Building Boats at Fort Amanda

One question that has plagued Ft. Amanda lovers for years has been, "What kind of boats did they build in the shipyard at Fort Amanda."  That's a good question because at the moment, no one knows.  One long held tradition was that they were large enough to help Commodore Perry float his ships over a sandbar on Lake Erie on his way to fight the British.  I doubt that actually happened as the watercraft from Amanda would have to have been rafts and even small rafts could weight up to as much as 2 or 3 tons.  What I'm presenting in this blog are my thoughts on what I think the majority of boats looked like and hoping others will put forth their ideas.  

What Types of Boats Were Built at Fort Amanda

Before we can answer that question, we need to consider what type of river the boats would be navigating.  Anyone who has ever canoed the Auglaize River from Wapakoneta to Fort Amanda can attest to the fact that you’ll spend a large amount of your time portaging because of the shallow water in spot.  Perhaps that’s why Anthony Wayne referred to the Ft. Amanda area as “head of Auglaize,” or “head of navigable waters”  because it’s  deep enough there to support watercraft, particularly those carrying heavy loads.  Another thing to consider is that fact that the Auglaize is a very winding river with a large number of hairpin turns and narrowing river widths.

Another question is "What kinds of tools were needed at Ft. Amanda to build boats?" Perhaps that question is best seen in the letter below describing the types of tools a group of boat builders were instructed to take with them on their next job.

                                                                                                Boat Yard Huron River

                                                                                                December 19^th, 1812

By your request I send you the following men and tools attached to my company agreeable to your orders on the 10^th Instant

                                                Robert S. More & Ely Edmonson & William Whiteman and John Forquer

                Men you will proceed early on the morning of the 11^th Instant with the United States waggon with _________ tools and other United States property to General Perkins Camp at Saint Duskey (Sandusky) and when you arrive there, you will report yourselves and tools to General Perkens or officer commanding.  At said camp, the following is the number of tools delivered by me for said party out of the stock of the United States tools that is under my care and ________.

List of tools and names as follows

2              Broad axes                                           2              Whip saws

1              Falling ax                                              3              files, one flat, one half round and one square

1              Top maul                                              1              Bevel wooden

2              Four planes                                           1              Inch and a half auger

2              Smoothing planes                                4              Chisels of different sizes

1              Jack plane                                             2              Iron wedges

2              Spike gumblets                                     1              Close tent

1              Roll                                                         1              Hollow plane

1              Iron square                                           2              Camp Kettles

2              Caulking irons and mallets                1              Hammer

2              Hand saws                                            1              Drawing house (Shaving horse?)

2              Auger screws and pod (?) ¼               1              Solel (?)

Shaving horse:                     Similar to a saw horse.                        

                        

Types of Boats

As I pointed out in a previous blog the boat building area was on the east side of the river a short distance south of the fort in the area of the present day canoe livery.  Mounds used for constructing boats were still visible into the 1970s, but all traces of them are now gone.   

We know that they used canoes/pirogues to travel back and forth between forts and for transporting small quantities of materials, however, Ft. Amanda was being used to ship large quantities on a regular basis to the forts to the north.  They needed something much larger than canoes for that purpose.  While the soldiers at Ft. amanda were involved in building boats, the majority of the work was performed by civilian contractors hired for that purpose. 

The Types of Boats

Schillinger also tells us on several occasions that they had to “turn” the boat.  The practice was once a boat was finished, it was literally sunk in the river for a few days then raised and “turned over’ emptying the water.  This caused the wood to shrink which helped seal space between planks making the craft more leak proof.  This of course leads to the question, how did they cut the wood into planks.  Two possibilities.  The first is that they created a saw pit.  A saw pit is exactly that, a pit.  One man stands at the bottom of the pit and another at the top and they use a large two handled saw to saw up and down, cutting the wood into planks.  There is nothing to indicate that such a pit was used at Amanda so another possibility is that the planks were cut elsewhere and shipped to Amanda where the men assembled the boats.  

I think we can rule out the possibility that the boatslooked like the Colonial Military Bateau shown in Figure 1 where everyman rowed.  Imagine the chaos and confusion of having to coordinate rowers on each side of the boat especially on a winding river.   Anyone who has ever rowed a boat with just one other person knows how awkward that can be.   Functional on a wide straight open waterway, yes, but functional on a winding river, personally I don’t think so. 

 

Figure 1

What about large rafts like the one in figure 2?  

Logs lashed together form the bottom and planks could be used for side rails for protection from snipers.  For the sake of argument, I used the following dimensions to calculate the weight of a raft using  6” diameter oak logs 20 feet long, and 18 logs lashed side by side.  This would create a craft 20 feet long and approx. 9 feet wide. Using oak as the wood, the weight of such a craft would be 6,300 pounds and I would argue that could be very difficult to maneuver especially in a winding river such as the Auglaize.  

Figure 2

Could the planks have been used to form the bottom and side rails of a flat bottom boat like that in figure 3.  

Yes.  The sides could be made of the planks and could protect the men from snipers  (higher than those shown in the figure below).  See Figure3.  While a craft of this type could carry more men and supplies one has to wonder if it would be difficult to steer on a small winding river. 

  

Figure 3

 Flatboats  Click on the "Flatboats" link.  Short video shows a flatboat being constructed and steered.

Another type might have been the type shown in figure 4 below.

 

Figure 4

While I believe that boats like that shown in Figure 3 were built at Amanda, and used primarily for moving large quantities of supplies, I believer the type shown in Figure 4 was the type used for troops transport.  Here's my rational.  Large, bulky slow moving crafts like the flatboat in Figure 3 can be used for supplies because time was usually not a critical factor.  Moving troops, however, especially large numbers of troops usually meant there was some sense of urgency so being able to move quickly and with minimum effort was essential.  In addition, the figure 4 craft was easily steerable by 2 individuals using push poles.  Canoes would have been available but not practical for moving heavier materials. 

How Large Were They

 As to the size of the boats built, perhaps Ensign Schillinger’s journal entry on April 27, 1813  can give us a clue that might answer that question. 

“ The boats 7 in number pushed of at 9 A.M. commanded by Capt Price of the regulars.”

Schillinger was referrig to a company of soldiers led by Captain Price that had loaded onto boats and left that day.  The number of men in a company varied throughout the war but the average seems to have been between 70 and 100 privates. Using an average of 85 plus 5 officers, means we’ll assume Price left Amanda with 90 men.  Schillinger tells us they used 7 boats.  There was no need to carry large amounts of food because they’d be stopping at forts along the way, (Jennings and Brown) before they got to Defiance, so they probably only needed 1 boat for  supplies.  This leaves 6 boats to transport 90 men or 15 men per boat.

If they used the type boat shown in Figure 1 with a man in the front and one in the rear with push poles, there would have been approx. 6 men on each side of the boat.  Now figuring 3 feet space for each man, this means the boat would have to have to have been at least 30 feet long.   Plus this configuration aligns with what Schillinger wrote about "turning the boat."

  

So the question is, “if the majority of boats built at Ft. Amanda looked like the one above  how many boats would Harrison have needed to transport 300 men?

On April 9, 1813 Schillinger wrote:

 All hand busyly employ,d preparing to Desend the River,  Making oars,

 etc.   at half past 11 A.M., all Embark,d. on one company of Regulars

one of riffle men and two of infantry makeing in all about 300 Men,

           

  Using the same equation used for Price’s boats of 15 men per boat and 1 supply boat for every 7, means that for Harrison to transport 300 men, he would have needed  between 23 – 25 boats.  Regardless of whatever the final number was, it was without a doubt the largest armada of watercraft ever to navigate the Auglaize River before or since.