Fort Cumming - Vestiges of the Trail of Tears in Georgia
Lafayette, Walker County, GA

Current marker for Fort Cumming." Image source: http://www.fortwiki.com/Fort_Cumming.

This article is adapted from "Cherokee Removal: Forts Along the Georgia Trail of Tears" by Sarah H. Hill.

Military Occupation.
The military occupation of Lafayette began prior to the Cherokee removal crisis and apparently included Samuel Farris (also spelled Farriss, Farish, and others), who later commanded the removal company. In March, 1838, Farris certified that he had employed one James Caldwell to take charge of the “military post at the courthouse” to guard the munitions “in the late Creek campaign.”ccciii Lafayette thus joins Canton and Dahlonega as places where munitions were stored in the courthouses a year or two prior to Cherokee removal. The presence of munitions implies the establishment of militia companies and a degree of state organization. It also serves as another indicator of conditions the Cherokees faced and the certainty of their removal following the signing of the treaty.

In 1836, Farris commanded more than 100 men in the 45th company of the Georgia Militia.ccciv Apparently he was then mustered out, and in 1838 raised another company of approximately 75 men for Lindsey’s Georgia Mounted Militia.cccv Little correspondence exists between the two militia lists, with perhaps fewer than five men serving in both companies.

In March 1838, Quartermaster Hetzel anticipated Farris’s mustering in with his new company of mounted volunteers.cccvi Farris then received orders to proceed to his hometown of Lafayette, and by April 17, was at his post.cccvii His quartermaster, J. M. Collon, reported to Col. Cox at New Echota and received post supplies from him.cccviii The May 17, 1838 list of volunteer posts in the Cherokee Nation confirms that one mounted company was stationed at Ft. Cumming.cccix

Although Farris generally is recognized as commander at Ft. Cumming, another militia captain also held a position of responsibility and actually assumed command for a brief period. On May 7, 1838, Benjamin T. Watkins of Campbell County was ordered by the governor to serve as captain of a company of drafted men and report to New Echota.cccx Over the next several days, Watkins received camp and garrison equipage for 75 men and apparently was directed to Ft. Cumming. cccxi

On June 9, Floyd learned that Farris was absent without leave and planned to arrest him when he returned to his post.cccxii As problems developed at Ft. Cumming in Farris’s absence, Watkins assumed command. On June 9, Watkins wrote that he had arrested Lewis W. Fretwell of the horse company for intoxication, abusive language “for the purpose of riot,” rioting, disrespectful language to officers and men, and attempted murder. As post commander, Watkins requested instructions from Floyd regarding discipline as well as the resolution of a complaint about one of the post’s horses.cccxiii The following week, Floyd officially appointed Watkins as commander during the period of Farris’s arrest.cccxiv Since most of the prisoners had been sent from Ft. Cumming by June 9, it seems likely that Farris left the post at that time and put Watkins in charge. On June 18, Watkins was ordered to headquarters, presumably for discharge.cccxv His absence from all Ft. Cumming records other than his own serves as a caution for researchers at every level.

Floyd did arrest Farris, but subsequently accepted the explanation for his absence and restored him to office.cccxvi In the interval, Farris also had to mollify Gov. Gilmer, whose office complained that Farris had never reported the details of his company’s organization.cccxvii By early July, Farris was out of trouble and in command. He arrived with his company at New Echota on July 5, and was mustered out of service the following day. cccxviii

Construction.
Throughout March and April, references were made to the post in Lafayette or Walker County. As late as May 5, quartermaster Collon’s return address was simply “Lafayette.” On May 11, however, the records begin to refer to Ft. Cumming.cccxix Although no records refer to post construction, we can assume that by Mid-May the post included a stockade and stables for the horses of the mounted men. We can also infer the construction of barracks since the camp and garrison lists include no more than a few tents. Storage facilities also were necessary for corn and fodder, weapons, equipment, and food rations for the 150 men and several hundred prisoners.

Although no descriptions of the fort have been located in the research to this point, several documents refer to the fort as such. In his diary of the removal, missionary Daniel Butrick mourns the imprisonment of hundreds of Cherokees in a fort near Lafayette Courthouse. cccxx John Looking was one of them. On March 2, 1842, Looking submitted his claim for lost property. He stated that, “troops took me and put me into a fort near Walker Court House in Georgia.”cccxxi Years later, an account of the Civil War battle around Lafayette included the statement that federal troops entered the town “back of the old fort.”cccxxii

Supplies.
Subsistence supplies were sent to the post as early as April 4, 1838, which may provide an approximate date for Farris’s arrival.cccxxiii Quartermaster Collon visited before the company arrived and arranged for the delivery of 1,200 bushels of corn.cccxxiv By the first of May, however, the post was relatively low on corn (200 bushels) and had no fodder at all. A confident Collon estimated that he could obtain 3,000 bushels of corn and 10,000 bundles of fodder.cccxxv

Rations for the companies and prisoners caused Collon some concern since his stilyards apparently did not weigh accurately. He complained that the number of pieces of bacon he received was correct but their weight fell 193 pounds short.cccxxvi No other mention of food for the post was found in the quartermaster’s records.

Watkins’s records include lists of equipment distributed to his company that give a sense of the vast amount of material purchased and used during the removal. Watkins’s company received frying pans, tin pans, camp kettles, tin buckets, tea kettles, and spiders for their daily subsistence.cccxxvii Cox also provided Watkins with one wall tent and fly, seven common tents, six axes, and four spades.cccxxviii Munitions included muskets, bayonets with straps and scabbards, cartridge boxes and straps, bell plates, wipers, and ball screws. cccxxix Watkins even returned nine deficient muskets to New Echota.cccxxx He certified that all supplies were necessary for the company and all had been procured at the lowest prices. cccxxxi On June 17, plans were conveyed for the sale of all remaining public property at Ft. Cumming.cccxxxii

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