Fort Argyle was first established by a small troop of South Carolina Rangers in 1733. Command of the fort was later assumed by the Georgia Rangers who manned the fort until the 1760s. By the time of the American Revolution, Fort Argyle was vacant and nearly forgotten. The recent excavations located portions of two, and possibly three forts, that were built at the same location. Fort Argyle defended the northwestern Georgia frontier against the Spanish and hostile Native Americans. Although no battles were fought at Fort Argyle, it played a key role in the colonization of Georgia.
Many interesting artifacts were recovered from the excavations that allow insight into the daily life of a Ranger on the mid-eighteenth century frontier. The Rangers were regular soldiers of the British Army, not militiamen, although they were poorly outfitted and often went months, and even years, without receiving their pay from England. Women also were among those living at Fort Argyle. Ten families attempted to settle the lands around Fort Argyle, but most of these early settlers did not stay permanently. The lands surrounding the fort were swampy, prone to malaria infestations, and generally unhealthy. Some of the soldiers that were detailed to Fort Argyle were prisoners or indentured servants and their time at Fort Argyle probably seemed much like prison. Fort Argyle's Rangers participated in several military campaigns, the most notable was during the war between Georgia and Spain, or King George's war as it was known globally. Aside from their military excursions Argyle's Rangers performed a number of more mundane tasks, such as recapturing runaway horses and livestock, transporting prisoners to Savannah for trial, and delivering the mail.
Artifacts Unearthed from Fort Argyle
Unlike the primary force of British Regulars who were stationed at Fort Frederica, Fort Argyle's Rangers were poorly armed. They had few military-issue muskets. Their preferred weapon was probably a small carbine, which could be easily carried through the dense undergrowth. We know that they had this type of weapon from examining the lead bullets and gunflints that were discarded at the fort. This picture shows most of the lead balls and a few other lead items recovered from the fort. The caliber, or diameter measured in hundredths of an inch, of the lead balls was limited by the bore diameter of the gun. Most of the lead balls were smaller than those normally used with large muskets.
The gunflints that were discarded were mostly manufactured in England. The width of the gunflint that could be used with a gun is dictated by the width of the gun's hardware. Essentially this means that smaller gunflints were probably used with smaller guns. Archaeologists measured the gunflint dimensions and compared this to the potential width range for each type of weapon; they concluded that most gunflints were the size suited for Indian Trade Guns and Carbines. Many of the gunflints were heavily used, which suggests that the soldiers had to carefully maintain their stock of weapon supplies. New shipments of supplies were erratic and many gunflints were extended far beyond their normal use-life. A typical gunflint was only reliable for about two dozen firings, and when placed in mortal combat, no soldier wanted an unreliable gunflint. The Rangers at Argyle had to make do with what they had. They even had to resort to using fragments of wine bottle glass as a substitute for English gunflints.
From the LAMAR Institute's excavations the
archaeologists learned a lot about the everyday life as a Ranger in Colonial
Georgia. The soldier's trash was the primary source of this knowledge. A variety
of broken storage, cooking, and serving vessels were excavated from the site.
Most of these were probably imported from England. A very low percentage of the
pottery was porcelain that was imported from China. Porcelain was quite
expensive in the eighteenth century. Most of the pottery at Fort Argyle reflects
a more austere lifestyle, but the presence of Chinese porcelain demonstrates
that, even on the frontier, there was still time for tea! Examples of the
pottery that was recovered is shown in the next three pictures. Although all of
these vessels were broken, they still provide clues to the eating habits,
expensive taste, and consumer choices made by an eighteenth century soldier on
the frontier.
Other artifacts from the excavations included tobacco pipe fragments, clothing articles (buttons, shoe buckles), beads, glass goblets, and one small triangular arrow point made from chert. Most of the long stemmed tobacco pipes were made from white clay and were produced in England. One exception is a molded clay elbow pipe, which is more typical of the nineteenth century and was possibly manufactured in North America. The goblet fragment is a portion of a stem from an air-twist wine glass, an elegant artifact that is typical of the eighteenth century. The glass bead is an Italian trade bead type, known as Cornaline d'Alepo, which is commonly associated with eighteenth century colonial sites. Although this was a military fort, only a few uniform buttons, buckles or other ornaments were recovered from the dig. The single arrow point was recovered from the bottom of the fort moat, just outside the fort, where one can speculate that it was shot by an irate Creek Indian.
To Learn More!
The full excavation report on file with relevant state and federal agencies. Electronic copies of two versions of this report also can be obtained at no charge from the LAMAR Institute.
Contact us have any specific questions regarding Fort Argyle, or archaeology in Georgia.
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