Fort Savannah: "The History of Lewisburg WV"

"Fort Savannah - The History of Lewisburg WV" is a factual account of the events that led up to the creation of the town of Lewisburg in the Greenbrier Valley of western Virginia in 1782. The book documents the migration of the original homesteaders who risked everything to settle the untamed borders of the Virginia Colony. By 1750, a small settlement called Savannah existed at what would become Lewisburg. The homesteaders faced many dangers, including illness, isolation and attacks by the French army and their Shawnee allies during the French and Indian War. According to numerous documented sources listed at the West Virginia Department of Culture and History, the settlers at Savannah built a fort for protection. Their website lists an article {EXPLORATION, SETTLEMENT AND CONFLICT – FORT SAVANNAH} which states that “A most important post located on the site of Lewisburg, Greenbrier County, {was built} between 1769 and 1774. It was the meeting point for the Virginians who marched under General Andrew Lewis to Point Pleasant in the fall of 1774”. Revolutionary War Colonel John Stuart wrote in his book “Memoire of the Indian Wars and Other Occurrences” that a military group “was assembled at Fort Savannah in Greenbrier about the fourth of September, 1774.” Military records of the Battle of Point Pleasant in 1774 document that William Kennerly, a sergeant of Captain George Matthew's Company of Augusta County men, was left with a garrison numbering fifteen men at Fort Savannah. Greenbrier County Court records also show that in 1775 William Richmond Sr. served as a soldier at Fort Savannah. In 1782, the settlers in the Savannah area petitioned the Virginia government for a charter, and voted to name the new town 'Lewisburg' in honor of General Andrew Lewis. The fort was dismantled at that time, and many of the logs were used to build homes in the newly formed township. The book includes full color photos and maps, and gives details on many of the pioneers who made the Greenbrier Valley their home in the 1700s. It is a must read for anyone who is interested in the history of the town.