Fort Hughes (also known as the

Planters Planters Nut & Chocolate Company is an American snack food company now owned by Hormel Foods. Planters is best known for its processed nuts and for the Mr. Peanut icon that symbolizes them. Mr. Peanut was created by grade schooler Antonio Gentil ...

Barracks) was a fortification that was built at present-day

Starr's Point, Nova Scotia Starrs Point is a community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located in Kings County two miles (3 km) west of Port Williams. Starrs Point faces the Minas Basin to the east and separates the mouths of the Cornwallis River and the C ...

during the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

to protect against raids by American privateers. The fortification was named after the Governor of Nova Scotia

Sir Richard Hughes, 2nd Baronet Admiral Sir Richard Hughes, 2nd Baronet ( – 5 January 1812) was a British naval commander. Naval career Hughes was probably born in London, England, the son of Captain Sir Richard Hughes. He entered the Portsmouth Naval Academy in 1739. He s ...

who had the fortification built on a piece of land belonging to Samuel Starr, a Planter from

Norwich, Connecticut Norwich ( ) (also called "The Rose of New England") is a city in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The Yantic, Shetucket, and Quinebaug Rivers flow into the city and form its harbor, from which the Thames River flows south to Long ...

and militia officer. Three months after a privateer raid on the Cornwallis river, the Barracks was built in 1778 beside the militia parade ground at Starr's Point. 56 troops were stationed there. The

King's Orange Rangers The King's Orange Rangers, also known as the Corps of King's Orange Rangers, were a British Loyalist battalion, raised in 1776 to defend British interests in Orange County, Province of New York and generally in and around the New York colony, al ...

were stationed at the fortification during the Revolution. The Rangers were sent to the area, in part, to ensure that the Planters remained loyal to the King. In the spring of 1781, Major

Samuel Bayard Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Vetch Bayard (born 1757, New York – d. 28 May 1832 Wilmot, Nova Scotia) was a Loyalist military officer in the American Revolution who served in the King's Orange Rangers (KOR). He is the son of William Bayard who foun ...

led the

from Halifax to Fort Hughes to overawe local Planters who were planning to erect a

Liberty Pole A liberty pole is a wooden pole, or sometimes spear or lance, surmounted by a "cap of liberty", mostly of the Phrygian cap. The symbol originated in the immediate aftermath of the assassination of the Roman dictator Julius Caesar by a group of Ro ...

and thereby break with the King. There they fixed bayonets and "with bright weapons glittering, colours flying and drums beating, they marched up Church Street and back to Town Plot, where the barracks stood." This show of force brought the locals back in line. Bayard took an interest in the

Annapolis Valley The Annapolis Valley is a valley and region in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. It is located in the western part of the Nova Scotia peninsula, formed by a trough between two parallel mountain ranges along the shore of the Bay of Fundy. St ...

, and after the war he took up a grant of 4,730 acres at

Wilmot Mountain Wilmot Mountain is a ski area in Kenosha County, Wisconsin. It is located in the community of Wilmot and lies in both the Town of Randall and the village of Salem Lakes, just north of the Illinois border. Located in the southern region of ...

. Fort Hughes was one of a chain of fortifications that created a courier route that started from Citadel Hill at

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348,634 people in its urban area. The ...

, to

Fort Edward (Nova Scotia) Fort Edward is a National Historic Site of Canada in Windsor, Nova Scotia, (formerly known as Pisiguit) and was built during Father Le Loutre's War (1749-1755). The British built the fort to help prevent the Acadian Exodus from the region. The ...

, then Fort Hughes,

Fort Anne Fort Anne (first established in 1629 as the Scottish Charles Fort) is a four-bastion fort built to protect the harbour of Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia. The fort repelled all French attacks during the early stages of King George's War. Now desig ...

Annapolis Royal Annapolis Royal, formerly known as Port Royal, is a town located in the western part of Annapolis County, Nova Scotia, Canada. Today's Annapolis Royal is the second French settlement known by the same name and should not be confused with the n ...

and then to

Fort Howe Fort Howe (1777 — present historic site) was a British fort built in Saint John, New Brunswick during the American Revolution. It was erected shortly after the American siege in 1777 to protect the city from further American raids. The 18th ...

Saint John, New Brunswick Saint John is a seaport city of the Atlantic Ocean located on the Bay of Fundy in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. Saint John is the oldest incorporated city in Canada, established by royal charter on May 18, 1785, during the reign of Ki ...

, and then onward to Quebec. LoyalistMonumentMiddletonNovaScotia

The building survives today as one of the oldest in Nova Scotia. In 2016, archeologist Arron Taylor found rich artifacts on the property from the American Revolution time period.

References

{{reflist History of Nova Scotia

See also

References