History of the War with Indian Savages, Article 17
ARTICLE. XVII. The Fort at Pemmaquid.
HIs Excellency Sir William Phipps, being arrived now the Governour of New England, applyed himſelf, with all poſſible Vigour, to carry on the War: and the Advice of a New Slaughter ſome time in July made by the Indians, on certain poor Husband-men, in their Meadows, at the North Side of Merrimack River, put an Accent upon the Zeal of the Deſigns, which he was now vigorouſly proſecuting. He Raiſed about Four hundred and Fifty Men, and in purſuance of his Inſtructions from Whitehall, he laid the Foundations of a Fort at Pemmaquid, which was the Fineſt Thing that had been ſeen in theſe parts of America. Captain Wing, aſſiſted with Captain Bancroft, went thro' the former part of the Work; and the latter part of it was Finiſhed by Captain March. His Excellency, attended in this matter, with theſe worthy Captains, did, in a few Months, diſpatch a Service for the King, with a Prudence, & Induſtry, and Thirftineſs, Greater than any Reward, they ever had for it. The Fort, called, The William Henry, was built of Stone, in a Quadrangular Figure; being about Seven hundred and thirty ſeven Foot in Compaſs, without the Outer Walls, and an Hundred and Eight Foot Square, within the Inner ones. Twenty Eight Ports it had; and Fourteen (if not Eighteen) Guns mounted, whereof Six were Eighteen-Pounders. The Wall, on the South Line, fronting to the Sea, was Twenty Two Foot High, and more than Six Foot Thick at the Ports, which were Eight Foot from the Ground. The Great Flanker, or Round Tower, at the Weſtern End of this Line, was Twenty Nine Foot High. The Wall on the Eaſt line, was Twelve Foot High, on the North it was Ten, on the Weſt it was Eighteen. It was Computed, That in the whole, there were laid above Two Thouſand Cart-Loads of Stone. It ſtood about a Score of Rods from High Water Mark; and it had generally at leaſt Sixty men poſted in it, for its Defence, which if they were Men, might eaſily have maintained it againſt more than Twice Six Hundred Aſſailants. Yea, we were almoſt Ready to flatter our ſelves, that we might have writ on the Gates of this Fort, as the French did over that of Namur, (yet afterwards taken by K. William) Reddi, non Vinci potest. Now, as the Architect, that built the Strong Fortreſs at Narne in Poland had, for his Recompence, his Eyes put out, leſt he ſhould build ſuch another; Sir William Phipps was almoſt as hardly Recompenced, for the Building of This at Pemmaquid. Although this Fort thus Erected in the Heart of the Enemies Country, did ſo Break the Heart of the Enemy, that indeed they might have call'd it, as the French did theirs upon the River of the Illinois, The Fort of Crevecoeur; and the Tranquillity After Enjoy'd by the Country, (which was very much more than Before,) was, under God, much owing thereunto: yet the Expence of maintaining it, when we were ſo much impoveriſhed otherwiſe, made it continually complained of, as one of the Countryes Grievances. The Murmurings about this Fort, were ſo Epidemical, that, if we may ſpeak in the Fooliſh cant of Aſtrology, and, Prognoſticate from the Aſpect of Saturn upon Mars, at its Nativity, Fort William-Henry, Thou haſt not long to Live! Before the year Ninety Six Expire, thou ſhalt be demoliſhed. In the mean Time, let us accompany Major Church going with a Company to Penobſcot, where he took Five Indians; and afterwards, to Taconet, where the Indians diſcovering his Approach, ſet their own Fort on fire themſelves, and flying from it, left only their Corn to be deſtroy'd by him. And ſo we come to the End of 1692. Only we are ſtopt a little, with a very ſtrange Parentheſis.