The Windmill, Prescott, Ontario- Sunday, August 25, 2024

     Yesterday's events were all at Fort Wellington.  Today's were at the Windmill, just a short distance outside of Prescott.  Scott woke up at the hostel, and in t-shirt and shorts, walked back to the fort.  The camps were being packed up before the fort opened this morning, but more importantly, it's where the car was.  He grabbed the camp chair that he had left last night, and drove the car to the Tim Horton's again so he could post the blog from there.  

     When he was done with the blog, he had some time to kill.  He wasn't needed at the Windmill until 10:30.  He decided to take a walk in Prescott's River Walk Park.  It started at a very pleasant little park just a block down from the main street.  This was certainly part of the trip that Julie would have liked.  The park had a cute playground shaped like a large boat that Abby would have liked, and lots of inviting places to stroll and sit.  He passed the little amphitheater where the folk festival must have been last night, and a couple of lighthouses marking the marina for small boats.  Beyond that was a second park marked by the Heritage River Trail.  This path took him past Fort Wellington, through the land that we had used for the re-enactment yesterday, past the ruins of the "Old Docks" and the cormorants that perch there, and out to the "Welcome to Prescott" signs at what must be the edge of town.  From there, he turned back and followed the main road past the fort and into town to the hostel.  Scott figured the walk was a little more than a mile and a half.

     No one was needed at the Windmill until 10:30, and everyone who might still be in the fort was probably packing up, so Scott still had something like an hour and a half to kill.  He decided to sit in the common room at the hostel and write some lyrics for a song.  The Hunters who came in 1838 were known to use "The Hunters of Kentucky" as a marching song.  Scott was familiar with that song.  It is about the Battle of New Orleans and was used as a campaign song when Andrew Jackson was running for President.   Scott wondered if they wouldn't have changed the lyrics to fit their situation, and wrote two verses and a chorus.  It's a little problematic because the Hunters Lodges met in secret, so they weren't publicly singing anywhere, but maybe they would sing at their meetings or on the march.  The Fenians certainly did.

     Anyway, he made his way to the Windmill.  He had stopped there on Friday evening, but the bulk of the day was going to be here.  The Windmill itself was built about 1820, was used to mill grain, and was the center of the Hunters defenses.  It doesn't look like a windmill today because it was converted to a lighthouse later in its history.   When the Windmill is open, there are a few displays and a gift shop on the first floor and five flights of stairs to the top.

     The Battle of the Windmill has been called "the forgotten 'Alamo of the North'" for good reason.  In both cases, a small number of Americans citizens (but not American soldiers) defended themselves against overwhelming forces on foreign soil, either Mexican or Canadian.  In fact, the Alamo had only just happened two years before this.  When the Hunters' stolen boats drifted past Fort Wellington on November 12, 1838, two of their boats got stranded near Ogdensburg, NY, but one made it to the Windmill.  The Hunters didn't keep good records, but there were probably less than 200 men there, under the command of a Swede named Nils Von Schoultz.  The would-be liberators expected Canadians to rise up and assist them.  Instead, over 2,000 loyal Canadian militiamen from the countryside around them gathered to besiege and assault them.  Not a single Canadian came to their aid, and both the British navy and the American navy were working on the St. Lawrence River to make sure that no reinforcements would be able to come to them.  After a few days the British brought in artillery and it was only a matter of time before the Hunters would have to surrender.   The militia wanted to kill the despised American invaders rather then take them prisoners and the British regulars had to protect the prisoners to keep that from happening.  159 prisoners were taken to Kingston where trials were held.  11 were executed, include Von Schoultz.  60 were sent to Van Diemen's Land (Tazmania).  

     We parked at the Windmill Brewery, where we were last night, and walked to the Windmill itself.  Scott noticed an absolutely gorgeous stone house for sale right next to the Windmill, and later learned that it was a house that was standing at the time of the battle.  Our guys slowly gathered at the Windmill where part two of the "tour" from yesterday was given.  We all really enjoyed listening to the guy who gave it.  He was reenacting as a militia commander.  Not only did he really know his stuff, he had a good sense of humor and story telling.  We then had time for lunch before the battle at 2:00. 

      Once again, Scott was carrying the flag of the Onondaga Hunters during the battle.  The small park around the Windmill isn't very large and there weren't more than twenty people involved on both sides combined, so it was a small battle.  There were some spectators, but not a huge crowd.  It was hot, in the low 80s probably, but not quite as windy as yesterday.  Still that's a bit warm, and we agreed to fight without coats on because of the heat.  That's probably not the best way to represent a battle that took place in November, though.  The line of the Hunters was slowly pushed back to the Windmill itself.  We had a little bit of a scare when the Canadian militia commander (the same guy who gave us the tour/lecture earlier) grabbed our commander, Ollie, and threw him to the ground.  He was trying to represent the way Von Schoultz was treated, but usually something like that would have been scripted out and planned beforehand for safety.  Ollie ended up falling down hill alongside the Windmill, which made him hit even harder than he would have on the flat land.    As we were being taken prisoner, none of us were really sure if Ollie had actually been hurt, and if so, how bad it might be.  Remember, he was still nursing a hurt arm from earlier this year.  Luckily, he got up and said he was all right, and the guy who did it apologized profusely to him.

     All was well, and people started leaving for home.  Scott took the opportunity to put some sneakers on and climb the 75 stairs inside the Windmill to see the exhibits and sights from the windows there.  He then made his way back to the hostel where he showered and packed his stuff up.  He could have stayed another night, but decided he wasn't feeling too bad and really wanted to be home instead.  He tried to get pizza at a place called "Papa Larry's" just because of the name, but when he learned that they were closed for renovations, he continued on to the Ogdensburg-Prescott bridge and started the 4 and a half hour drive home.