CNHS - Fort Edward
Posted by: 
GeoKen
N 44° 59.788 W 064° 08.112
20T E 410523 N 4983184
Built in June 1750 by Major Charles Lawrence, Fort Edward protected the route from the new capital, Halifax, to the Annapolis Valley.
Waymark Code: WM90KR
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada
Date Posted: 06/09/2010
Views: 28
Fort Edward was constructed in June 1750 by Major Charles Lawrence to secure the overland route between Annapolis Royal, the old capital of Nova Scotia, and the new capital at Halifax, founded in 1749. The British colonial officials also intended the fort to assert government authority in the Pisiquid area, one of the centres of Acadian settlement in the province. As well, many Mi'kmaq frequently travelled through the area following the two rivers (the Avon and the St. Croix) that met below the hill on which the fort was constructed.
In the autumn of 1755, Fort Edward served as a centre for the deportation of approximately 1200 Acadian men, women and children from the villages of Pisiquid. Some Acadians however evaded the deportation and small groups were detained at the fort over the next few years.
During the American Revolution, the fort was repaired and garrisoned to protect the area, now called Windsor, from attack by American raiders. One of the captains of the British regiment occupying the fort was Allan Macdonald, husband of Flora Macdonald, who had won fame as the rescuer of Bonnie Prince Charlie following the defeat of his Highland forces at the Battle of Culloden in 1745. Flora spent the winter of 1778-79 at Fort Edward before she returned to Scotland.
Fort Edward was again hastily repaired and manned when war broke out between Britain and the United States in 1812 because military officials feared an attack on the Windsor area. Despite this brief revival, Fort Edward had ceased to have strategic importance in the defence of Nova Scotia decades before. The fortifications gradually fell into disrepair but the grounds were used by the local militia for training as well as for the site of the Windsor Agricultural Fair. During the First World War, the fort grounds also served as a camp for troops from the Annapolis Valley waiting to go overseas.
When first constructed, Fort Edward consisted on a blockhouse, barracks for both soldiers and officers and provision stores and magazines for armament. The buildings were protected by earth ramparts with wooden palisades surrounded by a ditch. Outside the palisades on the hillside were small gardens and stables for cattle and horses. Only the blockhouse itself, the oldest blockhouse of the 200 that were built in Canada and one of the oldest buildings in Nova Scotia, and remnants of the earthen defence works still survive.
Classification: National Historic Site
Province or Territory: Nova Scotia
Location - City name/Town name: Windsor
Link to Parks Canada entry (must be on www.pc.gc.ca): [Web Link]
Link to HistoricPlaces.ca: Not listed
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