Fort Amherstburg was built by the Royal Canadian Volunteers at the mouth of the

Detroit River The Detroit River flows west and south for from Lake St. Clair to Lake Erie as a strait in the Great Lakes system. The river divides the metropolitan areas of Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario—an area collectively referred to as Detro ...

to replace

Fort Detroit Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit or Fort Detroit (1701–1796) was a fort established on the north bank of the Detroit River by the French officer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac and the Italian Alphonse de Tonty in 1701. In the 18th century, Fre ...

, which Britain was required to cede to the United States of America in 1796 as a result of the

Jay Treaty The Treaty of Amity, Commerce, and Navigation, Between His Britannic Majesty and the United States of America, commonly known as the Jay Treaty, and also as Jay's Treaty, was a 1794 treaty between the United States and Great Britain that averted ...

. Built in the years before the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It be ...

, Fort Amherstburg included "King's Navy Yard" for

shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to bef ...

on the upper

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...

(Lakes Erie, Huron, and Superior). The War of 1812 began and escalated quickly with US General

William Hull William Hull (June 24, 1753 – November 29, 1825) was an American soldier and politician. He fought in the American Revolutionary War and was appointed as Governor of Michigan Territory (1805–13), gaining large land cessions from several Am ...

invading Canada in July 1812. Soldiers from the fort repelled the Americans at

River Canard River Canard is a hamlet of roughly 500 people in the northern part of Amherstburg, Ontario and the southern part of Lasalle, Ontario, Canada. It is located on the Canard River and is approximately 12 miles south of Windsor, Ontario. It is home to ...

. After General Hull retreated back to Fort Detroit, British General

Isaac Brock Major-General Sir Isaac Brock KB (6 October 1769 – 13 October 1812) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator from Guernsey. Brock was assigned to Lower Canada in 1802. Despite facing desertions and near-mutinies, he com ...

and the Shawnee Chief

Tecumseh Tecumseh ( ; October 5, 1813) was a Shawnee chief and warrior who promoted resistance to the expansion of the United States onto Native American lands. A persuasive orator, Tecumseh traveled widely, forming a Native American confederacy and ...

met at Fort Amherstburg to plan the attack of Fort Detroit in the British Indian Department building located outside of the fort grounds. After losing the

Battle of Lake Erie The Battle of Lake Erie, sometimes called the Battle of Put-in-Bay, was fought on 10 September 1813, on Lake Erie off the shore of Ohio during the War of 1812. Nine vessels of the United States Navy defeated and captured six vessels of the Briti ...

(including the

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the ...

, which was built at the nearby Navy Yard Park), the British/Canadians destroyed the fort and retreated as most of the cannons normally placed in the bastions were put onto the ships to be used for the engagement on Lake Erie and subsequently were lost. The Americans built a new, smaller fort on the same site with a reduced perimeter. The north-west bastion and connected wall still remain today . After the end of the war, the British/Canadians reclaimed (what is now)

Southern Ontario Southern Ontario is a primary region of the province of Ontario, Canada, the other primary region being Northern Ontario. It is the most densely populated and southernmost region in Canada. The exact northern boundary of Southern Ontario is disp ...

and

Fort Malden Fort Malden, formally known as Fort Amherstburg, is a defence fortification located in Amherstburg, Ontario. It was built in 1795 by Great Britain in order to ensure the security of British North America against any potential threat of America ...

. After the War of 1812, the British let the fort fall into disrepair until threats of rebellion grew in Upper Canada. The fort was repaired to full military use and was garrisoned with men from the

34th Regiment of Foot The 34th Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1702. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 55th (Westmorland) Regiment of Foot to form the Border Regiment in 1881. History Early history The regi ...

(made famous for their routing the French 34th regiment during the

Napoleonic wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fre ...

). After the 1837 rebellion was ended, the Fort again was not necessary as a military installation. It was changed from a military institution to a psychiatric institution. Its employees resided in the smallest barracks building, and the other two large barracks housed inmates sorted by gender. Trees were planted on and around the fort property to provide much-needed shade, which had not been wanted by the military as it would have obscured their view of an attacking force. After some time, the psychiatric institution moved to

St. Catharines, Ontario St. Catharines is the largest city in Canada's Niagara Region and the sixth largest urban area in the province of Ontario. As of 2016, it has an area of , 136,803 residents, and a metropolitan population of 406,074. It lies in Southern Ontario ...

, where it still exists today. After that second use for the grounds ended, the fort property was used as a woodmill until the property was sold off as private residences. The two large barracks buildings are no longer on the grounds. One was moved into the town of Amherstburg where it burned down during the 1920s while being used as a stable. The other barracks building technically still exists today. It has been moved from the fort grounds, divided up into three and sold as individual residences. They maintain the same shape as they had had as barracks, and at least one of the houses was found to have its original walls still intact. Fort Amherstburg still continues today in a military tradition and is a historic site (known as ''Fort Malden'') that is frequently visited by tourists from around the world. Every Canada Day, an 1812 6-pounder field cannon is fired before a large display of fireworks is commenced. The Fort is garrisoned with summer staff who wear the same pattern of uniform and ladies who wear clothing styles of the early 19th century. Visitors can see what fort life was like in the early 19th century through cooking demonstrations and musket firing demonstrations. The biggest event at Fort Malden would be on the Canadian Civic Holiday weekend where re-enactors of time periods ranging from Ancient Rome to World War II gather and perform combat demonstrations and have a full encampment.

Structures

The first fort consisted of: * ordnance blockhouse/barrack * guard house * powder magazine * Indian Department Storehouse * Indian Department Council House * Indian Department Storekeeper's Residence * privy * fire engine shed * ordnance shed * kitchen. The second fort had: * large barracks * officer's barracks * guardhouse * jail Numerous other buildings dotted the fort.

Affiliations

The Museum is affiliated with: CMA,

CHIN The chin is the forward pointed part of the anterior mandible ( mental region) below the lower lip. A fully developed human skull has a chin of between 0.7 cm and 1.1 cm. Evolution The presence of a well-developed chin is considered to be one ...

, and

Virtual Museum of Canada The Digital Museums Canada (DMC; , ''MNC'') is a funding program in Canada "dedicated to online projects by the museum and heritage community," helping organizations to build digital capacity. Administered by the Canadian Museum of History (CMH) ...

References

External links

Fort Malden National Historic Site of Canada

by Bob Garcia {{DEFAULTSORT:Amherstburg History museums in Ontario War of 1812 forts Forts in Ontario Amherstburg, Ontario History of Essex County, Ontario

Structures

Affiliations

See also

References

External links