The LeRay Mansion, built in the early 19th century, was named after James LeRay de Chaumont. The maneuvers were judged to be most successful and the War Department purchased an additional 9,000 acres (3,600 ha) of land. For 36 hours, young men from offices, factories, and farms marched, attacked and defended in tactical exercises on the 100 square miles (260 km 2) the army had leased for its war games. Some soldiers traveled by trains, which arrived in town every 15 minutes, coming from as far away as Buffalo, New York and New York City. Approximately 36,500 soldiers came from throughout the Northeast to take part in the exercise. The camp came into the national spotlight in 1935, when the largest peacetime maneuvers ever were held on Pine Plains and surrounding farm lands. In 1909 the military allocated funds to purchase land to form Pine Camp, and summer training continued here through the years. Grant, former United States president and Civil War general, found Pine Plains to be ideal for military exercises. In 1908, Major General Frederick Dent Grant was sent to the Pine Camp region to train with 2,000 regulars and 8,000 militia. The United States purchased land in Sackets Harbor (as it is now spelled), where it developed Madison Barracks, a base for artillery units.
The town was rapidly flooded with troops and some 3,000 skilled workers for the navy shipyard, most of whom came from New York City.ĭuring the 1830s and 1840s, the Lower Canada Rebellion in Canada prompted a new round of military preparations. A major shipyard was developed there and twelve warships were completed. Following the outbreak of the War of 1812, Sacketts Harbor became the center of United States naval and military activity for the Upper St.
In 1809 the United States stationed a company of infantry soldiers at what was then called Sackett's Harbor to enforce the Embargo Act and control smuggling between northern New York and Canada, particularly Kingston, Ontario. The army had an earlier presence in the North Country from the early 19th century, prior to the War of 1812. Ī portion of the present Fort Drum was first used as a military training site in 1908 when it was named Pine Camp the following year land was purchased to develop the camp as an installation. This section of the article incorporates text taken from a public-domain document prepared by the United States military.