Fort SchuylerThe fort that never surrendered

Part 2- Life at the Fort as a Private Soldier

Life for a soldier was often very hard and boring as he waited for some enemy to attack the fort. Living conditions were hard beds with straw mattress full of fleas and lice that you would share with 2-4 other men. Many men lived together in the barracks.

Sometimes cots would be set up and there was little privacy.

If you were a higher ranking soldier like a sergeant or corporal, you might have a nicer barrack that often served as an office too.

Fireplaces heated the area in the cold season, but you would need to gather firewood, which was part of fatigue duty.  You might dig a ditch or repair the wall of the fort as part of fatigue duty. You might weed the garden or carry water to the plants. You might chop down trees along Wood Creek to prevent the British from moving men and equipment along the water. Fatigue duty is hard work that must be done every day to keep the fort maintained so it would be ready for an attack.

There were no closets or dressers.  Candles and lanterns and the fire were the only lights at night.

Food would be eaten at a common table for the soldier's mess.  Bored soldiers also played the card game called cribbage that uses the peg board in the center of the table.

For entertainment, you might play a card game such as draughts (checkers) or solitaire .

Often, for fatigue work, a soldier would leave the protection of the fort to work in the gardens, cut logs for new buildings, cut sod (sections of grass) to use for the fort walls, or collect firewood.  Soldiers brought their musket and canteen as well as their haversack with food for meals.

Third NY marching as part of their drilling

Third NY at musket drill- It is important for the soldiers to be able to load and fire and reload their gun in the shortest time possible. It was also important to

practice the firing procedure when standing in lines.

Third NY at ease. The soldiers might be resting after drilling to be ready for an attack, or marching to protect men on fatigue duty as they cut down trees to cover Wood Creek to prevent the heavy cannons and supplies from being transported by water.

Firing a cannon took team work and practice. There were many cannons around the walls of the fort.

Third NY uniform and gear

Image Citations

Slide 1: image- Janet ConnersSlide 2: image- Janet ConnersSlide 3: image- Janet ConnersSlide 4: image- Janet ConnersSlide 5: image- Janet ConnersSlide 6: image- Janet Conners Slide 7: image- Janet ConnersSlide 8: image- Janet ConnersSlide 9: resting soldier-

http://www.somosprimos.com/sp2005/spaug05/louisianasoldier.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.somosprimos.com/sp2005/spaug05/spaug05.htm&h=261&w=274&sz=21&hl=en&start=15&tbnid=7UPDBWeI49mrFM:&tbnh=108&tbnw=113&prev=/images%3Fq%3D%2Bmassachusetts%2B9th%2Bregiment%2Bamerican%2Brevolution%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG

Student soldier- Janet ConnersSlide 10: marching- http://www.3nydubois.org/Slide 11: shooting- http://www.3nydubois.org/Slide 12: at ease- http://www.3nydubois.org/

Slide 13: cannon- http://www.nps.gov/archive/fost/expand/graphicsAdmin/fig19.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.nps.gov/archive/fost/expand/chapter4.htm&h=282&w=385&sz=26&hl=en&start=1&tbnid=UeojTVIEHrY_FM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=123&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dfort%2Bstanwix%2Bfife%2Band%2Bdrum%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den

Slide 14: Uniform- http://www.ebeeks.com/18Cuniforms.htm