Citadel Hill (Fort George)

Halifax looking south from atop Citadel Hill, circa 1870. A row of cannons face down towards the harbour.

Fort George (named after King George II of Great Britain) is a National Historic Site in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada and was established during Father Le Loutre's War. A series of four different defensive fortifications have occupied the summit of Citadel Hill since this time, with the construction and levelling resulting in the summit of the hill being dropped by ten to twelve metres. The first fort was simply a small redoubt which stood near the summit with a flagstaff and guardhouse. The first fort was part of the western perimeter wall for the old city which was protected by five stockaded forts. The others were Horsemans Fort, Cornwallis Fort, Fort Lutrell and Grenadier Fort. (The British built Fort Charlotte - named after King George's wife Charlotte - on Georges Island the following year in 1750.) No traces of any regular or permanent fortification appear on Citadel Hill until the commencement of the American Revolution.

Father Le Loutre's War

Citadel Hill from Point Pleasant Park during the American Revolution (1780)

The establishment of Halifax marked the beginning of Father Le Loutre's War. The war began when Edward Cornwallis arrived to establish Halifax with 13 transports and a sloop of war on June 21, 1749. On 11 September 1749, Cornwallis wrote to the Board of Trade:

The Square at the top of the Hill is finished. These squares are done with double picquets, each picquet ten foot long and six inches thick. They likewise clear a Space of 30 feet without the Line and throw up the Trees by way of Barricade. When this work is compleated [sic] I shall think the Town as secure against Indians as if it was regularly fortify'd.

By unilaterally establishing Halifax the British were violating earlier treaties with the Mi'kmaq (1726), which were signed after Father Rale's War. Cornwallis initially brought along 1,176 settlers and their families. To guard against Mi'kmaq, Acadian, and French attacks on the new Protestant settlements, British fortifications were erected in Halifax (1749), Dartmouth (1750), Bedford (Fort Sackville) (1751), Lunenburg (1753) and Lawrencetown (1754).

During Father Le Loutre's War, the soldiers at Fort George were in a constant state of alert. The Mi'kmaq and Acadians raided the capital region (Halifax and Dartmouth) 12 times. The worst of these raids was the Dartmouth Massacre (1751). Four of these raids were against Halifax. The first raid was in July 1750: in the woods on peninsular Halifax, the Mi'kmaq scalped Cornwallis' gardener, his son, and four others. They buried the son, left the gardener's body exposed, and carried off the other four bodies.

In 1751, there were two attacks on blockhouses surrounding Halifax. Mi'kmaq attacked the North Blockhouse (located at the north end of Joseph Howe Drive) and killed the men on guard. They also attacked near the South Blockhouse (located at the south end of Joseph Howe Drive), at a saw-mill on a stream flowing out of Chocolate Lake into the Northwest Arm. They killed two men. (Map of Halifax Blockhouses)

In 1753, when Lawrence became governor, the Mi'kmaq attacked again upon the sawmills near the South Blockhouse on the Northwest Arm, where they killed three British. The Mi'kmaq made three attempts to retrieve the bodies for their scalps.

Prominent Halifax business person Michael Francklin was captured by a Mi'kmaw raiding party in 1754 and held captive for three months.

French and Indian War

Citadel Hill from Fort Needham during the American Revolution (1780)

Fort George was also instrumental to the British during the French and Indian War. The Fort was used to help faciltate the Expulsion of the Acadians, many Acadians being imprisoned on Georges Island in Halifax Harbour. During the war, the Mi'kmaq and Acadians resisted the British throughout the province. Acadian Pierre Gautier, son of Joseph-Nicolas Gautier, led Mi’kmaq warriors from Louisbourg on three raids against Halifax in 1757. In each raid, Gautier took prisoners or scalps or both. The last raid happened in September and Gautier went with four Mi’kmaq and killed and scalped two British men at the foot of Citadel Hill. In July 1759, Mi'kmaq and Acadians kill five British in Dartmouth, opposite McNabb's Island. There were also numerous raids against the British in the province such as the Raid on Lunenburg (1756).

American Revolution

Citadel Hill hosted a three-story octagonal blockhouse from 1776–1789, covering a fourteen-gun battery. Citadel Hill and the associated harbour defence fortifications afforded the Royal Navy the most secure and strategic base in eastern North America from its Halifax Dockyard commanding the Great Circle Route to western Europe and gave Halifax the nickname "Warden of The North". The massive British military presence in Halifax focused through Citadel Hill and the Royal Navy's dockyard is thought to be one of the main reasons that Nova Scotia—the fourteenth British colony—remained loyal to the Crown throughout and after the American Revolutionary War.

While Citadel Hill was not attacked during the American Revolution, soldiers remained on guard because there were numerous American privateer raids on villages around the province (e.g., Raid on Lunenburg (1782)) as well as naval battles just off shore such as the Naval battle off Halifax.

American Civil War

The soldiers at Fort George were on alert when Nova Scotia became the site of two international incidents during the American Civil War: the Chesapeake Affair and the escape from Halifax Harbour of Confederate John Taylor Wood on the CSS Tallahassee.

Victorian Era

Citadel Hill in winter.

