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26-544: The Block House was constructed in 1764 as a defensive military redoubt. Henry Bouquet initiated the construction of a small number of redoubts around the outer walls of the fort as a way to reinforce its defense, of which only the Fort Pitt Block House survives. When Fort Pitt was demolished in 1792, the Block House was left untouched because it was already in use as a residence. The structure had been converted into

52-402: A historical marker issued by the commonwealth of Pennsylvania and is a Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation designated Historic Landmark . Pittsburgh Waste Book and Fort Pitt Trading Post Papers . ULS Archives Service Center University of Pittsburgh Library System. Henry Bouquet Henry Bouquet (born Henri Louis Bouquet ; 1719 – 2 September 1765)

78-548: A century ago, should fall into the hands of those who by birth, tradition, and sentiment are particularly fitted to receive and preserve it and perpetuate the memories of the days when it was occupied by the French and their Indian allies, and afterwards by the British and Colonial troops. (However, the French had already abandoned control of the area when the blockhouse was built in 1764.) Industrialist Henry Clay Frick purchased all of

104-512: A form of biological warfare in the use of blankets infected with smallpox which were to be distributed to Native Americans. Despite this indictment historians have praised Bouquet for leading British forces in several demanding campaigns on the Western Frontier in which they "protected and rescued" settlers from increasingly frequent attacks. Bouquet was born in Rolle , Switzerland, in 1719. He

130-568: A private house in 1785 by Isaac Craig . In 1894, philanthropist Mary Schenley presented the deed to the Block House to the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). She did this specifically so that the structure might be preserved for future generations: You are to preserve and keep this relic of a bygone past, and to gather and preserve all obtainable history and tradition in regard to it, and you are to beautify and adorn it and to make it

156-425: A small outpost called Bushy Run , in what is now Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania . In a two-day battle, Bouquet defeated the tribes and Fort Pitt was relieved. The battle marked a turning point in the war. It was during Pontiac's War that Bouquet gained a certain lasting infamy, when he ordered the men under his command to distribute smallpox-infested blankets from the infirmary to besieging Native Americans during

182-600: Is not clear, however, whether the smallpox was a result of the Fort Pitt incident or the virus was already present among the Delaware people as outbreaks happened on their own every dozen or so years and the delegates were met again later and they seemingly hadn't contracted smallpox. Smallpox was highly contagious among the Native Americans, and – together with measles , influenza, chicken pox , and other Old World diseases –

208-540: The Ohio Country had fallen to the allied tribes, and Fort Pitt , Fort Ligionier , and Fort Bedford along Forbes's road were besieged or threatened. Bouquet, who was in Philadelphia , threw together a hastily organised force of 500 men, mostly Scots Highlanders, to relieve the forts. On 5 August 1763, Bouquet and the relief column were attacked by warriors from the Delaware , Mingo , Shawnee , and Wyandot tribes near

234-621: The Siege of Fort Pitt in June 1763. During a parley in midst of the siege on June 24, 1763, Captain Simeon Ecuyer gave representatives of the besieging Delawares small metal boxes containing two blankets and a handkerchief that had been exposed to smallpox, in an attempt to spread the disease to the Natives in order to end the siege. After the end of the war, Levy, Trent and Company , of which William Trent

260-676: The Block House resides within the boundaries of Point State Park, it is owned and operated by the Fort Pitt Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. The DAR allows visitors to the park to tour the structure. The building is recognized by the National Register of Historic Places as being the sole surviving historical building in the " Forks of the Ohio (Site of Fort Duquesne and Fort Pitt, Bouquet's Blockhouse)" historic place. It also has

286-585: The Chain of friendship. Out of our regard to them we gave them two Blankets and an Handkerchief out of the Small Pox Hospital. I hope it will have the desired effect. They then told us that Ligonier had been attacked, but that the Enemy were beat of. A month later in a series of letters between Bouquet and his commander, General Jeffery Amherst , the idea of using smallpox blankets was proposed and agreed upon to infect

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312-600: The Indian tribes that had been allied to the French during the French and Indian War to join together to continue the fight to remove the British from the territory. Pontiac initiated attacks on the westernmost frontier forts and settlements, believing the defeated French would rally and come to their aid. The start of the conflict is usually described as the siege of Fort Detroit on 10 May 1763. Fort Sandusky , Fort Michilimackinac , Fort Presque Isle , and numerous other frontier outposts were quickly overrun. Several frontier forts in

338-551: The Indians by giving them infected blankets. Amherst wrote to Bouquet, then in Lancaster , on about 29 June 1763: "Could it not be contrived to send the small pox among those disaffected tribes of Indians? We must on this occasion use every stratagem in our power to reduce them." Bouquet agreed, replying to Amherst on 13 July: "I will try to inoculate the Indians by means of blankets that may fall in their hands, taking care however not to get

