Kronan (ship)

Kronan, also called Stora Kronan, was a Swedish warship that served as the flagship of the Swedish Navy in the Baltic Sea in the 1670s. When built, she was one of the largest seagoing vessels in the world. The construction of Kronan lasted from 1668 to 1672 and was delayed by difficulties with financing and conflicts between the shipwright Francis Sheldon and the Swedish admiralty. After four years of service, the ship foundered in rough weather at the Battle of Öland on 1 June 1676: while making a sharp turn under too much sail she capsized, and the gunpowder magazine ignited and blew off most of the bow. Kronan sank quickly, taking about 800 men and more than 100 guns with her, along with valuable military equipment, weapons, personal items, and large quantities of silver and gold coins.

The loss of Kronan was a hard blow for Sweden during the Scanian War. Besides being the largest and most heavily armed ship in the Swedish Navy, she had been an important status symbol for the monarchy of the young Charles XI. Along with Kronan, the navy lost a sizeable proportion of its best manpower, acting supreme commander Lorentz Creutz, numerous high-ranking fleet officers, and the chief of the navy medical staff. A commission was set up to investigate whether any individuals could be held responsible for the defeat at the Battle of Öland and other major defeats during the war.

Most of the guns that sank with Kronan were salvaged in the 1680s, but eventually the wreck fell into obscurity. Its exact position was rediscovered in 1980 by the amateur researcher Anders Franzén, who had also located the 17th-century warship Vasa in the 1950s. Yearly diving operations have since surveyed and excavated the wreck site and salvaged artifacts, and Kronan has become the most widely publicized shipwreck in the Baltic after Vasa. More than 30,000 artifacts have been recovered, and many have been conserved and put on permanent public display at the Kalmar County Museum in Kalmar. The museum is responsible for the maritime archaeological operations and the permanent exhibitions on Kronan.

## Historical background

In the 1660s, Sweden was at its height as a European great power. It had defeated Denmark, one of its main competitors for hegemony in the Baltic, in both the Torstenson War (1643–45) and the Dano-Swedish War (1657–58). At the Treaties of Brömsebro (1645) and Roskilde (1658), Denmark had been forced to cede the islands of Gotland and Ösel, all of its eastern territories on the Scandinavian Peninsula, and parts of Norway. In a third war, from 1658 to 1660, King Charles X of Sweden attempted to finish off Denmark for good. The move was bold royal ambition in an already highly militarized society geared for warfare, a fiscal-military state. Disbanding its armies would have required paying outstanding wages, so there was an underlying incentive to keep hostilities alive and let the army live off enemy lands and plunder. The renewed attack on Denmark threatened the trade interests of the leading maritime nations of England and the Dutch Republic by upsetting the balance of power in the Baltic. The Dutch intervened in 1658 by sending a fleet to stop the attempt to crush Denmark. England also sent a fleet in November the same year, to assist Sweden in keeping the Sound Toll out of Danish and Dutch control. The English expedition failed as a result of adverse winter weather and the political turmoil that ended the Protectorate, and in the end, Charles' plans were thwarted.

Charles X died in February 1660. Three months later, the Treaty of Copenhagen ended the war. Charles' son and successor, Charles XI, was only five when his father died, so a regency council—led by the queen mother Hedvig Eleonora—assumed power until he came of age. Sweden had come close to control over trade in the Baltic, but the war revealed the need to prevent the formation of a powerful anti-Swedish alliance that included Denmark. There were some successes in foreign policy, notably the anti-French Triple Alliance of England, Sweden, and the Dutch Republic. By early 1672, Sweden had improved its relations with France enough to form an alliance. The same year, King Louis XIV attacked the Dutch Republic, and in 1674 Sweden was pressured into joining the war by attacking the Republic's northern German allies. France promised to pay Sweden desperately needed war subsidies on condition that it moved in force on Brandenburg. A Swedish army of 22,000 men under Carl Gustaf Wrangel advanced into Brandenburg in December 1674 and suffered a minor tactical defeat at the Battle of Fehrbellin in June 1675. Though not militarily significant, the defeat tarnished the reputation of near-invincibility that Swedish arms had enjoyed since the Thirty Years' War. This emboldened Sweden's enemies, and by September 1675 Denmark, the Dutch Republic and the Holy Roman Empire were at war with Sweden and France.

### State of the fleet

By 1675 the Swedish fleet was numerically superior to its Danish counterpart (18 ships of the line against 16, 21 frigates against 11), but the Swedish ships were generally older and of poorer quality than those of the Danish fleet, which had replaced a larger proportion of its vessels with more modern warships. The Swedish side also had problems with routine maintenance, and both rigging and sails were generally in poor condition. Swedish crews lacked the level of professionalism of Danish and Norwegian sailors, who often had experience from service in the Dutch merchant navy, and the Swedish Navy lacked a core of professional officers while the Danish had seasoned veterans like Cort Adeler and Nils Juel. The Danish fleet was reinforced with Dutch units under Philip van Almonde and Cornelis Tromp, the latter an experienced officer who had served under Michiel de Ruyter.

## Design

The First Anglo-Dutch War (1652–54) saw the development of the line of battle, a tactic where ships formed a continuous line to fire broadsides at an enemy. Previously, naval tactics had favored short-range firepower and boarding with intent to take prizes. After the mid-17th century, improved gunnery caused tactics to shift from close-quarter fighting to disabling or sinking opponents through superior, long-distance firepower. This entailed major changes in doctrine, shipbuilding, and professionalism in European navies from the 1650s onwards. The line of battle favored large ships that were heavily armed and robust enough to hold the line in the face of enemy fire. The increased centralization and concentration of power in the emerging nation-states during the late 17th century allowed for a great expansion of armies and navies, and new government shipyards began building much much larger ships. Sweden embarked on an expansive shipbuilding program in the late 1660s.

Kronan was one of the most heavily armed warships in the world in 1672 when she was launched, a three-decker with 110 guns. The ship had three full gundecks with guns from bow to stern. Altogether there were seven separate levels, divided by six decks. Furthest down in the ship, above the keel, was the hold, and immediately above it, but still below the waterline, lay the orlop; both were used primarily for storage. Above the orlop were the three gundecks, two of them covered, while about half of the topmost gundeck was open to the elements in the ship's middle, or waist. The bow had one deck, making up the forecastle, and the stern had two decks, including a poop deck.

During the first half of the 17th century, Swedish warships were built in the Dutch manner, with a flat, rectangular bottom with a small draft. This shipbuilding style was adapted mainly for smaller ships in the shallow coastal waters of the Netherlands, and allowed for quick construction, but these less sturdy vessels were generally unsuitable as warships and somewhat unstable in rough seas. When Kronan was built, the English approach to building had prevailed, giving hulls a more rounded bottom and greater draft, as well as a sturdier frame and increased stability. The stern was more streamlined below the waterline, which lessened resistance.

The measurements for Kronan were recorded in contemporary navy lists. Its length from stem post to stern post was 53 m (174 ft); this was considerably shorter than the length if the bowsprit and beakhead were included. The width was 12.9 m (42 ft) and was defined as the widest point between the frames, excluding planking. The draft varied depending on how heavily she was laden, but with full stores, ammunition and armaments it would have been about 6.2–6.8 m (20–22 ft). The height of the ship from keel to the highest mast was never recorded, but Kalmar County Museum has estimated it to have been at least 66 m (217 ft).

Kronan's displacement – the ship's weight calculated by how much water it displaced while floating – is not known precisely, since there are no exact records of the dimensions. By using contemporary documents describing the approximate measurements, it has been estimated at around 2,300 tonnes. By its displacement in relation to the number and weight of guns, Kronan was over-gunned, though this was not uncommon for the era. European shipwrights had not been building three-deckers on a large scale before the 1650s; by the 1660s, designs were still quite experimental. Contemporary records show that English and French three-deckers tended to be rather unstable because they were built high, narrow and with too much artillery. Some English ships had to be reinforced with a "girdle" of built-up planking at the waterline to perform satisfactorily. In rough seas these ships could be forced to close the lowest row of gunports, depriving them of their heaviest and most effective guns. In these situations they were effectively just over-priced two-deckers. Kronan's construction was not inherently flawed; the ship handled harsh weather conditions in 1675 and again only a week before capsizing, but she could be dangerous if handled poorly. Later, during the 18th century, ships with the same weight of guns had more tonnage to support their guns, usually weighing 3,000–5,000 tonnes, which made them more stable. When Kronan was built, she was the third or fourth largest ship in the world, but as the trend moved towards ever greater ships, she was surpassed by other large warships. At the time Kronan sank, she was down to seventh place.

### Armament

According to the official armament plan Kronan was to be equipped with 124–126 guns; 34–36 guns on each of the gundecks and an additional 18 shared between forecastle and sterncastle decks. Guns were classed by the weight of the cannonballs they fired, varying between 3 and 36 pounds (1.3–15.3 kg). The guns themselves weighed from a few hundred kg (400–500 lbs) up to four tonnes (4.4 tons) with the heaviest pieces placed in the middle of the lower-most gundeck with successively lighter ones on the decks above. Kronan's most lethal weapons were the 30- and 36-pounders on the lowest gundeck which had a range and firepower that outclassed the armament of almost any other warship. The guns lighter than 18-pounders were primarily intended to inflict damage on the enemy's crew and rigging rather than the hull.

