To fortify oneself. 1559, 1566, 1572, N.E.D.
1704. My grandmother,… then a child of eleven years, was in a fortified house, or, as it was then vulgarly called, a house which was forted, standing near the church.—T. Dwight, ‘Travels,’ i. 348 (1821).
1747. Consider what measures to take about forting the Town.—Westfield (Mass.) Jubilee, p. 132. (N.E.D.)
1756. You remain in a body at a certain place, forted in, as if to defend yourselves were the sole end of your coming.—Geo. Washington to David Lewis, ‘Writings’ (1889), i. 360. (N.E.D.)
1853. Suppose, now, that we should say to this congregation, and to all the wards in this city, the time has come for us to fort up.—Brigham Young, July 31: ‘Journal of Discourses,’ i. 165.
