I should say that the recent notes have come from many sources, but one that deserves mention is Professor Douglas Sanford of Mary Washington College and its Center for Historic Preservation. In volumes 4 and 5 of "Beyond Germanna", he published several installments on Fort Germanna.
We envision Fort Germanna as a small town enclosed by a wooden palisade.
Both in its physical appearance and its functions of frontier defense and land settlement, Fort Germanna conformed to a colonial tradition of fortification and community building. The same tradition conditioned Germanna's sister fort to the south, Fort Christanna. The work that has been done at Fort Christanna will help in the work to be done at Germanna.
Fort Christanna was the second site for implementing Spotswood's three-pronged policy of securing the colony's frontier, establishing peaceful trade with the Indians, and promoting the expansion of British settlement. One hundred and fifty miles to the south of Fort Germanna, located on the Meherrin River, Fort Christanna was the cornerstone of another county, Brunswick, formed at the same time as Spotsylvania Co. A nearby town today is Lawrenceville.
Begun in 1714, it was supposedly finished by February of 1715. It too was described by John Fontaine, who visited it in April of 1716, and who described the Indians of the neighborhood in some detail. Spotswood had wanted the Indians to settle near the fort and to help provide friendly stability. Of course, the fort would also be the site of a trading post. At Christanna, these ideas were better fulfilled with several hundred Indians in proximity, than at Fort Germanna where there were no permanent Indians settlements. There was an Indian school at Fort Christanna, with the mission of educating and Christianizing Indian children. The school also served the political purpose of keeping Indian families attached to the fort.
Fort Christanna had more of a military appearance with bastion-like corners and soldiers permanently stationed there. These features were not present at Fort Germanna with. Since Fort Christanna was closer to North Carolina where there had been an Indian war in the recent years, this may be the reason for the increased military posture. However, both Fort Christanna and Fort Germanna were given up by the colony of Virginia within a few years. The location of Fort Christanna was well known down to the present because it was maintained as a center of activity.
As a fort, it was described by John Fontaine,
". . . we crossed the river in a canoe and went up to the fort which is built upon a rising ground. It is an inclosure of five sides, made only with pallisadoes, and instead of five bastions, there are five houses which defend the one the other - each side is about one hundred yards long. There are five cannon here, which are fired to welcome the Governor. There are 12 men continually here to keep the peace."
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.