According to modern research, the number of guns was considerably less than the official armament plan. At the time, armament plans regularly overstated the number of guns available. In reality, they were ideal estimations that seldom reflected actual conditions, either because of a lack of ordnance or because they were impractical when tested. Heavy 30- and 36-pounder guns were particularly difficult to find in sufficient numbers and lighter guns were frequently used instead. Going by the number of guns salvaged from Kronan in the 1680s (see "History as a shipwreck") and during the excavations in the 1980s the total comes to 105–110. The upper figure matches the calculations of the number of gunports on the remains of the wreck and the number of guns that could practically fit on the gun decks. The lower figure is the number of guns found in the 1980s excavations combined with the list of guns brought up during the salvage operations in the 1680s. The table below lists the number of guns, comparing the official 1671 armament plan to the calculations by naval historian Jan Glete.

Several types of ammunition were available, each for different uses: round shot (cannonballs) against ship hulls, chain shot against masts and rigging, and canister shot (wooden cylinders filled with metal balls or fragments), which had a devastating effect on tightly packed groups of men. For boarding actions Kronan was equipped with 130 muskets and 80 matchlock or flintlock pistols. For close combat there were 250 pikes, 200 boarding axes and 180 swords. During the excavations, large-caliber firearms were found – hakebössor, similar to blunderbusses; they were equipped with a small catch underneath the barrel which allowed them to be hooked over a railing to allow it to absorb the recoil of the charges. One hakebössa was still loaded with a small canister containing 20 lead balls that would have been used to clear enemy decks before boarding.

### Ornamentation

Expensive and elaborate ornamentation was an important part of a ship's appearance in the 1660s, even though it had been simplified since the early 17th century. Such ornamentation was believed to enhance the authority of absolute monarchs and to portray the ship as a symbol of martial prowess and royal authority. There are no contemporary illustrations of the ornamentation of Kronan, but according to common practice it was most lavish on the transom, the flat surface facing aft. There are two images of Kronan shown from the stern by two Danish artists. Both works were commissioned many years after the sinking to commemorate the Danish victory. Claus Møinichen's painting at Fredriksborg Palace from 1686 shows a transom dominated by two lions rampant holding up a huge royal crown. The background is blue with sculptures and ornaments in gold. Swedish art historian Hans Soop, who has previously studied the sculptures of Vasa, a prestige ship of Gustavus Adolphus's navy that sank only 20 minutes into her maiden voyage in Stockholm in 1628, has suggested that Møinichen may have intentionally exaggerated the size of the ship to enhance the Danish victory. A tapestry at Rosenborg Castle shows Kronan as a two-decker with a crown motif that is even larger than Møinichen's painting.

Archaeologists have not been able to recover enough of Kronan's sculptures for a detailed reconstruction of the ornamentation. The mascarons (architectural facemasks) and putti (images of children) that were salvaged as of 2007 show considerable artistic quality according to Soop. A large sculpture of a warrior figure was found in 1987 and is an example of high-quality workmanship, possibly even a symbolic portrait of King Charles. Since nothing is known of the surrounding ornamentation and sculptures, the conclusion remains speculative.

## Construction

In the early 1660s, a building program was initiated to expand the fleet and replace old capital ships. A new flagship was needed to replace the old Kronan from 1632. The felling of vast quantities of timber that were required for the new admiral's ship had already begun in the winter of 1664–65. Swedish historian Kurt Lundgren has estimated that 7–10 hectares (17–25 acres) of hundred-year-old oak forest was required for the hull and several tall, stout pines for the masts and bowsprit.

The construction of Kronan began in October 1665, and the hull was launched on 31 July 1668. The shipwright of the Kronan, Francis Sheldon frequently came in conflict with the admiralty over the project. The navy administrators complained that he was unduly delaying the project and was spending too much time on his own private business ventures. The most aggravating contention was Sheldon spending time on exporting lucrative mast timber back home to England. Sheldon in turn complained about constant delays on the navy's part and lack of necessary funds to complete the project. When the ship was launched, the slipway turned out to be too small and the rear section of the keel broke off during the launching. The admiralty demanded an explanation, but Sheldon's reply was that the damage was easily mended and that the problem was that the timber had been left to dry too long. The conflict between the Admiralty and Sheldon dragged on for several years and caused constant delays. The sculptures were finished in 1669, but the rigging, tackling, and arming was drawn out a further three years, to 1672. The first occasion that the ship sailed was during the celebrations of Charles XI's accession as monarch in December 1672.

## Crew

As one of the largest ships of her time, Kronan had a sizable crew. When she sank there were 850 people on board – 500 sailors and 350 soldiers. Historians working with the excavation of the wreck site have compared the ship with a middle-sized Swedish town of the late 17th century, describing it as a "miniature society". On board were male representatives of both lower and upper classes. (Women were allowed on navy vessels only within the limits of Stockholm archipelago; before reaching the open sea, they had to disembark.) As a community afloat, Kronan mirrored the contemporary social standards of military and civilian life, two spheres that were not strictly separated in the 17th century.

The entire crew dressed in civilian clothing and there were no common navy uniforms. The Swedish army had only recently introduced standardized uniforms, something that was still uncommon in most of Europe. Clothing was differentiated according to social standing, with officers from the nobility dressed in elegant and expensive clothing while the ordinary crew dressed like laborers. The only exceptions were the soldiers of the Västerbotten infantry regiment who had by the 1670s been equipped with the first "Carolingian" uniforms in blue and white. The crew was sometimes assigned clothing or cloth with which to prepare "sailor garb" (båtmansklädning), which set them apart from the usual dress of the general populace. Officers maintained a large collection of fine clothing for use on board, but it is not known if it was used during everyday work. Quite likely they owned a set of clothes made from simpler, more durable and more comfortable fabrics which were more practical at sea.

Recruitment was done by forced musters as part of the earlier form of the so-called allotment system. Sailors and gunners were supplied by a båtsmanshåll (literally "sailor household"), small administrative units in coastal regions that were assigned the task of supplying the fleet with one adult male for navy service. The soldiers on board were recruited from the army equivalents, knekthåll or rotehåll, ("soldier" or "ward household") from inland areas. Officers originated mainly from the nobility or from the upper middle class, and were paid through the allotment system or the income from estates designated for the purpose. Higher-ranking officers most likely brought their personal servants on board. A valuable red jacket in bright red cloth that was worn by one of those who drowned on the ship could have belonged to one of these retinues.

## Military career

### Expedition of 1675

After the Swedish loss at the battle of Fehrbellin in June 1675, the fleet was to support troop transports to reinforce Swedish Pomerania. It had potential for success as it was equipped with several large, well-armed ships: Svärdet ("the sword") of 1,800 tonnes, Äpplet ("the orb") and Nyckeln ("the key"), both 1,400 tonnes, and the enormous Kronan ("the crown"). Altogether there were 28 large and medium warships and almost the same number of smaller vessels. The supply organization was lacking. There were few experienced high-ranking officers and internal cooperation was poor; Danish contemporaries scornfully described the Swedish Navy crews as mere "farmhands dipped in saltwater".

With Kronan as its flagship, the fleet went to sea in October 1675 under Admiral of the Realm (riksamiral) Gustaf Otto Stenbock, but got no farther than Stora Karlsö off Gotland. The weather was unusually cold and stormy and the ships could not be heated. The crew were poorly clothed and soon many of them fell ill. Supplies dwindled, and after Kronan lost a bow anchor after less than two weeks at sea, Stenbock decided to turn back to the Dalarö anchorage south-east of Stockholm. Nothing came of the reinforcements of the North German provinces. King Charles reacted with anger and held Stenbock personally responsible for the failed expedition, forcing him to pay more than 100,000 dalers out of his own pocket. King Charles later rehabilitated Stenbock by giving him an army appointment in Norway, but in early 1676 he replaced him with Lorentz Creutz, a prominent treasury official. Naval historian Jan Glete has explained this as a step that was "necessary in a time of crisis" due to Creutz's administrative skills and treasury connections, but Creutz had no experience as a naval commander, something that would later prove crucial.

### Failed winter expedition

As the situation for the Swedish army in Pomerania deteriorated during the winter of 1675–76, the fleet, with Kronan as flagship, was ordered to sea again in a desperate attempt to relieve the hard-pressed Swedish land forces. The weather was unusually cold and large parts of the Baltic were iced in. The fleet, now under the command of the seasoned sea officer Claes Uggla, was blocked by ice when it reached Dalarö on 23 January. The Privy Councilor Erik Lindschöld had been assigned by the King to assist with the expedition, and he came up with the idea of cutting the fleet out of the ice to reach the open sea. Hundreds of local peasants were ordered out to open a narrow channel through the ice with saws and picks to the anchorage at Älvsnabben, more than 20 km (12 mi) away. On reaching the naval station on 14 February, three weeks later, it turned out that most of the sea outside the inner skerries was frozen as well. A storm hit the tightly packed ships and the ensuing movement of the ice crushed the hull of the supply vessel Leoparden, sinking it. A Danish force had managed to reach the open waters farther off and observed the immobilized Swedish ships from a distance. When temperatures fell even further, the project was declared hopeless and Lindschöld gave up the attempt.

### 1676

Early in March 1676, a Danish fleet of 20 ships under Admiral Niels Juel left Copenhagen. On 29 April it landed troops on Gotland, which soon surrendered. The Swedish fleet was ordered out on 4 May, but experienced adverse winds and was delayed until 19 May. Juel had by then already left Visby, the principal port of Gotland with a garrison force. He headed for Bornholm to join with a small Danish–Dutch squadron in cruising between Scania and the island of Rügen to prevent any Swedish seaborne reinforcement from reaching Pomerania. On 25–26 May the two fleets met each other in the battle of Bornholm. Despite the considerable Swedish advantage in ships, men and guns, they were unable to inflict any losses on the allied force, and lost a fireship and two minor vessels. The battle revealed the lack of coherence and organization within the Swedish ranks, which soured relations between Creutz and his officers.

