Fort Edward (Nova Scotia)
This article has an unclear citation style. (February 2020) |
National Historic Site | |
Website | Fort Edward National Historic Site |
---|---|
Official name | Fort Edward National Historic Site of Canada |
Designated | 1920 |
44°59′47″N 64°08′07″W / 44.996397°N 64.1354°W Fort Edward is a
Father Le Loutre's War
Part of a series on the |
Military history of Nova Scotia |
---|
Despite the British
Within 18 months of establishing Halifax, the British took firm control of peninsular Nova Scotia by building fortifications in all the major Acadian communities: present-day Windsor (Fort Edward); Grand Pre (
Fort Edward was the site of the Acadian church for the parish of l'Assomption (established 1722).[6] After initially failing to take the settlements of Chignecto, Major Charles Lawrence, on 7 June 1750, he had Acadians destroy their church so that Fort Edward could be built in its place.[7][6][8] In early March 1750, the Acadians and Mi'kmaq took three English prisoners.[9] Gorham was ordered to Fort Edward. On Gorham's march to Pisiquid to secure the area prior to building Fort Edward, the Rangers engaged the Mi'kmaq in the Battle at St. Croix (1750).
The Fort is named after
On 9 May 1750, Phillips was fired on by French and Native.[10] Capt. John Rous was in a skirmish off Fort Edward at the same time, where he killed two native people, whose comrades took their bodies.[11]
At first Alexander Murray commanded at Fort Sackville. In September 1751 he was given command of Fort Edward, where he remained for most of the ensuing seven years, except for a tour of duty at Halifax in 1753. On 12 December 1752, Murray was charged by the Nova Scotia Council with exploiting the local Acadian community by paying unfair prices for supplies and randomly imprisoning some of the men.[12]
On November 1, 1753, Captain Hale was relieved by Commander Floyer as the commander of Fort Edward.[13]
Fort Edward,
French and Indian War
Fort Edward played an important role in the
Raids on Fort Edward
Both the Acadians and Mi'kmaq resisted the Expulsion. In September 1756, a group of 100 Acadians ambushed a party of thirteen soldiers of the
In April 1757, a band of Acadian and Mi'kmaq partisans raided a warehouse near Fort Edward, killing thirteen British soldiers. After taking what provisions they could carry, they set fire to the building. A few days later, the same partisans raided
In the early 1760s it was illegal for Acadians to reside in Nova Scotia; families and individuals who had avoided capture in 1755 were imprisoned.[25] The prison lists for Fort Edward between 1761-1762 still exist (For a list of the prisoners see List of Acadian Prisoners - Fort Edward).[26] In 1762, one of the most famous prisoners, Acadian Joseph Broussard (Beausoleil) was imprisoned here.[27] Between June 1763 and 1764, in the Minas region, the British authorities took 363 Acadians into custody at Fort Edward.
While prisoners, the Acadians were forced to work for the New England Planters to establish their farmlands. When the war finished, rather than stay and work as subordinates, the Acadians settled with their compatriots in present-day New Brunswick and Saint Pierre and Miquelon.[28]
Notable prisoners
- Acadian Joseph Broussard
- Father Henri Daudin[29]
- Father Jacques Girard[30]
Commanders
- Captain John Gorham (Gorham's Rangers (1750)[31][32][33]
- Captain William Phipps, Commander of Fort Edward, died c. Feb. 1751. Eldest son of Acting Governor of Massachusetts Spencer Phips[34]
- Capt George St. Loe (military officer) (40th) (1751)
- Capt. 45th Regiment) (1751)[35]
- Capt John Hale (47th) (1753)
- Capt Matthew Floyer, Nov. 1 (1753–54)[36]
- Nicholas Cox (47th), (1754–56)[37]
- Capt. Alexander Murray, (1754–55)
- Capt Murray, Capt. Cox, on the 5th December, 1755, they were reinforced by Capt. William Lampson's and Capt Silvanus Cobb's companies of the first battalion of Governor Shirley's Massachusetts regiment (which was led by John Winslow)
- Capt. Cox, Capt. Lampson, Capt. Cobb (1756)
- Colonel Quintin Kennedy, regiment, under Lord Loudon, (Aug., 1757.)
- Capt Daniel Fletcher (military officer)[38][39] of Col Joseph Frye's Massachusetts regiment (1758–59).
- Capt John Thomas' Massachusetts regiment (1759-1760)
- Capt. Edmund Wetmough (1760)[40]
- Capt Jotham Gay of Col. Nathanial Thwing (Nathan) (1759–60), May 14, 1760, to Jan. 10, 1761.
