Fort Wellington, Prescott, Ontario- Saturday, August 24

      This room at the hostel is small.  How small is it?  It’s so small, the mice are hunchbacked.  Bah-dum-dum.  It’s so small that while you’re laying on your back on the bed you can reach up and touch the ceiling.  That part’s not a joke.  The thought that it is a bit coffin-like went through Scott’s head at least once.  There’s a lot of things that Julie would have really liked about this trip so far, but there’s no doubt that the claustrophobic part of her would hate this room.  But, as we always say, it’s just a place to flop and it does seem to be very clean.

     Scott’s computer won’t connect to the Wifi at the hostel, so he walked back to Fort Wellington where the car was and drove to Tim Horton’s again.  It was still a challenge to post, but he got some things up anyway.

     Sometimes, re-enactors like to claim that they are doing this hobby to educate the public.  That’s true for some, but Scott freely admits that when he comes to an event like this one, he is coming to educate himself.   He knew a [very] little bit about the Canadian Rebellions of 1837.  In Upper Canada (which was what we now call Ontario), the leader was William Lyon Mackenzie, and was fighting to try to get “responsible government” for the British subject living there.  Up until that point, a small group of families, often referred to as the “Family Compact,” was wielding power over the colony, and the average farmer had no voice in the government.  In many ways, this Canadian movement seems to be part of the same democratizing forces that were giving the common man more of a voice in the US during the Age of Jackson.  Mackenzie’s rebellion in Toronto failed, and he and many of his followers fled to the United States.   That same year, there was an even larger rebellion in Lower Canada, i.e. Quebec, led by Louis Joseph Papineau.  They met a similar defeat and also fled to the U.S.  While in the states, the Patriot reformers found like-minded American allies.  Together with the Americans, they formed secret societies known as “Hunters Lodges” that hoped to invade Canada again and rekindle the spark of rebellion amongst the people there.  In December, 1838, members of the Hunters Lodges invaded Canada here, at Prescott, Ontario, in what would end up with the Battle of the Windmill.  More on that later.

     When he comes to these 1837 events, Scott doesn’t bring a musket.  Instead he carries a pike—a pole weapon that was carried by many of Mackenzie’s followers.  He’s actually got two—One very long one, and a shorter one that is a copy he had made from one in a museum in Uxbridge, Ontario.   Scott likes the pike partly because it’s easier to get through customs (though the one is so large that it always gets some questions, as it did yesterday), it’s unique among re-enactors though it was very common in 1837, and maybe most importantly, he doesn’t have to clean a musket!  Before coming, Scott asked the commander of the unit, Ollie, if he should bring a pike or a musket this time.  The Hunters Lodges seemed to be better armed in 1838 than the rebels were in 1837, but Ollie told him that the pike would be fine.   As soon as he arrived at Fort Wellington yesterday, he was told that since he didn’t have a musket, he was appointed color bearer, which he thinks is pretty cool and quite an honor.   One of the unit members is a graphic designer by trade and he has created a beautiful new flag for this event, based on one that the Hunters Lodges actually carried.  It is a white silk flag with two large yellow stars, an eagle in the middle, and the words “Canada Liberated by Onondaga Hunters” underneath.  (Actually, since Ollie was having trouble with his hands, he ended up carrying the Uxbridge pike instead of a musket.)  Inspection was scheduled for 10:00, and it was pretty easy for my weapon to pass since I formed up with a pike. 

     At 11:00, there was a tour of the fort specifically for the reenactors.  The guide didn’t actually take us through the fort, but his story of the fort’s history was done so well that we all ended up enjoying it.  He took us up to the gun deck on the fort walls by the large 1807 cannon.  He said that the large cannons at the fort were the same ones that had been put there during the War of 1812.  In fact, that very gun had fired the cannonball across the St. Lawrence River into a brick wall of a building in Ogdensburg, where it remains today (Scott remembers seeing that ball when he visited Ogdensburg in 2013.)   This vantage point was a great place to view the fort, the river and the town of Prescott.  The famous windmill could be seen along the river, downstream, to the east.  The mouth of the Oswegatchie River could be seen in Ogdensburg on the New York bank.

