Fort Wellington
Encyclopedia
Fort Wellington National Historic Site is a historic military fortification
located on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River
at Prescott, Ontario
. It was originally built in 1813 on land owned by Major Edward Jessup
, a prominent Loyalist from Connecticut who was the founder of Prescott
in 1784.
government during the War of 1812
to protect the head of the Gallop Rapids in the St. Lawrence River. Prior to the creation of the St. Lawrence Seaway
in the 1950s, a series of rapids ran downriver from Prescott to Montreal
. Shipping of freight and passengers on regular lake ships was impossible through these rapids, and so freight and passengers who travelled downriver to Prescott from Kingston
would be "forwarded" to smaller bateaux which could travel through the rapids. Likewise, freight travelling upriver from Montreal would be unloaded from smaller bateaux and loaded onto larger lake ships for carriage upriver. At the time, the Rideau Canal
had not been constructed and the Colony's road network was primitive. The only means of shipping heavy cargo and passengers into the Great Lakes
from the lower St. Lawrence was by way of Prescott.
Since Prescott is located only a mile from the town of Ogdensburg, New York
, it was especially vulnerable to military action by the United States Army
. As a communications hub upon which the rest of the Colony of Upper Canada
relied, the town had to be defended.
fence and a glacis. A masonry gate on the north facade of the Fort was the only entryway. Inside the fort, timber buildings were constructed and designed to be concealed behind the ramparts. Casemates were tunnelled into the inside of the ramparts and these were used for storage.
The Fort's main armament was a pair of 24 pounder iron cannons mounted on the southeast and southwest corners of the ramparts. These guns had a range which permitted them to fire on buildings across the river in Ogdensburg, and consequently any ship or boat passing the fort was (and is) within range of these guns. Smaller guns defended other points on the ramparts walls.
Unusually for a fortification of its age in Ontario, Fort Wellington was never attacked. During the War of 1812, Prescott remained an important communications point.
The fort's guns and garrison saw action in November, 1813 when an American
army under General Wilkinson
descended the St. Lawrence River in an attempt to capture Montreal. Wilkinson feared Fort Wellington's guns enough that he unloaded his army upriver from Ogdensburg and marched it through the town at night while his boats slipped past, empty of passengers.
Once Wilkinson passed Ogdensburg, Prescott's garrison followed along the King's Highway (the modern Highway 2
) along the north shore of the river. On November 11, 1813, the two armies fought the Battle of Crysler's Farm
, near modern Morrisburg, Ontario. Wilkinson's army was decisively defeated by a much smaller British and Canadian force, and retreated across the River to Fort Covington, New York
. The attack on Montreal was abandoned, and Canada saved.
of the British Crown
. Built quickly, the buildings and casemate
s inside the fort deteriorated.
In 1837, political dissident
s in Upper Canada
launched a rebellion
at the City of York
(modern Toronto
). With few British regular soldiers in the Colony, the Upper Canadian militia
was quickly mobilized and Fort Wellington became the main depot for the militia in the Prescott area. The Crown commissioned a reconstruction of the Fort using the original earthworks from 1813, and work commenced in the spring of 1838.
The buildings in the modern Fort Wellington survive from this period. The three-storey stone blockhouse was completed in 1839, as was the officer's quarters, latrine, cookhouse, and guardhouse. The original 24 pounder cannons first installed in 1813 were remounted on the southeast and southwest corners of the ramparts, as were two 12 pounder cannons on the northeast and northwest corners, a 36 pounder carronade over the gate, and two 14 inch mortars on the parade behind the southern rampart facade. In addition, an enclosed, stone caponiere was constructed in the dry ditch outside the palisade on the south facade. This was accessed through a tunnel from the interior of the fort.
After their defeat at York in the autumn of 1837, many of the Upper Canadian political dissidents fled to the United States. Among the citizens of the northern states of New York
, Pennsylvania
, Ohio
and Michigan
, these exiles found much sympathy and anti-British sentiment. Overnight, an army of sympathizers was organized. Calling themselves Hunter Patriots, they combined a neo-Masonic
organizational structure with militant republicanism
. Their propaganda
machine convinced many Americans in the northern states that the citizens of Upper and Lower Canada
were being oppressed by undemocratic British government, and were simply waiting for the intervention of liberty-loving American sympathizers.