Gallery
-
Captain John Hale, 47th Foot
-
Captain Nicholas Cox- longest serving commander
American Revolution
During the American Revolution the 84th Regiment of Foot (Royal Highland Emigrants), 2nd Battalion were stationed at Forts throughout Atlantic Canada. Fort Edward was the headquarters for the 84th Regiment in Atlantic Canada. The 84th Regiment moved from Halifax to Fort Edward to guard against a land assault on Halifax. Throughout the war, Fort Edward housed prisoners taken from American Privateering ships.
The Jacobite heroine
War of 1812
Fort Edward was also active during the War of 1812. During this time, the Fort continued to protect Nova Scotia against assault by American Privateers.
Fort Edward remained part of the British defenses in Nova Scotia until 1858.
World War I
During World War I, it was utilized as a training depot for Canadian and British soldiers. The site became known informally as "Camp Fort Edward" for the duration of the war. Among the recruits passing through the camp was the ill-fated Hollywood film director William Desmond Taylor.
During World War I the British Army used the fort to establish a training depot for Jewish men training to fight against the Ottoman Turks in Palestine and ultimately help Great Britain, France and America defeat Germany. Known as The Jewish Legion, this unit, was "stood up" for service in 1917 manned by Jews from around the world who came to Windsor for training on the slopes of the fort with Major W.F.D Bremner. The Legion was made up of Battalions 38-42. At Fort Edward was the 39th Battalion, 1100 Jewish troops led by Lt Colonel Eliezer Margolin. Bremner lived in Castle Fredericks and is an ancestor of Falmouth's James J. Bremner (See Halifax Provisional Battalion). Pictures and first-hand accounts of the time indicate that the men lived in tents on the hillside below the blockhouse.[41]
Many of these recruits came with
Fort Edward National Historic Site
The fort was designated a
Windsor Agricultural Fair
The Windsor Agricultural Fair is the oldest continuous agricultural fair in North America, beginning with the first generation of New England Planters at Fort Edward (1765).[45]
See also
- List of oldest buildings in Canada
- Military history of Nova Scotia
- Military history of the Mi'kmaq people
- Military history of the Acadians
References
- Endnotes
- ^ Faragher (2005), pp. 361–362, gives duration of period Acadians initially held at Fort Edward (Sept 5 - Oct 20). Also see Regis Burn. The Acadians before 1755, p.31. Burn mentions that - Murray order the Acadians to Fort Edward (as Winslow did of the Acadians at Grand Pre), 183 men and boys heed the call and are at Fort Edward on Sept 5, 1755; Also see Peter Landry. The Lion and the Lily. Trafford Press. 2007. p. 519
- Citations
- ^ Fort Edward National Historic Site of Canada. Directory of Federal Heritage Designations. Parks Canada.
- ^ Salusbury, Expeditions of Honour edited by Rompkey p. 91
- ^ Paul Erickson (EditTr), Jonathan Fowler (Editor). Underground Nova Scotia: Stories of Archaeology. Nimbus Publishing (Sep 29 2010)
- ^ Grenier (2008); Thomas Beamish Akins. History of Halifax, Brookhouse Press. 1895. (2002 edition). p 7
- ^ a b Grenier (2008)
- ^ a b Stephan Bujold (2004). "L'Acadie vers 1550: Essai de chronologie des paroisses acadiennes du bassin des Mines (Minas Basin, NS) avant le Grand derangement". SCHEC Etudes d'histoire religieuse, 70 (2004), 59-79. Note: There is debate over the date of founding the church in the parish l'Assomption. Based on primary sources, Stephan Bujold determined that St. Famille was established in 1698, while l'Assomption was not established until 1722.
- ^ Murdoch (1866), p. 175
- ^ Winslow's journal
- ^ Akins, p. 174
- ^ In his Journal on 9 May 1750, Joshua Winslow wrote about the altercation: "Phillips went to Pisquitt for the timber, left there, was fired upon by some Indians and French, and the 10th returned to Halifax." On 14 May, he wrote: "Phillips and Rous returned from a cruise, having had a skirmish with the French and Indians."
- ^ On 13 May 1750, the Country Journal or the Craftsman: 1750 published an extract from a "Letter from a Gentleman at Halifax, May 25": "The Indians have lately appeared at Pisguit, and capt. John Rous, and capt. Phillips have each had a skirmish with them from their vessels. The former, we hear, killed or wounded two of them so bad, that they were carried off by the enemy."
- ^ Beamish Murdoch. A History of Nova Scotia, Vol 2, p. 213.
- ^ Murdoch (1866), p. 225
- ^ Murdoch (1866), p. 232
- ^ https://archive.org/stream/collectionsofnov18novauoft/collectionsofnov18novauoft_djvu.txt Wolfe's Men in Nova Scotia. Nova Scotia Historical Society p. 8
- ^ Faragher (2005), pp. 140, 346.