After the failed action, the Swedish fleet anchored off Trelleborg where King Charles was waiting with new orders to recapture Gotland. The fleet was to avoid combat with the allies at least until they reached the northern tip of Öland, where they could fight in friendly waters. When the Swedish fleet left Trelleborg on 30 May they were soon intercepted by the allied fleet, which then began a pursuit. By this time the allies had been reinforced by another small squadron and totaled 42 vessels, with 25 large and medium ships of the line. The reinforcements brought with them a new commander, the Dutch Admiral General Cornelis Tromp, one of the most renowned naval tacticians of his time. The two fleets sailed north and on 1 June passed the southern tip of Öland in a strong gale. The Swedish ships fared poorly in the rough winds, losing masts and spars. The Swedish officers formed a battle line that held together only with great difficulty. They tried to get ahead of Tromp's ships to gain the weather gage by getting between the allies and the shore, and thereby gaining an advantageous tactical position. The Dutch ships of the allied fleet managed to sail close-hauled faster than the rest of the force and slipped between the Swedes and the coast, taking up the crucial weather gage. Later that morning the two fleets closed in on each other and were soon within firing range.

### Sinking

Around noon, some distance northeast of Hulterstad, the Swedish fleet made what the military historian Ingvar Sjöblom has described as "a widely debated maneuver". Because of misunderstandings and poorly coordinated signaling, the Swedish fleet attempted to turn and engage the allied fleet before they had sailed past the northern end of Öland, which had been agreed on before the battle. Sharp turns in rough weather were known to be perilous, especially for ships that had stability weaknesses. Kronan turned to port (left), but with too much sail, and heeled so far over that she began to flood through the open gunports. The crew was unable to correct the imbalance and the ship laid over completely with the masts parallel with the water. Soon after, the gunpowder store in the forward part of the Kronan ignited for unknown reasons and exploded, ripping apart a large section of the starboard side forward of the mainmast. The remaining section rose with the stern pointing up in the air and the broken-off forward part toward the bottom. She then rapidly sank with the port side down. When the wreck hit the seabed, the hull suffered a major fracture along its side, further damaging the structure.

During this rapid sinking, a large proportion of the crew suffered severe trauma, as is shown by osteological analyses of the skeletal remains. Many of the remains had deep, unhealed lacerations on skulls, vertebrae, ribs and other limbs. There are two primary theories about the cause of the injuries. Osteologist Ebba Düring has suggested that discipline and social cohesion collapsed during the sinking. The crew would have resorted to "all the means at their disposal, both physical as well as psychological" to escape the ship, an interpretation that is echoed by historian Ingvar Sjöblom. Medical historian Katarina Villner, on the other hand, has proposed that the injuries were caused by the sudden and violent chaos of the sinking itself, which would have thrown men, heavy equipment and cannons around.

The loss of the Admiral's flagship threw the Swedish forces into disorder, and soon Svärdet, next in line as fleet flagship, was surrounded by the allied admirals and set ablaze by a Dutch fireship after an extended artillery duel. Only 50 of the 650-strong crew escaped the gun battle and the inferno, and among the dead was the acting Admiral Claes Uggla. After losing two of its highest ranking commanders as well as its two largest ships, the Swedish fleet fled in disarray. Solen later ran aground; Järnvågen, Neptunus and three smaller vessels were captured. Äpplet later sank after breaking her moorings off Dalarö.

### Aftermath

According to the artillery officer Anders Gyllenspak, only 40 men, including himself, survived the sinking: Major Johan Klerk, 2 trumpeters, 14 sailors and 22 soldiers, which means that more than 800 had perished. Among them were half a dozen navy and army officers as well as the chief physician of the Admiralty and the fleet apothecary. Altogether around 1,400 men died when Kronan and Svärdet were lost, and in the days following the battle, hundreds of corpses were washed up on the east coast of Öland. According to the vicar of Långlöt parish, 183 men were taken from the beaches and buried at Hulterstad and Stenåsa graveyards. Lorentz Creutz's body was identified and shipped to his estate Sarvlax near the town of Loviisa, Finland, where it was buried. The losses were even worse since Kronan was the flagship and was manned with the best sailors and gunners in the fleet. When Kronan and Svärdet went down, they took with them the navy's entire stock of 30- and 36-pounder guns. Altogether over 300 tonnes of bronze guns worth nearly 250,000 silver dalers went down with the ships, a sum that was slightly higher than the value of the ships themselves.

Within a week, the news of the failure at Bornholm and the disaster at Öland reached King Charles, who immediately ordered that a commission be set up to investigate the fiasco. Charles wanted to know if Bär and other officers were guilty of cowardice or incompetence. On 13 June the King wrote that "some of our sea officers have shown such cowardly and careless behavior [that they] have placed the safety, welfare and defense of the kingdom at great peril", and that "such a great crime should be sternly punished". The commission began its work on 7 June 1676 and finished in October 1677, without passing any sentences. Admiral Johan Bär of Nyckeln and Lieutenant Admiral Christer Boije, who ran aground with Äpplet, were never again given a navy command. One of the accused, Hans Clerck of Solen, was promoted to full admiral by the King even before the commission presented its findings.

## Causes of sinking

Inappropriate handling in rough weather was the most obvious cause for Kronan's sinking. Unlike Vasa, Kronan's sailing characteristics were not inherently flawed and the ship had served for several years in rough seas. During the work of the commission, artillery officer Anders Gyllenspak even made direct comparisons to Vasa. He testified that Kronan's ballast had been lightened at Dalarö at the beginning of the campaign and that she had not replenished her supply of drink, so that the ship had a shallower draft and would have been somewhat less stable than with full stores, though he did not blame this on Creutz.

Why the Swedish fleet deviated from the original plan of engaging the allied force in home waters north of Öland has never been satisfactorily explained. According to Rosenberg and Gyllenspak on Kronan, Creutz made a turn because Uggla had signaled that he was going about. Rosenberg also believed that Bär on Nyckeln, admiral of the first squadron, was first to make a turn, and that Uggla considered it necessary to follow this unplanned maneuver to keep the fleet together. Officers Anders Homman and Olof Norman, who both survived Svärdet, claimed that only Creutz as fleet commander could have made such a decision and that Uggla was only following Kronan's lead. Witnesses who testified before the commission claimed that conflict between the officers was the reason that necessary precautions were not taken before Kronan came about. Rosenberg testified that Lieutenant Admiral Arvid Björnram and Major Klas Ankarfjäll had openly disagreed on how much sail should be set and how close to land the ship should sail. According to Gyllenspak, senior fleet pilot Per Gabrielsson had voiced his concerns against turning in the rough weather, but no one had heeded his advice.

Several scholars and authors have blamed Creutz for the loss of his ship, and he has been criticized as an incompetent sailor and officer who through lack of naval experience brought about the sinking. Historian Gunnar Grandin has suggested that the intent of the maneuver was to take advantage of the scattered allied fleet, but that many of the officers on Kronan opposed the idea; Creutz and Björnram urged that the ship turn quickly to gain a tactical advantage while Ankarfjäll and Gabrielsson were concerned about the immediate safety of the ship. Grandin has also suggested that Creutz may have suffered a mental breakdown after the failure at Bornholm and the open dispute with his officers, which led to a rash and ultimately fatal decision.

More recent views present the question of responsibility as more nuanced and complex – suggesting that Creutz cannot be singled out as solely responsible for the disaster. Historians Ingvar Sjöblom and Lars Ericson Wolke have pointed out that Creutz's position as admiral was comparable to that of a chief minister. He would have primarily been an administrator without the need for intimate knowledge of practical details; turning a ship in rough weather would have been the responsibility of his subordinates. Sjöblom has stressed that the disagreement between Major Ankarfjäll and Lieutenant Admiral Björnram on how much sail was needed wasted precious time in a situation where quick decisions were crucial. Creutz was also unique as a supreme commander of the navy since he had no experience of military matters. The Swedish naval officer corps in the late 17th century lacked the prestige of army commanders, and seasoned officers and even admirals could be outranked by inexperienced civilians or army commanders with little or no naval background. Maritime archaeologist Lars Einarsson has suggested that Creutz's "choleric and willful temperament" probably played a part, but that it could equally be blamed on an untrained and inexperienced crew and the open discord among the officers. According to Sjöblom it is still unclear to historians whether there was a designated ship commander on Kronan with overall responsibility.

## History as a shipwreck

The total cost of Kronan was estimated at 326,000 silver dalers in contemporary currency, and about half of the cost, 166,000 dalers, lay in the armaments. It was therefore in the interest of the Swedish Navy to salvage as many of the cannons as possible. In the early 1660s almost all the guns from Vasa had been brought up through greatly improved technology. Commander Paul Rumpf and Admiral Hans Wachtmeister were put in charge of the salvage of Kronan's cannons. With the help of diving bells, they were able to raise 60 cannons worth 67,000 daler in the summers (c. June–August) of 1679–86, beginning as soon as the war with Denmark had ended. In the 1960s, diving expert Bo Cassel made some successful descents to Vasa with a diving bell made according to 17th-century specifications. In 1986, further experiments were done on Kronan. The tests proved successful and the conclusion was that the 17th-century operations must have required considerable experience, skill and favorable weather conditions. Though the conditions off Öland were often difficult, with cold water and unpredictable weather, and required a large crew, the expeditions were very profitable. Historian Björn Axel Johansson has calculated that the total cost for the entire crew for all eight diving seasons was less than 2,000 dalers, the value of one of Kronan's 36-pounder guns.