Early in 1838, these hunters conducted insurgent operations in the Niagara Region
, the area around Windsor
and Amherstburg
, Ontario and on Pelee Island
. At one point, Navy Island
, upriver from Niagara Falls
, which was and remains Canadian territory, was occupied by a sizeable army of Patriot Hunters.
Tensions escalated when a force of Upper Canada militia seized a Hunter vessel, the Caroline
, in the Niagara River and burned it. Although officially opposed to the actions of the Patriot Hunters, the United States government soon found that most of its local agents and officials were either themselves members of the Lodges or complicit in their activities. For example, the New York State militia "lost" several cannons from its armouries in New York State and Michigan.
In November, 1813, a force of Patriot Hunters met at Sackets Harbor, New York
and then travelled downriver on civilian vessels to Ogdensburg. They planned to seize the militia strongpoint at Fort Wellington and organize the disaffected citizens of Upper Canada into a Patriot-led insurgent army with the goal of deposing the British Governor of the Colony.
The Patriots' attempt to land at Prescott proved farcical. The local militia commander had been warned that trouble was afoot. When a Hunter vessel attempted to land early on the morning of 12 November at a wharf in Prescott, it was challenged and fired upon by alert Canadian militiamen. Attempting to withdraw, it and a companion vessel ran aground off Ogdensburg. Later in the morning, both vessels were freed and drifted downriver, past the incredulous sentries at Fort Wellington, and landed two miles downriver at Windmill Point, a promontory on the north short of the St. Lawrence River. Windmill Point was the site of a hamlet called Newport and—most prominently—a tall, stone windmill. The Hunters disembarked and occupied the village and windmill. Their commanding officer returned by ship to Ogdensburg, promising that a larger force of Hunters would be embarked there and brought as reinforcements. He left a Swedish immigrant named Nils von Schoultz
in command at the windmill.
With no regular British forces in the area, the local commander of the Upper Canadian militia summoned all available militiamen in Grenville, Leeds and Dundas Counties and began preparations to assault. He established a cordon of militiamen around Newport and Windmill Point. He also opened communications with the American military commander at Ogdensburg, who had arrived on the scene and had begun to restore order in that town.
A small American naval vessel arrived to cooperate with an even smaller British naval vessel, HMSV Experiment, in isolating Windmill Point from reinforcement. During the course of this blockade, a civilian vessel, the United States, commandeered by the Hunters attempted to run the blockade and was fired on by the Experiment. In what may have been the last naval action on the St. Lawrence River, the helmsman of the Patriot Hunter vessel was decapitated by a British cannon ball, and the Hunters withdrew into Ogdensburg Harbour, where their vessel was interned.
Meanwhile, sufficient numbers of militia and a small party of British regulars had arrived in Prescott to allow an assault on Windmill Point, and this was attempted on 13 November. The militia were successful in driving in the Patriot outposts and capturing many of the outlying farm buildings, but the Hunters held the windmill and some of the surrounding buildings. Casualties on both sides had been significant, and the British commander elected to await regular reinforcements. He reestablished the cordon around the Point while the main body of Militia withdrew to Fort Wellington.
Regular reinforcements arrived on 14 November in the form of British regulars of the Royal Artillery
and the 83rd Regiment as well as Royal Marines
from the Royal Navy
facility at Kingston
. aving appreciated that the windmill structure would be impervious to small arms and light artillery fire, heavy artillery was brought by ship from Kingston. A detachment of Highlanders from the 93rd Regiment arrived from Montreal just at the second assault was about to begin on 16 November. More small naval gunboats also arrived to shell the Hunters from the River while the United States Navy
kept the rest of the Hunters bottled up on the American side.
During the second assault, the Hunters were quickly driven from the outlying buildings in Newport and forced back into the windmill itself. The heavy artillery opened fire against this building, but were unable to penetrate the thick stone walls. Nonetheless, Von Schoultz and his men now realized that the Upper Canadians were not going to join the insurgency and that the promised reinforcements from Ogdensburg had more pressing matters to attend to safely across the border. Surrounded by wounded men, running short of supplies, ammunition and food, Von Schoultz surrendered unconditionally. The survivors were taken to Fort Henry
in Kingston, where they were tried. Von Schoultz and several others were convicted and hanged, while the rest were either pardoned or transported to Australia.
