentioned military forts show that there was a precedent for military forts in Virginia to be built in triangular configurations. Whoever built this palisade planned it’s shape carefully. It is very different from the rectangular Seventeenth Century enclosures at Martin’s Hundred, Flowerdew Hundred, Clift’s Plantation, and Harbor View, which enclosed homes or settlements. The palisade around the Boy’s House at Martin’s Hundred is roughly triangular, but appears to have been built without careful measurement. Unlike these other fortifications, the palisade at Broaddus Flats does not show indications of bastions or flankers. If this palisade were built merely to fortify a house, someone certainly went to a great deal of trouble to produce a shape that raises questions about a possible military design.

Much more research needs to be done on the fall line forts. Further archaeological exploration may some day reveal their location, or perhaps some written documentation may yet be discovered. The Broaddus Flats site is located at a point on the Pamunkey River that would have been a good site for a fort. It is on the correct side of the Pamunkey River, and the palisade wall extends nearly to the river bank, affording a view up and down stream. If the Broaddus Flats palisade were Fort Menaskin, one would expect to find some artifacts dating from the 1670s. As yet no artifacts have been found that can be specifically dated to that period. However, it must be remembered that if the site were Fort Menaskin, it would have seen military use for only a few years, roughly from 1676-1683. At present, until further evidence is discovered, the best conservative guess is that the Broaddus Flats dwelling began as a fortified homestead, but the possibility that the site might have been Fort Menaskin is worth consideration.

Frontier Forts in Virginia Near the Fall Line

Fort Henry: Site of Petersburg on Appomattox River
Fort Charles: Falls of the James River 1645
Fort West: Falls of the James River (Is this the same structure as Fort Charles, or another site?)
Fort Royal: Mattaponi River Near Aylett or Walkerton. Also called Fort Mattaponi 1645
Fort Menaskin or Metuxen: Pamunkey River, location unknown
Fort James: Possibly at or near Lanexa, Chickahominy River 1645
Fort ? Rappahannock River, location unknown
Fort: ? Potomac River, location unknown
Fort ? York River, location unknown

The Indians

The name, Menaskin or Metuxen is obviously of Indian origin. A map of the area, located in the Library of Virginia, dating from 1715 shows the territory between the Pamunkey and Mattaponi rivers with the label, “ Metsquin Indians.” Indian names were spelled with notorious variety by the English, as they groped with trying to pronounce and write strange words from Native American languages. It is easy to envision how Metsquin could be converted to Metaskin, Metuxen, or Menaskin. Were the Metsquin Indians part of the Pamunkey group? Part of the Powhatan chieftainship? It seems likely. One also suspects that the longhouses at the Broaddus Flats site constituted part of a village and if so, could it have had the same name? It was common for English settlements to be erected upon the sites of Indian villages because the Indians had chosen sites that tended to be strategic and located on good agricultural land, usually along the edges of streams which provided transportation as well as water. The Indians would have already cleared some of the surrounding area for crops so this would have been an added benefit for the colonists. The Broaddus Flats house was built right over the remains of old longhouses.

Some writers have suggested that the frontier forts may have been partially garrisoned by friendly Indians. I find this hard to believe, given the animosity and fear that most colonists at the time felt toward the Indians. It does seem likely that some friendly Indians may have served as scouts.

By the time that these forts were in operation, the greatest Indian danger on the Virginia frontier was not from the Powhatans but from groups of raiding Indians, Susquahannocks and others, who came from the north. The colonist’s fears of Indian raids were the source of sentiments that propelled Nathaniel Bacon toward his infamous rebellion.

A number of Indian artifacts have been found at the Broaddus Flats site. These include glass trade beads, fire cracked rocks, projectile points of several types, pottery sherds, and colono ware. The colono ware is not necessarily Indian, but could have been made and/or used by slaves.

During the seasons that we have been working at Broaddus Flats, we have learned much about the site. However, as discussed above, new finds and research raise many new questions. More excavation should reveal more information about the palisade. The truth is out there. We will keep digging and looking. Stay tuned.

Sources

Blanton, Wyndham B., M.D. Medicine in Virginia in the Seventeenth Century. Richmond: William Byrd Press, 1930.

Bruce, Philip Alexander. Institutional History of Virginia in the Seventeenth Century.
Volume 1. New York, 1910.

Davis, William Newell, Jr. 1979 “Frontier Fortifications Along the Virginia Fall Line.” Tyler’s Quarterly Journal and Geneological Magazine. 23, no.1: 5-9.

Hening, William Waller. The Statutes at Large: Being a Collection of all the Laws of Virginia From the First Session of the Legislature In the Year 1619. Volume 1. New York: W. and G. Bartow, 1823.

MacCord, Howard A., Sr. 1970. “Forts in Colonial Virginia.”, The Virginia Cavalcade. 20, no. 2: 4-41

Tisdale, D. A. Soldiers of the Virginia Colony 1607-1699. Richmond: Dietz Press, 2000.

Washburn, Wilcomb E. The Governor and the Rebel: A History of Bacon’s Rebellion in Virginia. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1957.

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Date posted: 4.19.04

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