View_of_Castries_Saint_Lucia_Day248bdriveb

Morne Fortune is a hill and residential area located south of

Castries Castries is the capital and largest city of Saint Lucia, an island country in the Caribbean. The urban area has a population of approximately 20,000, while the eponymous district has a population of 70,000, as at May 2013. The city stretches o ...

Saint Lucia Saint Lucia ( acf, Sent Lisi, french: Sainte-Lucie) is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. The island was previously called Iouanalao and later Hewanorra, names given by the native Arawaks and Caribs, two Ameri ...

, in the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

. Originally known as Morne Dubuc, it was renamed Morne Fortuné in 1765 when the French moved their military headquarters and government administration buildings here from

Vigie Vigie is part of Castries, Saint Lucia. The French established a village at the base of Vigie Hill in 1745, and a military headquarters on Vigie Height. Three forts were built, Choc Fort facing Choc Bay, Fort St. Victor at the entrance to Grand ...

Height. A fort was constructed here by the French, Citadelle du Morne Fortuné, completed in 1784. The fort was first captured by the British on 1 April 1794, but recaptured by the French in June 1795. It was captured again by the British on 24 May 1796. A memorial to the

27th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Foot The 27th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Foot was an Irish infantry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1689. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 108th (Madras Infantry) Regiment of Foot to form the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers in 188 ...

still stands commemorating the battle. France regained possession in 1802 with the

Treaty of Amiens The Treaty of Amiens (french: la paix d'Amiens, ) temporarily ended hostilities between France and the United Kingdom at the end of the War of the Second Coalition. It marked the end of the French Revolutionary Wars; after a short peace it s ...

, but Commodore Samuel Hood defeated French Governor Brig. Gen. Antoine Noguès in June 1803, and the fort remained a British one until independence in 1979. Fort Charlotte was named on 4 April 1794 by

Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, (Edward Augustus; 2 November 1767 – 23 January 1820) was the fourth son and fifth child of King George III. His only legitimate child became Queen Victoria. Prince Edward was created Duke of Kent a ...

to honor

Queen Charlotte Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (Sophia Charlotte; 19 May 1744 – 17 November 1818) was Queen of Great Britain and of Ireland as the wife of King George III from their marriage on 8 September 1761 until the union of the two kingdoms ...

. The

1st West India Regiment The West India Regiments (WIR) were infantry units of the British Army recruited from and normally stationed in the British colonies of the Caribbean between 1795 and 1927. In 1888 the two West India Regiments then in existence were reduced t ...

manned Apostle's Battery on 16 December 1888 when the port became a

coaling station Fuelling stations, also known as coaling stations, are repositories of fuel (initially coal and later oil) that have been located to service commercial and naval vessels. Today, the term "coaling station" can also refer to coal storage and feedi ...

. On 12 November 1890, the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

manned four

RML 10 inch 18 ton gun The RML 10-inch guns Mk I – Mk II were large rifled muzzle-loading guns designed for British battleships and monitors in the 1860s to 1880s. They were also fitted to the and flat-iron gunboats. They were also used for fixed coastal defences ...

s. The fort was abandoned in 1905; a

Secondary School A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

occupies the site. The original fortifications also still stand on the summit, and the old military buildings are in a listed historical area. The Saint Lucia National Trust operates this area. Morne Fortune also hosts the Saint Lucian campus of the

University of the West Indies The University of the West Indies (UWI), originally University College of the West Indies, is a public university system established to serve the higher education needs of the residents of 17 English-speaking countries and territories in the ...

as well as

Sir Arthur Lewis Community College Sir Arthur Lewis Community College is the only community college in the island country of Saint Lucia. The college was established in 1985 and is named after Saint Lucian economist and Nobel laureate Sir Arthur Lewis Sir William Arthur Lewis ...

. Government House, the official residence of the Governor-General of Saint Lucia, is on the northern side of Morne Fortune. There are fine views of Castries available from there.

References

External links

Morne Fortuné article by the Saint Lucia National Trust
Landforms of Saint Lucia {{SaintLucia-geo-stub