Fort Wellington retained a regular garrison of British soldiers after the Rebellion. If you visit today, the Fort is restored to its condition in 1846, when the garrison comprised a modest detachment of Royal Artillerymen and a company of riflemen from the Royal Canadian Rifle Regiment
.
This Regiment was composed of veterans of the British Army
who volunteered to serve in the border fortifications in Canada. Because of the close proximity of the United States, the British garrison in Canada suffered from high rates of desertion. British deserters who could reach the United States were not deported back to Canada. The Army's solution was to only recruit veterans into the Royal Canadian Rifle Regiment, offer them a better rate of pay as well as pension benefits and the possibility of land grants upon the completion of their service. Consistent with the Duke of Wellington's suggestion that light infantry and rifle units would be most useful in Canada, the Regiment was also raised as an elite, rifle-armed unit.
The task of the Fort's garrison was to occupy the Fort and prevent it from being seized by surprise by insurgents or other belligerents. The Fort's main purpose was to hold the military stores of the Upper Canadian militia for the region.
The British Army left Fort Wellington in 1863, when the Fort became the sole responsibility of the militia. It was a regular site of militia operations, and was garrisoned during the Fenian Raids
of 1866.
line from Ottawa, and this was the point where travellers from the north joined the main railway line between Toronto and Montreal. Many Canadian soldiers on their way to Europe stayed temporarily at the Fort.
After the War, the Fort was transferred from the Ministry of Militia to the Dominion Parks Branch, the national park service now called Parks Canada
. It operates Fort Wellington National Historic Site, as well as the windmill at Windmill Point, itself a National Historic Site of Canada known as Battle of the Windmill National Historic Site
.
During the summer, Fort Wellington is open daily from the Victoria Day weekend until Labour Day. The buildings are restored, and uniformed guides conduct tours of the fortifications and buildings, including the storerooms and barracks in the blockhouse. A military museum is located on the third floor of the blockhouse.
Battle of the Windmill NHSC is also open during the summer months, and visitors can climb the interior staircase to enjoy the building's commanding views of the River.
Fortification
Fortifications are military constructions and buildings designed for defence in warfare and military bases. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs...
located on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River
Saint Lawrence River
The Saint Lawrence is a large river flowing approximately from southwest to northeast in the middle latitudes of North America, connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean. It is the primary drainage conveyor of the Great Lakes Basin...
at Prescott, Ontario
Prescott, Ontario
Prescott is a town of approximately 4,180 people on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River in Leeds and Grenville United Counties, Ontario, Canada. The Ogdensburg-Prescott International Bridge, 5 km east of Prescott in Johnstown, connects it with Ogdensburg, New York...
. It was originally built in 1813 on land owned by Major Edward Jessup
Edward Jessup
Edward Jessup was a soldier, judge and political figure in Upper Canada.He was born in Stamford, Connecticut in 1735 and moved with his family to Dutchess County, New York in 1744. In 1759, he served with Jeffery Amherst in the Lake Champlain region...
, a prominent Loyalist from Connecticut who was the founder of Prescott
Prescott, Ontario
Prescott is a town of approximately 4,180 people on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River in Leeds and Grenville United Counties, Ontario, Canada. The Ogdensburg-Prescott International Bridge, 5 km east of Prescott in Johnstown, connects it with Ogdensburg, New York...
in 1784.
Construction
Fort Wellington was commissioned by the BritishBritish Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
government during the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
to protect the head of the Gallop Rapids in the St. Lawrence River. Prior to the creation of the St. Lawrence Seaway
Saint Lawrence Seaway
The Saint Lawrence Seaway , , is the common name for a system of locks, canals and channels that permits ocean-going vessels to travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the North American Great Lakes, as far as Lake Superior. Legally it extends from Montreal to Lake Erie, including the Welland Canal...
in the 1950s, a series of rapids ran downriver from Prescott to Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
. Shipping of freight and passengers on regular lake ships was impossible through these rapids, and so freight and passengers who travelled downriver to Prescott from Kingston
Kingston, Ontario
Kingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located in Eastern Ontario where the St. Lawrence River flows out of Lake Ontario. Originally a First Nations settlement called "Katarowki," , growing European exploration in the 17th Century made it an important trading post...
would be "forwarded" to smaller bateaux which could travel through the rapids. Likewise, freight travelling upriver from Montreal would be unloaded from smaller bateaux and loaded onto larger lake ships for carriage upriver. At the time, the Rideau Canal
Rideau Canal
The Rideau Canal , also known as the Rideau Waterway, connects the city of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada on the Ottawa River to the city of Kingston, Ontario on Lake Ontario. The canal was opened in 1832 as a precaution in case of war with the United States and is still in use today, with most of its...
had not been constructed and the Colony's road network was primitive. The only means of shipping heavy cargo and passengers into the Great Lakes
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
from the lower St. Lawrence was by way of Prescott.