364-706: The Swiss guards. In 1756, Bouquet entered the British Army as a lieutenant colonel in the 60th Regiment of Foot (Royal American Regiment), a unit made up largely of members of Pennsylvania's German immigrant community. After leading the Royal Americans to Charleston, South Carolina to bolster that city's defences, the regiment was recalled to Philadelphia to take part in General John Forbes ' expedition against Fort Duquesne in 1758. While Bouquet travelled down

390-402: The disease myself." Amherst responded on 16 July: "You will do well to try to inoculate the Indians by means of blankets, as well as to try every other method that can serve to extirpate this execrable race." By the autumn of 1764, Bouquet had become the commander of Fort Pitt . To subdue the ongoing Indian uprising, he led a force of nearly 1,500 militiamen and regular British soldiers from

416-636: The fort into the Ohio Country . On 13 October 1764, Bouquet's men reached the Tuscarawas River . Shortly thereafter, representatives from the Shawnees, Senecas , and Delawares came to Bouquet to sue for peace. Bouquet then moved his men from the Tuscarawas River to the Muskingum River at modern-day Coshocton, Ohio . This placed him in the heart of tribal lands and would allow him to quickly strike

442-623: The land surrounding the Block House in 1902, shortly before Schenley's death. He offered the DAR $ 25,000 to move the Block House to Schenley Park ; however, the DAR refused. Following lengthy litigation, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania ruled in favor of the DAR and the Block House, enabling its continued preservation. The structure has never been torn down, completely rebuilt, or moved during its centuries of existence. Much of its timbers, brick, and stone remain original to its 1764 construction. Although

468-424: The natives' villages if they refused to cooperate. As part of the peace treaty, Bouquet demanded the return of all white captives in exchange for a promise not to destroy the Indian villages or seize any of their land. The return of the captives caused much bitterness among the tribesmen, because many of them had been forcibly adopted into Indian families as small children, and living among the Native Americans had been

494-501: The only life they remembered. Some 'white Indians' such as Rhoda Boyd managed to escape back into the native villages; many others were never exchanged. Bouquet was responsible for the return more than 200 white captives to the settlements back east. In 1765, Bouquet was promoted to brigadier general and placed in command of all British forces in the southern colonies. He died in Pensacola , West Florida , on 2 September 1765. Bouquet

520-460: The receptacle of relics bearing on the Colonial and Revolutionary periods of its existence....I will therefore...leave the ladies of your Society, who have the history of western Pennsylvania at their finger ends, to tell the story of the chivalrous Frenchmen, cruel, crafty Indians, courageous British, and intrepid Colonists. It is fitting that this old landmark, rich in historic associations of more than

546-434: The road from Fort Bedford, his troops were attacked by French and Indians at Loyalhanna , near present Ligonier, Pennsylvania , but the attack was repulsed and they continued on to Fort Duquesne , only to find it razed by the fleeing French. In 1763, bands of Native Americans joined forces to remove the British from their territory in what is most often called Pontiac's War . Pontiac , an Ottawa war leader, began urging

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572-504: Was a Swiss mercenary who rose to prominence in British service during the French and Indian War and Pontiac's War . He is best known for his victory over a Native American force at the Battle of Bushy Run , lifting the siege of Fort Pitt during Pontiac's War. During the conflict Bouquet gained lasting infamy in an exchange of letters with his commanding officer, Jeffery Amherst , who suggested

598-548: Was a major cause of death since the arrival of Europeans and their animals. The journal of Trent, who served the commander of the militia at the fort, has provided evidence that this plan was carried out: [June] 24th [1763] The Turtles Heart a principal Warrior of the Delawares and Mamaltee a Chief came within a small distance of the Fort Mr. McKee went out to them and they made a Speech letting us know that all our [POSTS] as Ligonier

624-565: Was a member of, submitted a reimbursement invoice on which was written: "To Sundries got to Replace in kind those which were taken from people in the Hospital to Convey the Smallpox to the Indians Vizt." General Thomas Gage approved reimbursement to the company. A reported outbreak that began the spring before left as many as one hundred Native Americans dead in Ohio Country from 1763 to 1764. It

650-776: Was destroyed, that great numbers of Indians [were coming and] that out of regard to us, they had prevailed on 6 Nations [not to] attack us but give us time to go down the Country and they desired we would set of immediately. The Commanding Officer thanked them, let them know that we had everything we wanted, that we could defend it against all the Indians in the Woods, that we had three large Armys marching to Chastise those Indians that had struck us, told them to take care of their Women and Children, but not to tell any other Natives, they said they would go and speak to their Chiefs and come and tell us what they said, they returned and said they would hold fast of

676-643: Was likely the son of Isaac-Barthélemy Bouquet, a mercenary in the service of the Kingdom of Sardinia , and Madeleine Rolaz. Like many military officers of his day, Bouquet traveled between countries serving as a professional soldier. He began his military career in 1736 in the army of the Dutch Republic , and later in 1739 joined the army of the Kingdom of Sardinia. In 1748, he was again in Dutch service as lieutenant colonel of

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