- ^ Faragher (2005), p. 361.
- ^ Gwyn, Julian. Planter Nova Scotia 1760-1815: New Port Township. Wolfville: Kings-Hants Heritage Connection. 2010. p. 23
- ^ Nova Scotia Historical Society, p. 27
- ^ http://ourroots.ca/page.aspx?id=319604&&qryID=60348682-7e4b-4d37-bac4-989d6a29898f[permanent dead link]
- ^ Boston Evening Post, 18 October 1756, p.2
- ^ Faragher (2005), p. 398.
- ^ Knox. Vol. 2, p. 443 Bell, p. 514
- ISBN 9780665364563.
- ^ Geoffrey Plank. An Unsettled Conquest: The British Campaign Against the Peoples of Acadia. University of Pennsylvania, 2001, p. 164
- ^ Regis Brun. La Societe Historique Acadienne, July/ August 1969, Moncton, New Brunswick (This article references the primary source as Archives nationals, Fonds des Colonies, C. 12 (Correspondance generale, Sainte Pierre et Miquelon, vol. 1, f. 22-26.)) Also see Manuscripts of Chief Justice Deschamps 1750-1800, NSARM- Family Papers - Deschamps, Isaac - Vol. 32.
- ^ d'Entremont, C.J. (1974). "Brossard, Beausoleil, Josepth". In Halpenny, Francess G (ed.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. III (1741–1770) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press.
- ^ Geoffery Plank. An Unsettled Conquest. University of Pennsylvania, 2001. p. 164
- ^ Johnson, Micheline D. (1974). "Daudin, Henri". In Halpenny, Francess G (ed.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. III (1741–1770) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press.
- ^ Johnson, Micheline D. (1979). "Girard, Jacques". In Halpenny, Francess G (ed.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. IV (1771–1800) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press.
- ^ p. 43
- ^ "Old Parish of Windsor Nova Scotia p.58;1829, Judge Haliburton". Archived from the original on 2014-07-28. Retrieved 2014-07-28.
- ^ http://ourroots.ca/page.aspx?id=319617&qryID=60348682-7e4b-4d37-bac4-989d6a29898f[permanent dead link]
- ^ The Pennsylvania Gazette March 19, 1751
- ^ Fergusson, Charles Bruce (1974). "Sutherland, Patrick". In Halpenny, Francess G (ed.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. III (1741–1770) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press.
- ^ Murdoch, p. 225
- ^ Lee, David (1979). "Cox, Nicholas". In Halpenny, Francess G (ed.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. IV (1771–1800) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press.
- ^ Bates and Fletcher genealogical register, p. 49
- ^ Fletcher's regimental records
- ^ The Planter Roots of Thomas Chandler Haliburton by GMK Haliburton · 1991
- ^ The Valley Today: Independent News for the Annapolis Valley January 12, 2007
- ^ The Valley Today: Independent News for the Annapolis Valley January 07
- ^ [http://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=7419&pid=0 Fort Edward National Historic Site of Canada ]. Canadian Register of Historic Places. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
- ^ Blockhouse at Fort Edward. Canadian Register of Historic Places. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
- ^ Windsor Agricultural Fair National Historic Event. Directory of Federal Heritage Designations. Parks Canada.
- Texts
- Letter from Fort Edward 1759
- Issac Deschamps - diaries
- Orderly book kept by Nathaniel Bangs at Fort Edward, 10 May-18 Nov. 1759; and at Halifax, 7 Feb.-May 1760. Bangs was a sergeant in a company led by Captain Jotham Gay of Hingham, Mass. of John Thomas's Regiment of Mass. Provincials.
- ISBN 978-0-393-05135-3.
- Grenier, John (2008). The Far Reaches of Empire: War in Nova Scotia, 1710-1760. University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0-8061-3876-3.
- Griffiths, N.E.S. (2005). From Migrant to Acadian: A North American Border People, 1604-1755. McGill-Queen's University Press. ISBN 978-0-7735-2699-0.
- Murdoch, Beamish (1866). A History of Nova-Scotia, Or Acadie. Vol. II. Halifax: J. Barnes.
- Silas Rand. Attack on Fort Pemaquid by the Indians. Micmac Indian Legends. 298-299
- Wicken, William C. (2002). Mi'kmaq Treaties on Trial: History, Land and Donald Marshall Junior. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 978-0-8020-7665-6.
- Young, Richard. "Blockhouses in Canada, 1749-1841: a Comparative Report and Catalogue." Occasional Papers in Archaeology and History, Canadian Historic Site, 1980.