The 3rd Battalion Pennsylvania Provincial Regiment, The Augusta Regiment, 
was originally formed to build and garrison Ft. Augusta at the forks of the Susquehanna River at the site of the old Indian town of Shamokin, today known as Sunbury, Pennsylvania. 

On March 29, 1756 William Clapham was commissioned Lt. Colonel and instructed to recruit 400 troops for the Susquehanna Expedition. Construction of Ft. Augusta began in July. French scouting parties advanced as far as the top of Blue Hill opposite the fort and observed construction already underway. 

On November 4, 1756 Lt. Col. Clapham ordered a raid on Great Island (Lock Haven, PA) to destroy the Indians there, now under French influence, who formerly lived at Shamokin. 

On December 8, Major James Burd took command of Ft. Augusta due to the resignation of Lt. Col. Clapham. Burd continues construction and fortification. 

In July of 1757, a French scouting party of six Canadians and fourteen Indians reported to the Governor-General of New France, the Marquis de Vaudreuil, that the English fort at the forks of the Susquehanna was garrisoned with 600 men. 

In June of 1758 The Augusta Regiment was incorporated into the 2nd Battalion of the Pennsylvania Regiment to join the Forbes Expedition against Ft. Du Quesne. Major Burd is elevated to Colonel and nearly all of the Regiment participates in the Expedition. Forty men are left at Ft. Augusta under the command of Captain Trump. 

In February 1760 Col. Burd returned to Ft. Augusta and assumed command. 

In 1763, Pontiac lists Ft. Augusta as one of 14 forts marked for annihilation. Col. Burd prepares the fort and garrison, but the attack never comes. The Indians withdrew from Pennsylvania after their defeat at Bushy Run. 

The Pennsylvania Regiment was disbanded after the threat to the civilian population had been eliminated. 

Background image "Pennsylvania on the March" by Lisa Ritchie
Images and text copyright The Augusta Regiment 2006 except where otherwise stated.