### Rediscovery

The marine engineer and amateur historian Anders Franzén had searched for old Swedish wrecks in the Baltic since the 1940s and became nationally renowned after he located Vasa in 1956. Kronan was one of several famous shipwrecks on a list of potential wreck sites that he had compiled. For almost 30 years Franzén and others scoured archives and probed the seabed off the east coast of Öland. During the 1950s and 1960s the team searched off Hulterstad by dragging, and later followed up with sonar scans. In 1971 planks believed to belong to Kronan were located, but the lead could not be followed up properly at the time. Later in the 1970s the search area was narrowed down with a sidescan sonar and a magnetometer, an instrument that detects the presence of iron. With the two instruments the team pinned down a likely location, and in early August 1980, sent down underwater cameras to reveal the first pictures of Kronan.

## Archaeology

The remains of Kronan lie at a depth of 26 m (85 ft), 6 km (3.7 mi) east of Hulterstad, off the east coast of Öland. Since her rediscovery in 1980, there have been annual diving expeditions to the site of the wreck from June to August. By Baltic Sea standards, the conditions are good for underwater archaeological work; the wreck site is far from land, away from the regular shipping lanes, and has not been affected by pollution from the land or excessive growth of marine vegetation. The visibility, especially in early summer, is good and can be up to 20 m. The seabed consists of mostly infertile sand that reflects much of the sunlight from the surface, aiding the surveying and documentation of the site with underwater cameras. Around 85% of the wreck site has been charted so far and Kronan has become one of the most extensive and well-publicized maritime archaeological projects in the Baltic Sea.

### Finds

More than 30,000 artifacts from Kronan have been salvaged and cataloged, ranging from bronze cannons of up to four tonnes to small eggshell fragments. There have been several discoveries of considerable importance, and some of unique historical and archaeological value. One of the first finds was a small table cabinet with nine drawers containing navigational instruments, pipe-cleaning tools, cutlery and writing utensils, which most likely belonged to one of the officers. As a flagship, Kronan carried a large amount of cash in the form of silver coins. Besides wages for the crew, a war chest was required for large, unforeseen expenses. In 1982, a collection of 255 gold coins was found, most of them ducats. The origin of the individual coins varied considerably, with locations such as Cairo, Reval (modern-day Tallinn), and Seville. Another 46 ducats were found in 2000. The coin collection is probably the largest gold treasure ever encountered on Swedish soil, though it was not enough to cover large expenses, which has led to the assumption that they were the personal property of Admiral Lorentz Creutz. In 1989, more than 900 silver coins were found in the remains of the orlop, at the time the largest silver coin collection ever discovered in Sweden. In 2005, a much larger cache of nearly 6,200 coins was uncovered and in 2006 yet another with more than 7,000 coins. The silver treasure of 2005 consisted almost entirely of 4 öre-coins minted in 1675, which represented over 1% of the entire production of 4 öre-coins of that year.

Several musical instruments have been found, including a trumpet, three violins and a viola da gamba, all expensive objects that probably belonged to either the officers or the trumpeters. One of the trumpeters on board was a member of the admiral's musical ensemble and it is assumed that one of the particularly fine, German-made instruments belonged to him. Another remnant of the officers' personal stores was discovered in 1997, consisting of a woven basket filled with tobacco and expensive imported foodstuffs and spices, including ginger, plums, grapes and cinnamon quills.

Approximately seven percent of the finds consist of textiles. Much of the clothing, particularly that of the officers and their personal servants, is well preserved and has provided information on clothing manufacture during the late 17th century, something that has otherwise been difficult to research based only on depictions.

## See also

- Mary Rose, an English 16th-century carrack that was salvaged in 1982
- La Belle, the wreck of a French merchant ship salvaged in 1997
- Vasa, a Swedish warship which foundered and sank in 1628, was rediscovered in 1956, and was subsequently recovered
- Mars, a Swedish warship which sank in 1564, and was rediscovered in 2011

Swedish Navy ship of the 1670s


Fort Dobbs (North Carolina)

Fort Dobbs was an 18th-century fort in the Yadkin–Pee Dee River Basin region of the Province of North Carolina, near what is now Statesville in Iredell County. Used for frontier defense during and after the French and Indian War, the fort was built to protect the American settlers of the western portion of what was then Rowan County, and served as a vital outpost for soldiers, traders, and colonial officials. Fort Dobbs' primary structure was a blockhouse with log walls, surrounded by a shallow ditch, and by 1761, a palisade. It was intended to provide protection from French-allied Native Americans such as the Shawnee and Delaware, and French raids into North Carolina.

The fort's name honored Arthur Dobbs, the Royal Governor of North Carolina from 1755 to 1765, who played a role in designing the fort and authorized its construction. Between 1756 and 1761, the fort was garrisoned by a variable number of soldiers, many of whom were sent to fight in Pennsylvania and the Ohio River Valley during the French and Indian War. On February 27, 1760, the fort was the site of an engagement between Cherokee warriors and Provincial soldiers that ended in a victory for the Provincials. After this battle and other attacks by Cherokee warriors on North Carolinan settlements, several successful counter-attacks were inflicted by the Provincials against the Cherokee, largely quelling their incursions.

Fort Dobbs was abandoned after 1761, and disappeared from the landscape. Archaeology and historical research led to the discovery of the fort's exact location and probable appearance. The site on which the fort sat is now operated by North Carolina's Division of State Historic Sites and Properties as Fort Dobbs State Historic Site. The reconstruction of the fort was completed on September 21, 2019.

## Background

### Settlement of the Carolina back-country

In 1747, approximately 100 men of suitable age to serve in the colonial militia lived in North Carolina west of present-day Hillsborough. Within three years, most of North Carolina's population increase, driven mainly by the immigration of Scots-Irish and German settlers traveling from Pennsylvania on the Great Wagon Road, was occurring in seven western counties created after 1740. By 1754, six western counties—Orange, Granville, Johnston, Cumberland, Anson, and Rowan—held around 22,000 residents out of the colony's total population of 65,000.

### Construction

In 1756, Governor Arthur Dobbs ordered the construction of a fortified log structure for the protection of settlers in Rowan County from French and French-allied Native American attacks. Dobbs stated in a letter on August 24, 1755, to the Board of Trade that the fort was needed "to assist the back settlers and be a retreat to them as it was beyond the well settled Country, only straggling settlements behind them, and if I had placed [Waddell's garrison] beyond the Settlements without a fortification they might be exposed, and be no retreat for the Settlers, and the Indians might pass them and murder the Inhabitants, and retire before they durst go to give them notice". The new frontier settlements required regular protection. Furthermore, Governor Dobbs was concerned for his own investments, as he owned more than 200,000 acres (81,000 ha; 310 sq mi) of land on the Rocky River, approximately 15 miles (24 km) south of the Fourth Creek Meeting House.

The North Carolina Legislature set aside a sum of £1000 for the construction of the fort in October 1755. Provincial soldiers, known by the shortened name "Provincials", were soldiers raised, clothed, and paid by the individual thirteen colonies, although they were at various times armed and supplied by the Crown. The total cost of the fort was only £1,000. By comparison, Fort Stanwix in New York, begun in 1758 in a then-modern star fort style, cost £60,000 to erect, while the construction of Fort Prince George in South Carolina cost that province's House of Commons £3,000.

Dobbs likely had a role in designing the fort, as he had designed at least one other fort in North Carolina, as well as a number of structures in Ireland. Hugh Waddell, an Irish soldier who had close ties to Governor Dobbs and who was the commander of "Frontier Company" of Provincial soldiers in 1755, oversaw construction of the fort, and named it after the governor. The land on which the fort was located was a part of a 560-acre (230 ha; 0.88 sq mi) tract owned first by one James Oliphant, then by a Fergus Sloan. Part of the same tract was used for the Fourth Creek Congregation Meeting House (so named because the settlement was on the fourth creek one would pass traveling west on the South Yadkin River from Salisbury) in 1755, which was the principal structure around which the modern city of Statesville was founded. After construction was completed, it was the only military installation on the colonial frontier between Virginia and South Carolina.

### Description and effectiveness

By July 1756, Waddell had substantially completed construction on the fort. Francis Brown and future governor Richard Caswell, commissioners appointed by Dobbs to inspect frontier defenses, wrote the following report to the North Carolina General Assembly on December 21, 1756:

> [Brown and Caswell] had likewise viewed the State of Fort Dobbs and found it to be a good and Substantial Building of the Dimentions [sic] following (that is to say) The Oblong Square fifty three feet by forty, the opposite Angles Twenty four feet and Twenty-Two In height Twenty four and a half feet as by the Plan annexed Appears, The Thickness of the Walls which are made of Oak Logs regularly Diminished from sixteen Inches to Six, it contains three floors and there may be discharged from each floor at one and the same time about one hundred Musketts [sic] the same is beautifully scituated [sic] in the fork of Fourth Creek a Branch of the Yadkin River. And that they also found under Command of Capt Hugh Waddel Forty six Effective men Officers and Soldiers as by the List to the said Report Annexed Appears the same being sworn to by the said Capt in their Presence the said Officers and Soldiers Appearing well and in good Spirits.

The commissioners generally found the defenses of the rest of the North Carolina frontier to be inadequate. In 1756, the North Carolina General Assembly petitioned King George II for assistance, stating that the frontier remained in a relatively defenseless state. The address to the king further noted that after the fall of Fort Oswego to the French and their native allies in that year, the legislators did not believe that Fort Dobbs would provide a substantial defensive advantage. Settlers west of the Yadkin River were subjected to regular attacks so that between 1756 and 1759, even after the construction of Fort Dobbs, the population of settlers in the area declined from approximately 1,500 to 800.

In 1759, Waddell ordered six swivel guns for use Of Fort Dobbs. Oral tradition in Iredell County holds that two such swivel guns were mounted at Fort Dobbs, but evidence of the exact quantity present at the fort has not been conclusively established.

