The armament
consisted of a number of small cannon mounted on the bastions. A gate
and drawbridge on the east side gave access to the area within, which
was surrounded by barracks for the soldiers, officers' quarters, the
lodgings of the commandant, a guardhouse, and a storehouse, all built
partly of logs and partly of boards. There were no casemates, and the
place was commanded by a high woody hill beyond the Monongahela. The
forest had been cleared away to the distance of more than a musket shot
from the ramparts, and the stumps were hacked level with the ground.
Here, just outside the ditch, bark cabins had been built for such of the
troops and Canadians as could not find room within; and the rest of the
open space was covered with Indian corn and other crops.[214]
[Footnote 214: _M'Kinney's Description of Fort Duquesne, 1756_, in
_Hazard's Pennsylvania Register_, VIII. 318. _Letters of Robert Stobo,
Hostage at Fort Duquesne, 1754_, in _Colonial Records of Pa._ VI. 141,
161. Stobo's _Plan of Fort Duquesne, 1754. Journal of Thomas Forbes,
1755. Letter of Captain Haslet, 1758_, in _Olden Time_, I. 184. _Plan of
Fort Duquesne_ in Public Record Office.]
The garrison consisted of a few companies of the regular troops
stationed permanently in the colony, and to these were added a
considerable number of Canadians. Contrecoeur still held the
command.[215] Under him were three other captains, Beaujeu, Dumas, and
Ligneris.
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