Military Town Uncovered in Pulaski County
The Associated Press has just sent out a story on Cantonment Wilkinsonville that once stood on the bluffs above the Ohio River in Pulaski County.
Archaeologists have spent the summer uncovering remains for what was once the largest military base in the United States in 1801-1802. At one point half of the standing army was based there (for a short period).
Gen. James Wilkinson had planned to make the site the place for a military academy, a predecessor to the U.S. Army's academy at West Point.
The article looks good, but contains at least one mistake. It mentions George Washington ordering troops there. Washington had been dead four years when the encampment started.
You can read the story on Yahoo. It's titled, "Archaeologists Unearth Lost Military Camp". For more on the site's history, check out Southernmost Illinois History net concerning Wilkinsonville.
The Associated Press has just sent out a story on Cantonment Wilkinsonville that once stood on the bluffs above the Ohio River in Pulaski County.
Archaeologists have spent the summer uncovering remains for what was once the largest military base in the United States in 1801-1802. At one point half of the standing army was based there (for a short period).
Gen. James Wilkinson had planned to make the site the place for a military academy, a predecessor to the U.S. Army's academy at West Point.
The article looks good, but contains at least one mistake. It mentions George Washington ordering troops there. Washington had been dead four years when the encampment started.
You can read the story on Yahoo. It's titled, "Archaeologists Unearth Lost Military Camp". For more on the site's history, check out Southernmost Illinois History net concerning Wilkinsonville.
