Jonathan Eddy (–1804) was a British-American soldier, who fought for the British in the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...

and for the Americans in 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 ...

. After the French and Indian War, he settled in

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

as a

New England Planter The New England Planters were settlers from the New England colonies who responded to invitations by the lieutenant governor (and subsequently governor) of Nova Scotia, Charles Lawrence, to settle lands left vacant by the Bay of Fundy Campaign ( ...

, becoming a member of the

General Assembly of Nova Scotia Each General Assembly of the legislature of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada, consists of one or more sessions and comes to an end upon dissolution (or constitutionally by the effluxion of time — approximately five years) and an ensuing gener ...

. During the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

, he was strongly supportive of the rebellion against the Crown. He encouraged the residents of Nova Scotia to join in open revolt against

King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

and England. He led a failed attempt to capture Fort Cumberland in 1776 and was forced to retreat to

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

, the place of his birth. The following year, he led the defense of

Machias, Maine Machias is a town in and the county seat of Washington County in Down East Maine, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 2,060. It is home to the University of Maine at Machias and Machias Valley Airport, a small public ...

during the

Battle of Machias (1777) The Battle of Machias (August 13–14, 1777) was an amphibious assault on the Massachusetts town of Machias, Maine, Machias (in present-day eastern Maine) by Kingdom of Great Britain, British forces during the American Revolutionary War. Local ...

. After the war, he established the community now known as

Eddington, Maine Eddington is a town located on the eastern side of the Penobscot River in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town had a population of 2,194. History The town was founded by and named after Jonathan Eddy, a mi ...

in 1784, where he died.

French and Indian War

Jonathan Eddy was born in

Norton, Massachusetts Norton is a New England town, town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States, and contains the villages of Norton Center, Massachusetts, Norton Center and Chartley, Massachusetts, Chartley. The population was ...

in 1726 or 1727. In 1755, he enlisted in the Massachusetts militia and participated in

Robert Monckton Lieutenant-General Robert Monckton (24 June 1726 – 21 May 1782) was an officer of the British Army and colonial administrator in British North America. He had a distinguished military and political career, being second in command to General J ...

's successful capture of Fort Beauséjour on the

Isthmus of Chignecto The Isthmus of Chignecto is an isthmus bordering the Maritime provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia that connects the Nova Scotia peninsula with North America. The isthmus separates the waters of Chignecto Bay, a sub-basin of the Bay of ...

in the

. He received a militia captain's commission in 1758, when he apparently saw no action, and again in 1759, when his company was garrisoned at

Fort Cumberland A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

(the name Fort Beauséjour was given after its capture).Biography from Dictionary of Canadian Biography After the war, Eddy returned home to Norton, only to return to Cumberland as a

in 1763. From 1770 to 1775 he served in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly, representing Cumberland Township.

American Revolution

When the

began in Massachusetts in 1775, Eddy openly supported the rebellion. Following Governor

Francis Legge Francis Legge (c.1719-15 May 1783), was a British military officer and colonial official in Nova Scotia during the 18th century. He served as Governor of Nova Scotia from 1772 to 1776. During the American Revolution, Legge raised the Royal Nov ...

's crackdown on seditious persons, and seeing an opportunity, Eddy fled to his riding in Cumberland. He made frequent excursions to see

Samuel Adams Samuel Adams ( – October 2, 1803) was an American statesman, political philosopher, and a Founding Father of the United States. He was a politician in colonial Massachusetts, a leader of the movement that became the American Revolution, and ...

and the General Court of Massachusetts, as well as to General

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

. There, he was met with varying degrees of support for his proposed rebellion. Adams pledged full support, troops, weapons, ammunition and more, while Washington was less enthusiastic, failing to promise direct support for the venture. He was eventually able to convince the Massachusetts legislature to provide logistical support in the form of small arms (

musket A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually d ...

s) and other military supplies. In the summer of 1776,

Mariot Arbuthnot Admiral (Royal Navy), Admiral Mariot Arbuthnot (1711 – 31 January 1794) was a Kingdom of Great Britain, British admiral, who commanded the Royal Navy's North American station during the American War for Independence. Early life A native of Wey ...

, the new

governor of Nova Scotia The following is a list of the governors and lieutenant governors of Nova Scotia. Though the present day office of the lieutenant governor in Nova Scotia came into being only upon the province's entry into Canadian Confederation in 1867, the po ...

, ordered Colonel

Joseph Goreham Joseph Gorham (sometimes recorded as Goreham, 1725–1790) was an American colonial military officer during King George's War and later a British army commander during the Seven Years' War and the American Revolutionary War. He is best know ...

's Royal Fencible Americans to secure Fort Cumberland and keep watch for any signs of an American invasion of the province. Eddy, knowing he was being monitored by authorities loyal to the Crown, fled to Massachusetts where he was made a full colonel in the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies (the Thirteen Colonies) in the Revolutionary-era United States. It was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and was establis ...

and was given authority to raise a regiment of his own with the sole purpose of the invasion of Nova Scotia through Cumberland and

Truro Truro (; kw, Truru) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its ...

and then east into Halifax.Clarke, p. 73

Siege of Fort Cumberland

Shortly after General William Howe's army departed Nova Scotia to attack New York in 1776, Eddy made his move. His force of 180 American militiamen, Natives, and Nova Scotians marched on Fort Cumberland. They attempted to storm the fort on November 13, 1776, but were repulsed. Two more attempts were made on November 22 and 23, but on November 28 arrived at the head of the

Bay of Fundy The Bay of Fundy (french: Baie de Fundy) is a bay between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the U.S. state of Maine. It is an arm of the Gulf of Maine. Its extremely high tidal range is the hi ...

with British

Royal Marines The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...

aboard and relieved the fort in a joint operation with the RFA garrison. Eddy and his militia force were scattered, eventually regrouping near the Saint John River. Eddy and many of his supporters who had lived near the fort had their properties destroyed in retaliation. Eddy spent the remainder of the war managing the defense of Machias in the

District of Maine The District of Maine was the governmental designation for what is now the U.S. state of Maine from October 25, 1780 to March 15, 1820, when it was admitted to the Union as the 23rd state. The district was a part of the Commonwealth of Massachuse ...

(then a part of Massachusetts), and was awarded a tract of land in the Ohio Country in 1801 for his role in the war. He moved to Stoughtonham after the war, where he served in the Massachusetts legislature. In 1784 he established a settlement on the eastern bank of the

Penobscot River The Penobscot River (Abenaki: ''Pαnawάhpskewtəkʷ'') is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 22, 2011 river in the U.S. state of Maine. Including the river's We ...

that grew to become

, where he died in 1804.

Notes

References

* Parks Canada "The History of Fort Beausejour" 1995 * Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, Halifax, N.S. Exhibit: The History of H.M.S. Vulture * * This book also contains Eddy's report of January 1777 as well as additional documents and reports. * Clarke, Ernest; ''The Siege of Fort Cumberland, 1776''; McGill-Queen's University Press, Montreal & Kingston, 1995.
History of Penobscot, Maine

External links