Third Battalion Pennsylvania Regiment of Foot
"The Augusta Regiment," Burd's Company
1756-1764

> James Burd
> Other Officers
> Fort Augusta History
> The Manual Arms
> 1756 Officers
> Clothing Delivered 1756
> 1757 Muster Roll

The 3rd Battalion Pennsylvania Provincial Regiment, The Augusta Regiment,  was originally formed to build and garrison Fort 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 Lieutenant Colonel and instructed to recruit 400 troops for the Susquehanna Expedition. Construction of Fort 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, Lieutenant Colonel Clapham ordered a raid on Great Island (Lock Haven, Pennsylvania) to destroy the Indians there, now under French influence and who formerly lived at Shamokin. 

On December 8, Major James Burd took command of Fort Augusta after Clapham's resignation. Burd continues the fort's 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 Fort DuQuesne. Major Burd is elevated to Colonel and nearly all of the Regiment participates in the Expedition. Forty men are left at Fort Augusta under the command of Captain Trump. 

In February 1760, Colonel Burd returned to Fort Augusta and assumed command. 

In 1763, Pontiac lists Fort Augusta as one of 14 forts marked for annihilation. Colonel 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.