Since Prescott is located only a mile from the town of Ogdensburg, New York
Ogdensburg, New York
Ogdensburg is a city in St. Lawrence County, New York, United States. The population was 11,128 at the 2010 census. In the late 18th century, European-American settlers named the community after American land owner and developer Samuel Ogden....
, it was especially vulnerable to military action by the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
. As a communications hub upon which the rest of the Colony of Upper Canada
Upper Canada
The Province of Upper Canada was a political division in British Canada established in 1791 by the British Empire to govern the central third of the lands in British North America and to accommodate Loyalist refugees from the United States of America after the American Revolution...
relied, the town had to be defended.
The first Fort Wellington
The Fort was built with earthen ramparts reinforced with horizontal freize pickets. The ramparts were surrounded on the east, west and south facades by a dry ditch with a vertical palisadePalisade
A palisade is a steel or wooden fence or wall of variable height, usually used as a defensive structure.- Typical construction :Typical construction consisted of small or mid sized tree trunks aligned vertically, with no spacing in between. The trunks were sharpened or pointed at the top, and were...
fence and a glacis. A masonry gate on the north facade of the Fort was the only entryway. Inside the fort, timber buildings were constructed and designed to be concealed behind the ramparts. Casemates were tunnelled into the inside of the ramparts and these were used for storage.
The Fort's main armament was a pair of 24 pounder iron cannons mounted on the southeast and southwest corners of the ramparts. These guns had a range which permitted them to fire on buildings across the river in Ogdensburg, and consequently any ship or boat passing the fort was (and is) within range of these guns. Smaller guns defended other points on the ramparts walls.
The War of 1812
The fort's guns and garrison saw action in November, 1813 when an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
army under General Wilkinson
James Wilkinson
James Wilkinson was an American soldier and statesman, who was associated with several scandals and controversies. He served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, but was twice compelled to resign...
descended the St. Lawrence River in an attempt to capture Montreal. Wilkinson feared Fort Wellington's guns enough that he unloaded his army upriver from Ogdensburg and marched it through the town at night while his boats slipped past, empty of passengers.
Once Wilkinson passed Ogdensburg, Prescott's garrison followed along the King's Highway (the modern Highway 2
Highway 2 (Ontario)
King's Highway 2, usually referred to simply as Highway 2 is a provincially maintained highway in Ontario. Once the primary east–west route across the southern end of the province, Highway 2 became mostly redundant in the 1960s following the completion of Highway 401, which more or less...
) along the north shore of the river. On November 11, 1813, the two armies fought the Battle of Crysler's Farm
Battle of Crysler's Farm
The Battle of Crysler's Farm, also known as the Battle of Crysler's Field, was fought on 11 November 1813, during the Anglo-American War of 1812. A British and Canadian force won a victory over an American force which greatly outnumbered them...
, near modern Morrisburg, Ontario. Wilkinson's army was decisively defeated by a much smaller British and Canadian force, and retreated across the River to Fort Covington, New York
Fort Covington, New York
Fort Covington is a town in Franklin County, New York, United States. The population was 1,645 at the 2000 census. The name derives from a War of 1812 fortification.The Town of Fort Covington is on the county's northern border.- History :...
. The attack on Montreal was abandoned, and Canada saved.
After 1814
The end of the War of 1812 in December, 1814 led to a rapid demobilization of British fortications in Upper Canada. Fort Wellington was quickly abandoned, although the land itself remained the property of the Board of OrdnanceBoard of Ordnance
The Board of Ordnance was a British government body responsible for the supply of armaments and munitions to the Royal Navy and British Army. It was also responsible for providing artillery trains for armies and maintaining coastal fortresses and, later, management of the artillery and engineer...
of the British Crown
British monarchy
The monarchy of the United Kingdom is the constitutional monarchy of the United Kingdom and its overseas territories. The present monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, has reigned since 6 February 1952. She and her immediate family undertake various official, ceremonial and representational duties...