The current star-shaped fortress, or citadel, is formally known as Fort George and was completed in 1856, following twenty-eight years of construction. This massive masonry-construction fort was designed to repel a land-based attack by United States forces and was inspired by the designs of Louis XIV's commissary of fortifications Sébastien Le Prestre, Seigneur de Vauban – a star-shaped hillock fortress with internal courtyard and clear harbour view from armoured ramparts. Between 1820 and 1831 the British had constructed a similar albeit larger citadel in Quebec City known as the Citadel of Quebec.

78th (Highlanders) Regiment of Foot

The renowned 78th (Highlanders) Regiment of Foot arrived in Halifax on the afternoon of May 14 aboard the troopship Crocodile. A total of 765 men disembarked in full dress uniform. The Regiment was divided into two depots and eight service companies, consisting in all of 34 officers, 49 sergeants, 21 drummers, 6 pipers, and 600 rank and file.

For two years, the regiment spent its time billeted at the Halifax Citadel and at Wellington Barracks. The latter is now known as Stadacona and is part of Canadian Forces Base Halifax. Each summer, men from the regiment camped at Bedford to practice musketry at the military range.

On their departure in 1871, a farewell ball complete with a musical tribute was composed in their honour. It was hosted by the famous brewmaster and then Grandmaster of the Mason Lodge of Nova Scotia, Alexander Keith.

On November 25, the regiment set sail for Ireland on board the troopship Orontes. With them went 17young Nova Scotian women who had married members of the regiment.

Halifax Defence Complex

Fort George and its predecessors was the focal point of the British, and later Canadian, military's "Halifax Defence Complex" which included (at various years):

• Fort Needham
• HMC Dockyard
• Fort George (Citadel Hill)
• Fort Massey
• Fort Ogilvie
• Prince of Wales Tower
• Connaught Battery
• York Redoubt
• Practice Battery
• Sandwich Point
• Camperdown
• Fort Chebucto
• (Fort Charlotte)
• Fort Clarence
• Devil's Battery / Hartlen Point
• Five forts on McNabs Island:
  • Fort Ives
  • Fort Hugonin
  • Sherbrooke Tower
  • Strawberry Hill
  • Fort McNab

Fort George was constructed to defend against smoothbore weaponry; it became obsolete following the introduction of more powerful rifled guns in the 1860s. British forces upgraded Fort George's armaments to permit it to defend the harbour as well as land approaches, using heavier and more accurate long-range artillery. The role of Fort George in the defense of Halifax Harbour had evolved by the turn of the 20th century to becoming a command centre for other, more distant harbour defensive works, as well as providing barrack accommodations.

Twentieth Century

• 
  Aerial view of the fort
• 
  Inside the ditch of Fort George
• 
  Firing of the noon gun at Fort George
• 
  Reenactors portray soldiers in every day life at the fort

Although never attacked, Citadel Hill's various fortifications were garrisoned by the British Army until 1906 and afterward by the Canadian Army throughout the First and Second World Wars; Fort George having been used as temporary barracks during 1939-1940 and as the coordinating point for the city's anti-aircraft defences.

According to the historian and novelist Thomas Head Raddall, Citadel Hill was "like Vesuvius over Pompeii, a smiling monster with havoc in its belly". Following the Second World War, the hill and fortifications were designated a National Historic Site of Canada and today is under the responsibility of Parks Canada. Fort George has been restored to the mid-Victorian period.

Halifax Citadel National Historic Site

One of the most enduring and recognized symbols of Citadel Hill's role in shaping Halifax is the daily ceremonial firing of the noon gun. The artillery is also used for formal occasions such as 21-gun salutes.

Fort George has a living history program featuring animators portraying life in the fort where soldiers of the 78th Highland Regiment, the Third Brigade of the Royal Artillery, soldiers wives, and civilian tradespersons re-enact life in 1869.

There are guided and self-guided tours available as well as audio-visual presentations and exhibits which serve to communicate the Citadel's role in shaping Halifax's and North America's history.

The "Army Museum", located in the Citadel's Cavalier Block, displays a rare collection of weapons, medals and uniforms exploring Nova Scotia's army history. It is an independent non-profit museum but works in close partnership with the Citadel staff of Parks Canada.

In July 2006, Halifax Citadel celebrated the 100th anniversary of the withdrawal of the last British military forces from Canada. The citadel hosted over 1,000 re-enactors from around the world.

Approaching the Christmas season, Citadel Hill annually hosts a "Victorian Christmas". Visitors are treated to crafts, carolers and games.

Town clock

Prince Edward, Duke of Kent commissioned a clock tower in 1800 prior to his return to England. The Town Clock opened on October 20, 1803 at a location on the east slope of Citadel Hill on Barrack (now Brunswick) Street and has kept time for the community ever since.

See also

• Star Fort

References

Endnotes

Sources

• Parks Canada, Halifax Citadel National Historic Site brochure, 2001.
• Cuthbertson, Brian, The Halifax Citadel: Portrait of a Military Fortress, 2001, Formac Publishing Company, Ltd., Halifax.

External links

• Fortification Archaeology - Halifax
• Halifax Citadel National Historic Site of Canada
• Halifax Citadel Regimental Association
• Satellite Photo of Citadel Hill