## Use and conflict

### Early uses

Between 1756 and 1760, Fort Dobbs was used as a base of operations for Waddell's company of provincials. Dobbs also employed Waddell and the fort to conduct diplomacy with the province's native neighbors. The governor gave specific instructions on July 18, 1756, in a letter sent from New Bern to Waddell, who had just finished supervising the construction of the fort, and two other men, stating:

> I have given Orders to make you or any two of You a Commission as often as Necessary to go and make complaints to the Chief Sachims of the Cherokee and Catauba Nations when any Murders Robberies or Depredations are made by any of their People upon the English and to know whether it is done by their Orders or Allowance and if not to give up the Delinquents if Known or then when not Known that they should give Strict Orders to their Hnnters [sic] and warriors not to rob Kill or abuse the English Planters their Bretheren and Destroy their Horses cows Swine or Corn and if they should afterwards do it that the English their Bretheren would be Obliged to repell force with force and in Case they dont own to what Nation they belong that they will be treated as other Indian Nations in alliance with our Enemies the French who are now Spiriting them up to make war against us.

In addition to warning nearby natives against attacking settlers in the Carolinas, Dobbs also charged Waddell with attempting to keep peace with the Catawba. In one instance, Dobbs instructed Waddell to turn over a settler who had killed a Catawba hunter in order to placate the hunter's tribesmen, in the event assurances that the settler would be brought to justice under the province's laws did not persuade the Catawba to remain friendly with North Carolina.

In 1756, Dobbs also approved the construction of another fort, this time in lands claimed by the Catawba, as well as both Carolinas, near modern-day Fort Mill, South Carolina. Workmen under Waddell's command began construction in 1756, but in 1757, Catawba leaders, influenced by South Carolina Governor William Lyttelton, informed North Carolina's government that they no longer wished for this second fort to be built, and construction of the second fort was permanently halted.

At the commencement of the French and Indian War, settlers in the nearby Fourth Creek Congregation settlement sought protection by remaining in close proximity to the fort. The fort's garrison fluctuated yearly. Initially, a 50-man company manned the fort. With construction of the Catawba fort halted In mid-1757, Bailey's 50-man company was added to the garrison. 1758 saw all of North Carolina's troops sent to Pennsylvania to participate in the Forbes Campaign. The fort was garrisoned by two 30-man companies at the outbreak of the Anglo-Cherokee War in 1759. By the time of the February, 1760 attack on the fort, only one 30-man company was serving at Fort Dobbs.

In Waddell's absence, the fort was under the command of Captain Andrew Bailey.

### Decline and fall of Anglo-Cherokee relations

During the Anglo-Cherokee War, which occurred during the later years of the French and Indian War, the fort served as the base for a company of North Carolina provincials tasked with repelling Cherokee raids in the western portion of the province when hostilities broke out between the tribe and North Carolinan settlers in 1758. The Anglo-Cherokee War began in 1758 after the capture of Fort Duquesne by the British and their native allies, including the Cherokee. After that fort was taken, the focus of combat in the French and Indian War moved northward, further away from the Cherokee homelands, and a number of Cherokee warriors felt that their contributions to the war effort were unappreciated. Several colonies, including Virginia and South Carolina, promised the Cherokee that they would build forts near their lands to protect them from hostile attack in exchange for warriors that had been supplied for the war effort. In Virginia's case, such promises were never fulfilled, and in South Carolina, the promised military presence eventually caused more concern in the Cherokee leadership than it alleviated. Long-term trends in American settlement, which encroached past the border between the Cherokee and South Carolina that had been set by treaty at Long Cane Creek (west of modern-day Greenwood, South Carolina), elevated Cherokee concern that vital hunting grounds would be permanently lost.

Several pro-French and pro-Creek leaders among the Cherokee pushed for violent actions against American settlers, despite the opposition of several Cherokee leaders. Eventually tensions between the Cherokee and the American colonists reached a head when Cherokee warriors were attacked by settlers in Virginia, including an unknown number who were ambushed by frontier militia groups who alleged that the Cherokee had slaughtered cattle and stolen horses that belonged to Virginian settlers. The Virginians attempted to sell the massacred Cherokee warriors' scalps to the government of Virginia as the scalps of Shawnee warriors (for which the Virginian Assembly had set a bounty), an act that infuriated the Cherokee. After this and similar occurrences, younger, pro-French leaders among the Cherokee instigated attacks against settlers throughout the frontier. The colonial military of the South Carolina, which considered the Cherokee towns to be within its sphere of influence, responded by assaulting Cherokees, taking more scalps from the Cherokee and selling them to various colonial legislatures, and the colonial government refused to engage in negotiations with even the most sympathetic Cherokee leaders.

### War comes to Fourth Creek

Throughout 1759 and 1760, small Cherokee bands attacked homesteads and communities on the frontier, oftentimes scalping from the settlers they killed. In raids on April 25 and 26, 1759, several parties of Cherokee led by Moytoy of Citico struck at settlements on the Yadkin and Catawba Rivers against the wishes of Cherokee leaders such as Attakullakulla, killing around 19 men, women and children, and taking more than 10 scalps from those killed, including eight scalps from settlers living on Fourth Creek. This violence damaged peace talks between Attakullakulla and South Carolina governor William Lyttelton, who considered the territory west of the Yadkin River in North Carolina to be within South Carolina's sphere of influence. The violence committed by the Cherokee against American settlers continued, which in turn caused the colonial authorities to seek better relations with the Creek and Catawba nations. The Catawba, who were allied to the provinces of North and South Carolina, were only able to provide minimal assistance to the settlers in the defense of their frontiers, as that tribe's settlements had been decimated by smallpox in 1759 and early 1760. During this period of violence, members of Daniel Boone's family, who had settled in the area, took refuge in the fort, although Boone himself went to Culpeper County, Virginia with his wife and children. Several scholars have speculated that Boone himself served under Waddell as a member of the frontier provincial company.

All remaining goodwill was lost between Lyttelton's government in Charleston, the North Carolinan government, and the pro-peace Cherokee when Lyttelton ordered the detention of several peace delegations led by headmen Oconostota, Tistoe, and "Round O", despite having previously guaranteed them safe passage. Lyttelton had the delegations put under armed guard, and secured them at Fort Prince George. A peace arrangement was agreed upon in December, 1759, although the Cherokee agreed under duress, and the pro-war faction of the Cherokee did not obey its terms. Several of the signatories for the Cherokee intended to disavow their promises as soon as they were able, in order to seek retribution for the capture of their peace delegations.

Full-blown war broke out across the Carolina frontier by January, 1760. Between January and February, 1760, more than 77 settlers on the Carolina frontier were killed by Cherokee war parties, and the settlement boundaries of North Carolina had been effectively pushed back by more than 100 miles. Many of the Cherokee captives held at Fort Prince George were massacred in mid-February, 1760 after an attempt was made to rescue them, in which Ensign Richard Coytmore, the commanding officer of that fort who was much maligned by the Cherokee, was killed. Lyttelton, who was soon appointed Governor of Jamaica, requested assistance from Dobbs, but North Carolina's militia could not be convinced to serve outside of its home province due to long-standing custom.

### Battle

Waddell and his provincials returned to Fort Dobbs after the fall of Fort Duquesne. The fort's sole engagement occurred when a band of Cherokee warriors attacked on the night of February 27, 1760. During that battle, approximately 10 to 13 warriors died, and one or two provincial soldiers were wounded, while one young boy was killed. Future American Revolutionary War officer and North Carolina politician Griffith Rutherford, at the time a Captain, may have fought as during the battle under Waddell's command. The Cherokee made off with several horses belonging to Waddell's company, but were ultimately repulsed. Waddell described the action in an official report to the Governor on February 29, 1760:

> For several days I observed that a small party of Indians were constantly about the fort, I sent out several small parties after them to no purpose, the evening before last between 8 and 9 o'clock I found by the dogs making an uncommon noise there must be a party nigh a spring which we sometimes use. As my garrison is but small, and I was apprehensive it might be a scheme to draw out the garrison, I took out Captain Bailie who with myself and party made up ten; we had not marched 300 yards from the fort when we were attacked by at least 60 or 70 Indians. I had given my party orders not to fire until I gave the word, which they punctually observed: we received the Indians [sic] fire: when I perceived they had almost all fired, I ordered my party to fire which we did not further than 12 steps each loaded with a bullet and seven buck shot, they had nothing to cover them as they were advancing either to tomahawk or make us prisoners: they found the fire very hot from so small a number which a good deal confused them; I then ordered my party to retreat, as I found the instant our skirmish began another party had attacked the fort, upon our reinforcing the garrison the Indians were soon repulsed with I am sure a considerable loss, from what I myself saw as well as those I can confide in they could not have had less than 10 or 12 killed or wounded, and I believe they have taken six of my horses to carry off their wounded ... On my side I had 2 men wounded one of whom I am afraid will die as he is scalped, the other is in a way of recovery and one boy killed near the fort whom they durst not advance to scalp. I expected they would have paid me another visit last night, as they attack all fortifications by night, but they did not like their reception.

At around the same time as this attack occurred, Cherokee war parties attacked Fort Loudoun, Fort Prince George, and Ninety-Six, South Carolina. After this wave, Cherokee war parties continued to threaten Bethabara in the Wachovia Tract, Salisbury, and other settlements in the Yadkin, Catawba, and Broad river basins. The engagement at Fort Dobbs and settlements in the North Carolina Piedmont led the government of North Carolina to join South Carolina and Virginia in their campaign against the Cherokee in their own settlements in North and South Carolina, known as the "Middle" and "Lower Towns". Initially, though, Governor Dobbs notified Governor Lyttelton of South Carolina that the North Carolina militia would be unable to assist because it could not be compelled to leave the province. The following year, in 1761, various delays hampered the movement of North Carolina troops. In the meantime, approximately 15 Cherokee towns of between 350 and 600 inhabitants were destroyed. The campaign against the Cherokees displaced approximately 5,000 tribe members, and permanently pushed that tribe's zone of control west, across the Appalachian Mountains.