. Built quickly, the buildings and casemate
Casemate
A casemate, sometimes rendered casement, is a fortified gun emplacement or armored structure from which guns are fired. originally a vaulted chamber in a fortress.-Origin of the term:...
s inside the fort deteriorated.
In 1837, political dissident
Dissident
A dissident, broadly defined, is a person who actively challenges an established doctrine, policy, or institution. When dissidents unite for a common cause they often effect a dissident movement....
s in Upper Canada
Upper Canada
The Province of Upper Canada was a political division in British Canada established in 1791 by the British Empire to govern the central third of the lands in British North America and to accommodate Loyalist refugees from the United States of America after the American Revolution...
launched a rebellion
Rebellion
Rebellion, uprising or insurrection, is a refusal of obedience or order. It may, therefore, be seen as encompassing a range of behaviors aimed at destroying or replacing an established authority such as a government or a head of state...
at the City of York
York, Upper Canada
York was the name of Old Toronto between 1793 and 1834. It was the second capital of Upper Canada.- History :The town was established in 1793 by Governor John Graves Simcoe, with a new 'Fort York' on the site of the last French 'Fort Toronto'...
(modern Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
). With few British regular soldiers in the Colony, the Upper Canadian militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
was quickly mobilized and Fort Wellington became the main depot for the militia in the Prescott area. The Crown commissioned a reconstruction of the Fort using the original earthworks from 1813, and work commenced in the spring of 1838.
The buildings in the modern Fort Wellington survive from this period. The three-storey stone blockhouse was completed in 1839, as was the officer's quarters, latrine, cookhouse, and guardhouse. The original 24 pounder cannons first installed in 1813 were remounted on the southeast and southwest corners of the ramparts, as were two 12 pounder cannons on the northeast and northwest corners, a 36 pounder carronade over the gate, and two 14 inch mortars on the parade behind the southern rampart facade. In addition, an enclosed, stone caponiere was constructed in the dry ditch outside the palisade on the south facade. This was accessed through a tunnel from the interior of the fort.
The Battle of the Windmill
After their defeat at York in the autumn of 1837, many of the Upper Canadian political dissidents fled to the United States. Among the citizens of the northern states of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
and Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, these exiles found much sympathy and anti-British sentiment. Overnight, an army of sympathizers was organized. Calling themselves Hunter Patriots, they combined a neo-Masonic
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
organizational structure with militant republicanism
Republicanism
Republicanism is the ideology of governing a nation as a republic, where the head of state is appointed by means other than heredity, often elections. The exact meaning of republicanism varies depending on the cultural and historical context...
. Their propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
machine convinced many Americans in the northern states that the citizens of Upper and Lower Canada
Lower Canada
The Province of Lower Canada was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence...
were being oppressed by undemocratic British government, and were simply waiting for the intervention of liberty-loving American sympathizers.
Early in 1838, these hunters conducted insurgent operations in the Niagara Region
Regional Municipality of Niagara, Ontario
The Regional Municipality of Niagara , also known as the Niagara Region, or, colloquially, "Regional Niagara", is a regional municipality comprising twelve municipalities of Southern Ontario, Canada....
, the area around Windsor
Windsor, Ontario
Windsor is the southernmost city in Canada and is located in Southwestern Ontario at the western end of the heavily populated Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. It is within Essex County, Ontario, although administratively separated from the county government. Separated by the Detroit River, Windsor...
and Amherstburg
Amherstburg, Ontario
Amherstburg is a Canadian town near the mouth of the Detroit River in Essex County, Ontario. It is approximately south of the U.S...
, Ontario and on Pelee Island
Pelee, Ontario
Pelee Island, Ontario, Canada , is an island in the western half of Lake Erie. Pelee Island is connected to the Canadian and United States mainland by ferry service. At 42 km2, Pelee Island is the largest island in Lake Erie and the southernmost populated point in Canada...
. At one point, Navy Island
Navy Island
Navy Island is a small island in the Niagara River in the province of Ontario, managed by Parks Canada as a National Historic Site of Canada. It is located about upstream from Horseshoe Falls, and has an area of roughly...
