| Fort Swatara | |
|---|---|
Also known as Smith’s Fort. | |
| Along Fort Swatara Drive about 1.5 miles north of Lickdale, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania. Near Lickdale, Pennsylvania (Formerly known as Union Forge) in United States | |
 Fort Swatara, Pennsylvania Historical Marker | |
  Fort Swatara Location of Fort Swatara  Fort Swatara Fort Swatara (the United States) | |
| Coordinates | 40°34′0″N 76°41′1″W / 40.56667°N 76.68361°W |
| Site information | |
| Condition | destroyed |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1755 (Rebuilt by the Colonial Pennsylvania militia forces in 1756) |
| Built by | Colonial Pennsylvania militia forces |
| In use | 1755-1758 |
| Materials | Logs and roughly sawed wood boards. |
| Fate | Abandoned in 1758 – materials likely pillaged by local European settlers. |
| Events | Fort Swatara prevented marauding Indian raids from progressing to the more populated areas in what is now Lebanon County, Pennsylvania. |
| Garrison information | |
| Past commanders | Captain Christian Busse Captain Frederick Smith (Schmitt) Lieutenant Phillip Martzloff Captain Lieutenant Samuel Weiser Captain Lieutenant Samuel Allen |
| Garrison | Pennsylvania militia, 30-50 men plus officers |
| Designated | 1999 |
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Fort Swatara (various spellings, sometimes referred to as Smith's Fort) was a stockaded blockhouse built during the French and Indian War in what is now Lebanon County, Pennsylvania. Initially a farmstead surrounded by a stockade, provincial troops occupied it in January 1756. The fort safeguarded local farms, but a number of settlers were killed by small Native American war parties. The fort was abandoned in May 1758.[1]: 340