### Post-war history

At the conclusion of the French and Indian War in the Treaty of Paris, and after hostilities between the provincials and Cherokee ended with the rolling back of Cherokee boundaries in western North Carolina, the fort quickly became obsolete. On March 7, 1764, the North Carolina General Assembly's Committee on Public Claims recommended to Governor Dobbs that stores and supplies be removed from the fort to spare the government further expense in upkeep. By 1766, the fort was formally abandoned.

## Site preservation and archaeology

Archaeological exploration of the site first occurred in 1847, when a group of local residents attempted to locate a rumored original cannon on the site. Evidence of this dig was discovered in the 21st century in a later archaeological study. In 1909, local residents established the Fort Dobbs Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. That same year, the owners of the parcel of land on which the Fort Dobbs site was located donated 1,000 square feet (93 m<sup>2</sup>) containing the fort's remains to the Fort Dobbs Chapter. By 1910, the Chapter erected a stone marker at the site, and in 1915, it purchased the 10 acres of land surrounding the original donated parcel. In 1969, the North Carolina General Assembly appropriated \$15,000 to purchase the property, to be matched by funds raised locally by the Iredell County Historical Society; these purchases were made in 1971 and 1973. By 1976, the land was opened as a historic site.

By 2006, archaeologists and historical researchers had determined the exact location of Fort Dobbs, and had located the post-hole foundations of the former log structure. Excavation began in 1967, and by 1968, the site of the fort was confirmed. In 1967, Stanley South, an archaeologist and proponent of processual archaeology, discovered that by overlaying a transparency depicting a survey of the Fort Dobbs site done in the mid-18th-century on a modern aerial photograph, evidence of the surveyed lines could still be discerned in the modern terrain. Additionally, excavations revealed a moat that surrounded the blockhouse, as well as trash in the moat contemporary with the fort. Early archaeological work concentrated specifically on the moat and a depression called the "cellar", which South believed served as a storage space in the middle of the fort grounds, and which later researchers believe was directly underneath the blockhouse. Archaeological work has unearthed evidence of a palisade surrounding the blockhouse, in a similar fashion to other French and Indian War-era forts such as Fort Shirley near Heath, Massachusetts, and Fort Prince George.

In 2006, a researcher affiliated with East Carolina University, Lawrence Babits, presented a study and a reconstruction plan that has been accepted by the Friends of Fort Dobbs, the 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that supports the site, and the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources. In his plan, Babits postulated that Dobbs most likely played a role in designing the fort, basing the design on forts with which Dobbs had first-hand experience as an administrator in Scotland, such as Bernera Barracks near Glenelg and Ruthven Barracks near Kingussie. From these comparisons, the contemporary description of the fort, and the soil record, Babits concluded that the "opposite angles" described by Francis Brown in 1756 actually referred to "flankers", or square wooden structures attached to the corner of the fort that would have allowed defending soldiers to shoot into the flank of any attacking forces surrounding the building.

## Historic site

The State of North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural History maintains and operates the area as Fort Dobbs State Historic Site. The visitor center, located in a log cabin constructed from parts of local, 19th-century log structures, features displays about both the colonial fort and the French and Indian War period. Outdoor trails lead visitors through the excavated ruins of the fort. Events, including many living history demonstrations, are held throughout the year at the fort. The Fort Dobbs site remains the only historic site in the state related to the French and Indian War.

Yearly attendance at the site is about 27,000 people. As of 2013, a campaign to renovate the site and restore much of Fort Dobbs is underway with the goal of raising \$2.6 million for the project. A grant of \$150,000 was given by the Institute of Museum and Library Services for the design of the project. In 2010, the Friends of Fort Dobbs pledged \$500,000 to the North Carolina Historic Sites program for the reconstruction of the fort. On January 5, 2013, Governor Bev Perdue signed a lease on behalf of the State to the Friends organization, allowing the nonprofit group to hire a private contractor for the fort's reconstruction. As of 2017, the first phase of reconstruction has taken place. The original foundation and chimney has been rebuilt, and full restoration of Fort Dobbs is underway. The fully rebuilt Fort Dobbs officially opened September 21, 2019.

## See also

- Colonial American military history
- Fort Johnston (North Carolina) – contemporary colonial North Carolina fort
- French and Indian Wars
- Rowan County Regiment

1756 establishments in the British Empire

Demolished buildings and structures in North Carolina

Forts on the National Register of Historic Places in North Carolina

Military and war museums in North Carolina

Military installations established in 1756

Museums in Iredell County, North Carolina

National Register of Historic Places in Iredell County, North Carolina

Protected areas of Iredell County, North Carolina

Rebuilt buildings and structures in North Carolina


Best of Both Worlds Tour

Best of Both Worlds Tour was the debut concert tour by American singer Miley Cyrus. The tour was held in support of the double-disc Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus (2007), which consisted of the soundtrack to Hannah Montana's second season and her debut studio album. It initiated in October 2007 and concluded in January 2008, visiting cities in the United States and Canada. The tour was promoted by AEG Live and Buena Vista Concerts. Labelmates the Jonas Brothers, Aly & AJ, and Everlife each served as opening act during the tour. One dollar from each ticket sold was donated to the City of Hope National Medical Center, an organization devoted to the fight against cancer. The Best of Both Worlds Tour raised over US \$2 million for the organization.

The Best of Both Worlds Tour was created by Kenny Ortega and Michael Cotten to be video intensive and was meant to differentiate Cyrus from Hannah Montana as a performer. The show had Cyrus performing first under character, as Hannah Montana. She then performed a duet with the opening act, which continued performing an interlude of songs. For the latter half of the duet, a body double was used to facilitate the transition from Hannah Montana to herself. Videos online caused many fans to become outraged and question whether Cyrus lip-synched on the tour. Her representatives later issued a statement that denied the allegations and stated the reasons for the body double's usage. The fast-paced concert had six segments, divided equally between each persona.

The tour received generally positive responses from critics, some who complimented Cyrus' vocal skills and onstage presence and preferred the Hannah Montana set over Cyrus'. The tour was commercially successful, grossing over \$54 million. At the 2008 Billboard Touring Awards, it won the "Breakthrough Artist" award. Furthermore, tickets sold extremely quickly and were found in secondary markets. Ticket scalping became so extensive it garnered much media attention and lawsuits were filed against MileyWorld, Cyrus' official fan club, and ticket brokers.

A three-dimensional film, Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert, was released to American cinema in February 2008. The film received an overwhelming commercial response, grossing a total of \$70.6 million worldwide and setting numerous records, including once being the highest-grossing concert film of all time. Critical response was generally positive to mixed. When televised for the first time on Disney Channel, Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert was watched by over 5.9 million viewers. A live album was released as a soundtrack for the film, Best of Both Worlds Concert, with recordings from the same concerts was released in March 2008.

## Background

In 2006, Cyrus served as opening act on twenty dates of The Cheetah Girls' concert tour The Party's Just Begun Tour, performing solely as Hannah Montana. In June 2007, the singer released the double-disc album Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus. The first disc, Hannah Montana 2, of the album was Hannah Montana's second season soundtrack, while the second disc, Meet Miley Cyrus, was Cyrus' debut studio album. In order to promote the album, Cyrus decided to embark on her first headlining concert tour, the Best of Both Worlds Tour, where she performed both under character, as Hannah Montana, and as herself for the first time.

The concert tour was being discussed by executives as early as January 2007. It was announced on August 8, 2007 via press release. It was confirmed that the tour would be promoted by AEG Live and Buena Vista Concerts, a division of The Walt Disney Company. It also featured American band and labelmates the Jonas Brothers as opening act. The tour would expand throughout North America, from October 18, 2007 in St. Louis, Missouri to January 9, 2008 in Albany, New York, with a total of fifty-four dates; fifty-three of which were in the United States and one which was in Canada. In October 2007, another date was annexed in order to meet demand. In December 2007, a fourteen-date extension of the tour was announced, with American duo Aly & A.J. opening seven of them; the opening act for the remaining dates was yet be announced. The extension featured new opening acts because the Jonas Brothers pulled out to record their then-forthcoming album A Little Bit Longer (2008). Subsequently, in the same month, one final date was annexed, and the American band Everlife was announced to as the final opening act. One dollar from each ticket purchased was donated to the City of Hope National Medical Center, a center dedicated to the prevention, treatment and research for the cure of cancer. In total, the Best of Both Worlds Tour raised over US \$2 million for the center.

## Development

The tour was titled Best of Both Worlds Tour after the song of the same name, which was the theme to Hannah Montana and was released on the series' first soundtrack. The title was chosen because of how the concert alternates between Cyrus performing as Hannah Montana and herself. She described the tour to differentiate the two according to their respective styles and depict how one girl was able to have two sides to her. She said the most notable difference between the two characters was the style of music, rather than physical appearance. According to her, Hannah Montana was direct pop music, while her own style was more rock music-oriented and included real-life scenarios set to tunes. Cyrus rehearsed for the tour simultaneous to filming the final episodes for the second season of Hannah Montana from September to October 2007.

Kenny Ortega, a common collaborator with The Walt Disney Company at the time, was hired as the tour's director and main choreographer. Ortega, along with set designer Michael Cotten, assembled an experienced personnel and developed the show, which was made fairly simple because Cyrus did not feel confident enough as a vocalist to perform stunts and use props while singing. Therefore, the focus was turned to video. Cotten envisioned the set to be "an interactive mobile kaleidoscope of flash and style", a conceptualization that involved a massive amount of video. Nineteen individual LED video screens were located throughout the stage. Four high definition V9 LED video screens served as walls surrounding the main stage. Five Barco MiTrix cubes, which consisted of three LED panels that faced towards the audience and one supporting panel that faced the stage, were suspended by rigs throughout the stage. Nocturne Productions partnered with equipment supplier Video Equipment Rentals (VER) to accomplish the design. The lightweight and adaptability of the V9 LED screens allowed for designers to add more lighting elements than in most shows at the time.