, upriver from Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls
The Niagara Falls, located on the Niagara River draining Lake Erie into Lake Ontario, is the collective name for the Horseshoe Falls and the adjacent American Falls along with the comparatively small Bridal Veil Falls, which combined form the highest flow rate of any waterfalls in the world and has...
, which was and remains Canadian territory, was occupied by a sizeable army of Patriot Hunters.
Tensions escalated when a force of Upper Canada militia seized a Hunter vessel, the Caroline
Caroline affair
The Caroline affair was a series of events beginning in 1837 that strained relations between the United States and Britain....
, in the Niagara River and burned it. Although officially opposed to the actions of the Patriot Hunters, the United States government soon found that most of its local agents and officials were either themselves members of the Lodges or complicit in their activities. For example, the New York State militia "lost" several cannons from its armouries in New York State and Michigan.
In November, 1813, a force of Patriot Hunters met at Sackets Harbor, New York
Sackets Harbor, New York
Sackets Harbor is a village in Jefferson County, New York, United States. The population was 1,386 at the 2000 census. The village was named after land developer and owner Augustus Sackett, who founded it in the early 19th century.The Village of Sackets Harbor is within the western part of the...
and then travelled downriver on civilian vessels to Ogdensburg. They planned to seize the militia strongpoint at Fort Wellington and organize the disaffected citizens of Upper Canada into a Patriot-led insurgent army with the goal of deposing the British Governor of the Colony.
The Patriots' attempt to land at Prescott proved farcical. The local militia commander had been warned that trouble was afoot. When a Hunter vessel attempted to land early on the morning of 12 November at a wharf in Prescott, it was challenged and fired upon by alert Canadian militiamen. Attempting to withdraw, it and a companion vessel ran aground off Ogdensburg. Later in the morning, both vessels were freed and drifted downriver, past the incredulous sentries at Fort Wellington, and landed two miles downriver at Windmill Point, a promontory on the north short of the St. Lawrence River. Windmill Point was the site of a hamlet called Newport and—most prominently—a tall, stone windmill. The Hunters disembarked and occupied the village and windmill. Their commanding officer returned by ship to Ogdensburg, promising that a larger force of Hunters would be embarked there and brought as reinforcements. He left a Swedish immigrant named Nils von Schoultz
Nils von Schoultz
Nils von Schoultz was a Finnish-born Swedish national who helped lead the Battle of the Windmill during the Upper Canada Rebellion in 1838....
in command at the windmill.
With no regular British forces in the area, the local commander of the Upper Canadian militia summoned all available militiamen in Grenville, Leeds and Dundas Counties and began preparations to assault. He established a cordon of militiamen around Newport and Windmill Point. He also opened communications with the American military commander at Ogdensburg, who had arrived on the scene and had begun to restore order in that town.
A small American naval vessel arrived to cooperate with an even smaller British naval vessel, HMSV Experiment, in isolating Windmill Point from reinforcement. During the course of this blockade, a civilian vessel, the United States, commandeered by the Hunters attempted to run the blockade and was fired on by the Experiment. In what may have been the last naval action on the St. Lawrence River, the helmsman of the Patriot Hunter vessel was decapitated by a British cannon ball, and the Hunters withdrew into Ogdensburg Harbour, where their vessel was interned.
Meanwhile, sufficient numbers of militia and a small party of British regulars had arrived in Prescott to allow an assault on Windmill Point, and this was attempted on 13 November. The militia were successful in driving in the Patriot outposts and capturing many of the outlying farm buildings, but the Hunters held the windmill and some of the surrounding buildings. Casualties on both sides had been significant, and the British commander elected to await regular reinforcements. He reestablished the cordon around the Point while the main body of Militia withdrew to Fort Wellington.
Regular reinforcements arrived on 14 November in the form of British regulars of the Royal Artillery
Royal Artillery
The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery , is the artillery arm of the British Army. Despite its name, it comprises a number of regiments.-History:...
and the 83rd Regiment as well as Royal Marines
Royal Marines
The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...
from the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
facility at Kingston
Kingston, Ontario
Kingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located in Eastern Ontario where the St. Lawrence River flows out of Lake Ontario. Originally a First Nations settlement called "Katarowki," , growing European exploration in the 17th Century made it an important trading post...