     Fort Wellington was built in 1813 as a response to the threats from Americans.  It guards the upper level of the rapids of the St. Lawrence and the lower part of the river that is navigable by larger ships.  Because of that fact, Prescott, Ontario was an important transshipment point, where western bound goods were taken off of smaller boats and put on larger boats headed to the Great Lakes.   Until the building of the St. Lawrence Seaway to bypass the rapids, this point was pretty strategic for the British.  During the War of 1812, the British led a raid across the frozen St. Lawrence River to capture the town of Ogdensburg.  After that, though, the fort was allowed deteriorate. 

      In 1838, the Hunters Lodges decided to try to liberate Canada and stole three boats at Sacketts Harbor, and took them downstream toward our location.  Two of the boats ended up getting stuck on the American shore but one of the boats made it past Fort Wellington.  The large cannons were not used to stop them because they were not mounted at that time.  They were laying on the ground because of the deterioration that had happened to the fort.  The Hunters in that boat made it to the Windmill, which the captured, expecting that it would inspire many more Canadians to come fight along side them.  That didn’t happen.  Instead, nearly the entire adult male population of the area, more than 2000 men, came to fight the invaders as part of the loyal militia.  Not a single one helped the Hunters/rebels.  We will hear the rest of their story tomorrow at the Windmill.

     Fort Wellington took on its present appearance shortly after that, in the early 1840s.  The large blockhouse that utterly dominates the interior of the fort was built as a supply depot for the loyal militia to defend against any future invasions from the US.  We explored the blockhouse itself on our own.  The first floor is set up with a guard room that includes the epaulette that was torn from the uniform of the Hunters’ leader as the militia captured him and beat him.   The second floor is set up as a barracks where families would sleep.  Scott remarked that Parks Canada forts always seem to be set up so that it was easy to believe that the occupants of that room had just left and were expected back at any moment.  The third floor had creative exhibits that showed the history of the fort from 1812, through 1838 and beyond, including the threats from Fenians in 1866.   The center of the room had a model fo the fort built big enough for children to climb and crawl through, and included little plush cannons.  The building and its exhibits are pretty impressive.

     Scott made his way to the parking lot, where he had some lunch from the cooler he had brought.  On his way there, he passed through the visitors’ center and had a chance to explore there too.  He bought two different books about the Battle of the Windmill and the Rebellion of 1837 in Upper Canada in general.   The most impressive part of the visitors center is the climate controlled room that houses the remains of a British gunboat from the War of 1812.  It was recovered using underwater archeology from its site in the St. Lawrence River near the Thousand Islands.

     We left for the battle about 1:30 and marched down to the area between the fort and the river.  There were probably less than 20 re-enactors total, on both sides combined.  The largest number were guys from the 22^nd US from Toronto that Scott was with, but there were some French speakers from Quebec who had come here from the opposite direction.  The battle couldn’t last long with those numbers, and the Hunters/Patriots were doomed to be pushed back several times before it was over.  It was quite warm—Scott heard about 26 degrees Celsius, but is not sure what that is in Farenheit.  There was a steady strong breeze blowing, but that was bad news for Scott since he was carrying the new flag.  It made it look impressive, and the few spectators that were there seemed to like it, but the constant pulling on it twisted his back a little.  He was fine, but took it slow when the battle was over and when Bill offered to carry the flag back to the fort, Scott welcomed the break.   Scott ended up taking some time in the cool of the theater of the Visitor Center to recover afterwards.

     We relaxed in the fort in the shadow of the blockhouse, but had to keep moving in order to keep in the shadows as the sun shifted.  We chatted that way until it was time for dinner.  Scott stopped at a gas station for some ice for the cooler and then drove to the Windmill Brewery where we had a chicken dinner.   The brewery is right across the street from the Windmill, and will be the center of our operations for tomorrow.  Scott didn’t have any beer there since he had to drive back to the fort, but he did by a 4-pack of “1838 Pilsner” to go, and had some back at the fort.

      The evening wasn’t quite as musical as Scott had hoped. Because Ollie’s hand was still mending, and because Leigh didn’t come this weekend, no one but Scott brought any instruments.  As a result, the mandolin stayed packed away.  Ironically, the “Upper Canada Folk Music Festival” was happening down around the river area.  Even though we heard the music, it wasn’t loud enough to make out anything enough to enjoy it.   Scott stayed in the fort and talked until it started getting dark and the mosquitos started bother him.  Then he made his way back to the quirky hostel in town.  He was back there shortly after 9:00 and enjoyed a shower before finishing the blog and calling it a night.

"Tell the nation..."