Video content director George Elizando and video engineer Steven Davis controlled the video surfaces using a Pinnacle i9000 switcher and an expanded Vista Systems Spyder system. Graphics on the LED walls were fed from a custom video playback system that incorporated three Green Hippo media servers; some of the video content was filmed during rehearsals and were meant for Cyrus to interact with onstage. Visual magnification was executed through the usage of Ikegami Tsushinki HL-45 cameras and multiple strategically located point-of-view cameras, in order to cover the show from every angle. Extensive amounts of teamwork was needed to set up the complex video system at each venue, particularly for weekend daytime performances, as they had less time. Mark Woody, Steve "Bone" Gray, Justin McLean, and Dane Mustola set up the video structures, while Evan Huff and crew chief Eric Geiger built the video thrust into the audience and installed the live cameras. "Thanks to these talented designers a show commensurate with Hannah's popularity has been created", said Paul Becher, co-CEO of Nocturne Productions. For audio, Cyrus used Sennheiser's MD 5235 dynamic capsule atop the SKM 5200 wireless handheld transmitter nightly. Sixteen channels of Sennheiser G2 wireless monitors were programmed to ensure that performers could hear what was being played amidst fervid screams from the audience. Sennheiser 500 series wireless guitar and bass systems were also used.

## Concert synopsis

The main show started with Cyrus descending onto the stage in a neon pink cube that bore a digital image of her silhouette, as pink fireworks were fired behind her. Donning a long, sequined, cheetah and black-striped dress and cardigan, sparkling black leggings, black boots, and the blonde Hannah Montana wig, she began to perform the concert's opening number, "Rock Star". In continuation, Cyrus was joined by multiple backup dancers to perform dance routines for "Life's What You Make It". Removing the cardigan, she concluded the segment with "Just Like You". Still costumed as Hannah Montana, Cyrus reappeared from the back of the stage, wearing sparkly blue denim jeans, a white tank top, a blue denim vest, and shiny silver tie; she performed "Old Blue Jeans" among female backup dancers and "Nobody's Perfect" roaming the stage alone while scenes from her hit tv show, Hannah Montana, were played on the big screens. The next segment began with the performance of "Pumpin' Up the Party", where Cyrus dressed with a pink and purple sequined mini-dress, fuchsia ad violet leggings and maroon boots and dancers wore 1960s-inspired attires while performing calisthenics. The segment continued with "I Got Nerve", which required participation and elaborate routines on behalf of the dancers, and a duet with the opening act. While they served as opening act, "We Got the Party" was performed as a duet with the Jonas Brothers. She annexed a pink and purple trench coat to her attire and performed with the Jonas Brothers, who also played electric guitars. At one point of the performance, Cyrus disappeared to be replaced by a body double who completed the performance. While Aly & A.J. and Everlife served as opening acts, a postmodern cover of Kiss' "Rock and Roll All Nite" (1975) was performed by them and Cyrus wore a geometric-patterned cocktail dress. Afterwards, the opening act performed an interlude of several songs.

After removing the wig, Cyrus then reappeared to perform eight more songs as herself. She emerged from the bottom of the runaway to perform "Start All Over". She was costumed by studded black jeans with chains attached to the waist, a white tank top, a black leather vest and a matching glove. She roamed throughout the stage, kicking over the microphone stand and banging her head. "Good and Broken" and "See You Again", where Cyrus removed the vest and was joined by multiple backup dancers, rounded off the show's fourth segment. She returned to the stage in a fuchsia bustier and short, black ruffled skirt to perform "Let's Dance", where she performed Latin-influenced choreography with backup dancers, and "Right Here". Prior to Cyrus re-entering the stage for the sixth segment, backup singers sang a reworked version of Toni Basil's "Mickey" (1982) that replaced the word "Mickey" with "Miley". Cyrus, costumed in a pink tank top, a plaid miniskirt and sneakers with high-knee socks, performed "East Northumberland High", amid backup dancers dressed as skateboarders and football players. Adding a black jacket, she concluded the main concert with "G.N.O. (Girl's Night Out)" and the theme to Hannah Montana, "The Best of Both Worlds", a song credited to her alter ego. The latter had Cyrus interacting with video that depicted Hannah Montana and ended with the firing of confetti and fireworks. Sporadically throughout the Best Both Worlds Tour, Cyrus returned on stage wearing a white tank top and denim jeans for the performance of a one-song encore, which was either "I Miss You" or "Ready, Set, Don't Go", a duet with her father Billy Ray Cyrus. Both songs were performed in an acoustic setting, without dancers or special effects. The prior had Cyrus performing acoustic guitar herself, while the latter had her father doing so.

## Critical reception

Chris William of Entertainment Weekly graded the show a B+ and commented that, despite her age (at the time fourteen), Cyrus was a determined and likable performer who was able to command the stage the entire show. He continued to compare her to Britney Spears and Avril Lavigne stylistically and musically, respectively. Jim Abbott of the Orlando Sentinel believed the Best of Both Worlds Tour was as entertaining as concerts performed by Spears or the Backstreet Boys, adding that the show's quality made past Hilary Duff concerts "look like something in a mall food court." However, Abbott also stated that Cyrus was unable to duplicate the energy of Hannah Montana. Kelefa Sanneh of The New York Times expected to be let down by the concert after the commotion and hype built for it, but was not. She said, "The show was terrific: a two-hour sugar rush and one long challenge to fans, who had to keep up with Ms. Cyrus's hectic pace." Regarding Cyrus, Sanneh stated she was a likable singer, being able to emphasize on certain words and that her demeanor on stage portrayed her as a "hard-working, sweet-natured troublemaker. There's something slightly disruptive about her bright smile [...] And she brings a welcome hint of chaos to everything she does." J. Freedom du Lac of The Washington Post described the concert as "a nearly 90-minute blast of pop in which the charismatic Cyrus – who complained that she wasn't feeling well – commanded the stage with confidence, performing with a particular swagger." Mikael Wood of the Los Angeles Times described the show to be operated at a "frenzied fever pitch" and be only appealing to children, confusing adults with its presentation.

J. Edawrd Keyes of Newsday said that producers were able to deliver a concert "that was the visual and sonic equivalent of washing down a pound of sugar with 27 cans of soda." Keyes added that, despite Cyrus' charisma, it was evident the show and the dual-persona arrangement (considering that there were no major divergences between them) was an evident strategy to extend marketing and receive more profits. Peter Hartlaub of the San Francisco Chronicle believed Cyrus was a fair singer and commented, "It was relatively wholesome, musically tolerable and certainly had plenty of production value. Some adults may have walked away wondering what the big fuss was about, but none of the kids looked the least bit disappointed." Jane Stevenson of the Canadian Online Explorer noted the differences between Hannah Montana and Cyrus, stating that Cyrus was the "marginally tougher cookie of the two singers" and that audiences received two concerts for the price of one. An uncredited review from The Palm Beach Post stated, "Both halves [of the concert] were enjoyable and lively, set apart by Cyrus’ preternaturally assured stage presence, in and out of the wig." It also stated that the Hannah Montana set was more satisfying due to the quality of the songs and more energy. Geoff Edgers of The Boston Globe wrote, "Of course, most of the mainly tweener fans in the arena weren't splitting [...] musical hairs. They ate up the spectacle of the show, with its costume changes, giant video screens, and sparklers."

## Commercial performance

The Best of Both Worlds Tour was financially successful and was able to sell an abundance of shows throughout the United States in record times. The December 6, 2007 concert at the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan sold out within eight minutes, the third-fastest sell-out in the arena's history. Numerous other concerts, such as the one held on December 1, 2007 at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri and December 11, 2007 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, sold out within approximately twelve and fifteen minutes, respectively. "Absolutely every show sold out within the same amount of time. Whether you were in Moline or Omaha or New York or Los Angeles, it sold out in minutes", stated Debra Rathwell, senior vice president of AEG Live. In total, the Best of Both Worlds Tour had a total attendance of approximately one million people and grossed over US \$54 million, according to Billboard Boxscore, becoming the highest-grossing concert tour for a new act in 2007 and 2008. The record was recognized with the award for Breakthrough Act at the 2008 Billboard Touring Awards.

## Controversies

### Ticket scalpers

Tickets for the Best of Both Worlds Tour sold out quite rapidly. Nevertheless, ticket scalping was one of the primary reasons for it. Many tickets were immediately found for purchase on secondary markets, such as eBay or StubHub, selling for well over the face value of the tickets. Broker prices ranged from \$350 to \$2,000 for the tickets originally sold for \$29 to \$66. The shortage of tickets for the tour became so pronounced it gained national attention, with parents frequently expressing their outrage, discontent, and disappointment on behalf of their children. Vice president of Ticketmaster, Joe Freeman commented, "Hell hath no fury like the parent of a child throwing a tantrum. People who have been in this business for a long time are watching what's happening, and they say there hasn't been a demand of this level or intensity since The Beatles or Elvis [Presley]." In an isolated incident, a girl unable to afford an expensive surgery sold her Best of Both Worlds Tour concert tickets to pay for said surgery. Debra Rathwell, senior vice president of AEG Live said the tickets were priced and sold as fairly as possible and assured there as no conspiracy between those who handled the tour and brokers. "We do everything in our power to stop brokers from getting tickets, but it's impossible", she concluded. However, some brokers denied the allegations of purchasing most tickets for the shows. Brian Posey, owner of The Ticket Machine, an online broker based in East Lansing, Michigan, commented, "I've never seen this as far as availability for any show. It's never been that hard to get tickets for us. You don't see seats anywhere. Parents shouldn't blame brokers for snapping up loads of tickets." He continued to complain that the company was only able to purchase 28 tickets, while they usually averaged hundreds of tickets for hot tours.