. aving appreciated that the windmill structure would be impervious to small arms and light artillery fire, heavy artillery was brought by ship from Kingston. A detachment of Highlanders from the 93rd Regiment arrived from Montreal just at the second assault was about to begin on 16 November. More small naval gunboats also arrived to shell the Hunters from the River while the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
kept the rest of the Hunters bottled up on the American side.
During the second assault, the Hunters were quickly driven from the outlying buildings in Newport and forced back into the windmill itself. The heavy artillery opened fire against this building, but were unable to penetrate the thick stone walls. Nonetheless, Von Schoultz and his men now realized that the Upper Canadians were not going to join the insurgency and that the promised reinforcements from Ogdensburg had more pressing matters to attend to safely across the border. Surrounded by wounded men, running short of supplies, ammunition and food, Von Schoultz surrendered unconditionally. The survivors were taken to Fort Henry
Fort Henry
Fort Henry is the name of:*Fort Henry , a 1646 fort near present-day Petersburg, Virginia*Fort Henry , a 1774 fort near present–day Wheeling, West Virginia...
in Kingston, where they were tried. Von Schoultz and several others were convicted and hanged, while the rest were either pardoned or transported to Australia.
Fort Wellington 1838 to present
The Royal Canadian Rifle Regiment
The Royal Canadian Rifle Regiment of the British Army was raised in 1840 for service in Canada. Its members were veterans of service in other regiments of the British Army. The concern which led to the creation of the Regiment was the continuing problem of desertion...
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This Regiment was composed of veterans of the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
who volunteered to serve in the border fortifications in Canada. Because of the close proximity of the United States, the British garrison in Canada suffered from high rates of desertion. British deserters who could reach the United States were not deported back to Canada. The Army's solution was to only recruit veterans into the Royal Canadian Rifle Regiment, offer them a better rate of pay as well as pension benefits and the possibility of land grants upon the completion of their service. Consistent with the Duke of Wellington's suggestion that light infantry and rifle units would be most useful in Canada, the Regiment was also raised as an elite, rifle-armed unit.
The task of the Fort's garrison was to occupy the Fort and prevent it from being seized by surprise by insurgents or other belligerents. The Fort's main purpose was to hold the military stores of the Upper Canadian militia for the region.
The British Army left Fort Wellington in 1863, when the Fort became the sole responsibility of the militia. It was a regular site of militia operations, and was garrisoned during the Fenian Raids
Fenian raids
Between 1866 and 1871, the Fenian raids of the Fenian Brotherhood who were based in the United States; on British army forts, customs posts and other targets in Canada, were fought to bring pressure on Britain to withdraw from Ireland. They divided many Catholic Irish-Canadians, many of whom were...
of 1866.
Fort Wellington National Historic Site
During the First World War, the Fort was used as a depot for military personnel travelling between Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal. Prescott was the terminus of the Canadian Pacific RailwayCanadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
line from Ottawa, and this was the point where travellers from the north joined the main railway line between Toronto and Montreal. Many Canadian soldiers on their way to Europe stayed temporarily at the Fort.
After the War, the Fort was transferred from the Ministry of Militia to the Dominion Parks Branch, the national park service now called Parks Canada
Parks Canada
Parks Canada , also known as the Parks Canada Agency , is an agency of the Government of Canada mandated to protect and present nationally significant natural and cultural heritage, and foster public understanding, appreciation, and enjoyment in ways that ensure their ecological and commemorative...
. It operates Fort Wellington National Historic Site, as well as the windmill at Windmill Point, itself a National Historic Site of Canada known as Battle of the Windmill National Historic Site
Battle of the Windmill National Historic Site
Battle of the Windmill National Historic Site marks the site of the November 1838 Battle of the Windmill, fought around a grist windmill near Prescott, Ontario, Canada. In 1873, the original grist windmill was converted into a lighthouse by the Canadian Department of Marine...
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During the summer, Fort Wellington is open daily from the Victoria Day weekend until Labour Day. The buildings are restored, and uniformed guides conduct tours of the fortifications and buildings, including the storerooms and barracks in the blockhouse. A military museum is located on the third floor of the blockhouse.
Battle of the Windmill NHSC is also open during the summer months, and visitors can climb the interior staircase to enjoy the building's commanding views of the River.