Investigations were held in various states, including Arkansas, Michigan, and Missouri, which led to lawsuits that accused brokers of illegally reselling tickets from the Best of Both Worlds Tour. "When you allow the hijacking of the market, it's literally the worst of both worlds. You get charged too much, and there's no access for the locals", said Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon. Numerous ticket brokers accessed tickets prior to fans as a result of a software program by RMG Technologies Inc, which permitted its clients to circumvent Ticketmaster.com's CAPTCHA access controls, and use the copyrighted website in a manner that violated the site's "Terms of Use". Ticketmaster took legal action against RMG Technologies via the United States District Court for the Central District of California, claiming that the developed software for ticket brokers illegally "allows them to cut in line". RMG Technologies representative denied the allegations and said they should not be held accountable because Ticketmaster is getting still paid for the tickets. "This may be the only time in history that any seller sued its customers for paying them too much money", the attorney for RMG Technologies wrote in court documents.

In November 2007, Kerry Inman, a woman from New Jersey, filed a lawsuit against Cyrus' official fan club, MileyWorld, for not complying with terms. Memberships claimed fans subscribed to MileyWorld were supposed to be given priority for seats. While the site never guaranteed ticket availability, it claimed that members who logged on shortly after tickets became available would have a good opportunity to purchase tickets. "They deceptively lured thousands of individuals into purchasing memberships into the Miley Cyrus Fan Club. The scenario has been replayed thousands, if not tens of thousands of times over the past few months", said the woman's attorney. Randy Philips, CEO of AEG Live, revealed the logical solution to all the tumult surrounding the Best of Both Worlds Tour, which he and Cyrus herself both longed for, was to add more shows, but was made impossible because Cyrus was already scheduled to film Hannah Montana: The Movie in early 2008. Instead, the lawsuit was responded with the addition of a total of 45,000 extra seats for the last 21 shows of the tour, which were offered for a limited time to MileyWorld subscribers.

More seats, radio contests, tickets auctions, and other contests were offered so fans could attend concerts. One contest had participants writing an essay about an event that impacted them the most to win a makeover that included a Hannah Montana wig, flight for four to Albany, New York, and four tickets to the January 9, 2008 concert held at the Times Union Center in Albany. The winner, a 6-year-old girl from Garland, Texas, had won with an essay stating the girl's father had died on April 17, 2007 in a roadside bombing in the Iraq War. However, the girl's mother, Priscilla Ceballos, later admitted that the essay and the military information she provided about her daughter's father were untrue. "We did the essay and that's what we did to win. We did whatever we could do to win, but when [Robyn Caulfield] asked me if this essay is true, I said 'No, this essay is not true,'" Ceballos said. The prizes were awarded to the runner up. The mishap garnered much attention from the media because it exemplified parents' desperation to please their children.

### Body double

In January 2008, numerous videos capturing the change from Cyrus to the body double during the performance of "We Got the Party" surfaced on the Internet. The videos showed how, during the song's bridge, backup dancers crowded her as a crew member covered Cyrus with a sheet and ushered her into a trap door and, through the adjacent side, a body double exited. She wore the same wardrobe as Cyrus and used the blonde wig and large glasses to obscure her face. Furthermore, live cameras barely captured her and did not film close-ups as she danced, ran hectically, and lip-synched the rest of "We Got the Party". Numerous fans and critics questioned whether Cyrus lip-synched the entire show during the Best of Both Worlds Tour.

On January 11, 2008, Cyrus' publicist confirmed that the videos were legitimate and that the body double, backup dancer Ashlee Nino, was being used throughout all stops of the Best of Both Worlds Tour. PMK Public Relations issued a statement that explained the body double's purpose:

> To help speed the transition from Hannah to Miley, there is a production element during the performance of 'We Got the Party' incorporating a body double for Miley. After Hannah has completed the featured verse on the duet with the Jonas Brothers, a body double appears approximately one to two minutes prior to the end of the song in order to allow Miley to remove the Hannah wig and costume and transform into Miley for her solo set. Other than during this very brief transitional moment in the show, Miley performs live during the entirety of both the Hannah and Miley segments of the concert.

Cyrus later explained that it usually took over an hour and half to transition from Miley to Hannah and vice versa on the set of the television series, while on tour it took approximately two minutes. With the additional time, Cyrus was able to rest briefly, drink water, and prepare for the remainder of the show.

## Broadcast and recordings

The concerts held on October 18, 2007 at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis and October 26, 2007 in the EnergySolutions Arena in Salt Lake City were filmed for a Disney Digital 3D release, a group of three-dimensional films distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. The film, entitled Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert, was directed by Bruce Hendricks and produced by Art Repola. The film compiled some of the show's performances, along with backstage footage. Cyrus said Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert was made for individuals who did not attend a concert during the tour due to ticket scalping. She continued, "This is like better than front row. You could reach out and feel like you can touch my hand, you could see me right then, right there, right in front of you, which is so fun." It was released on February 1, 2008 in American cinemas, with an intended span of one week at theaters. The film was released to a total of 683 theaters, with an extra four being added later. In its opening weekend, the film grossed over \$31.1 million. With its opening week sales, the film set multiple records. It became the highest box office total for a Super Bowl weekend, the highest-grossing opening for a three-dimensional film, and highest per-screen average ever – \$42,000 per screen. It went on to gross over \$42.8 million in its entire opening week, becoming the highest-grossing film of that week and the film with the fewest theaters to debut at number one. Following its commercial success, the film's run was extended; it eventually closed on May 15, 2008, playing in theaters for 15 weeks. With a total gross of \$70.6 million worldwide, Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert became the highest-selling concert film of all time, until surpassed by Michael Jackson's This Is It (2009), which sold over \$189 million worldwide.

Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert received positive to mixed reviews from critics. On Metacritic, it generated generally mixed or average reception, earning a collective score of 59 out of 100 based on 13 reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film generated generally fresh reviews, with 73 percent of 42 reviewers giving positive reviews. Michael Hann of The Guardian believed the film was only appealing for young girls. He continued, "There's nothing here to detain you, though equally there's nothing to repel you." Elizabeth Weitzman of the New York Daily News newspaper stated that producers did not use three-dimensional technology to its full potential, but complimented the film as whole, declaring it "as close as you'll come to achieving the best of both worlds". Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert was also released to cinema in international markets, including Europe, Latin America, and Oceania, in early 2008. The film was televised on July 20, 2008 on Disney Channel, where it was watched by over 5.9 million viewers. It was released on blu-ray and DVD on August 19, 2008, as an extended edition that features more performances and bonus features.

A live album, titled Best of Both Worlds Concert, was taken from same concerts as the film and released on March 11, 2008. It consisted of an audio CD and a DVD with two concerts performances and behind-the-scenes footage. The album was first released exclusively to United States' Walmart stores and elsewhere in the United States a month after. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic stated, "This is another souvenir for those fans who can't live without the show, and in that regard it's perfectly fine – a nice, polished piece of product that will tide them over until the next new Hannah/Miley album comes along." Best of Both Worlds Concert was commercially successful, peaking at number three on both the US Billboard 200 chart and the Canadian Albums Chart. It also peaked at number sixteen in Australia and was certified gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association for shipments exceeding 35,000 copies.

## Supporting acts

- Jonas Brothers (October 18, 2007  St. Louis – January 9, 2008)
- Aly & AJ (January 11, 2008 – January 24, 2008)
- Everlife (January 25, 2008 – January 31, 2008)

## Set list

Act 1 - Hannah Montana

1. "Rock Star"
2. "Life's What You Make It"
3. "Just Like You"
4. "Old Blue Jeans"
5. "Nobody's Perfect"
6. "Pumpin' Up the Party"
7. "I Got Nerve"
8. "We Got the Party" (with Jonas Brothers)

Interlude - Jonas Brothers

1. <li value="9">

    "When You Look Me in the Eyes"

2. "Year 3000"

Act 2 - Miley Cyrus

1. <li value="11">

    "Start All Over"

2. "Good and Broken"

3. "See You Again"

4. "Let's Dance"

5. "Right Here"

6. "East Northumberland High"

7. "G.N.O. (Girl's Night Out)"

8. "The Best of Both Worlds"

Encore

1. <li value="19">

    "I Miss You"

## Tour dates

This concert is a part of "Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo"

## Personnel

Creative Team

- Director – Kenny Ortega
- Choreographer – Kenny Ortega, Teresa Espinosa
- Design – Kelly McFadden
- Lighting and Video Designer – Abigail Rosen Holmes
- Management – Jason Morey, Jim Morey
- Photography – Brian Love, Kevin Mazuer, Michael T. Williams
- Production Design – Michael Cotten
- Screens Content Director – Steve Gerdes
- Staff & Crew Production Coordinator – Omar Abderrahman
- Video Techs – Eric Geiger, Steve "Bone" Gray, Evan Huff, Justin McLean, Dane Mustola, Mark Woody
- Wardrobe Designer – Dahlia Foroutan

Band

- Music Direction – Stacy Jones, John Taylor
- Guitar – Jamie Arentzen, John Taylor
- Keyboards – Mike Schmid
- Bass – Greg Garbowski, Vashon Johnson
- Drummers – Stacy Jones, Jack Lawless
- Background vocals – Candice Accola, Kay Hanley

Source:

2007–08 concert tour by Miley Cyrus