Île aux Noix () is an

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

on the

Richelieu River The Richelieu River () is a river of Quebec, Canada, and a major right-bank tributary of the St. Lawrence River. It rises at Lake Champlain, from which it flows northward through Quebec and empties into the St. Lawrence. It was formerly kno ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, close to

Lake Champlain Lake Champlain ( ; , ) is a natural freshwater lake in North America. It mostly lies between the U.S. states of New York (state), New York and Vermont, but also extends north into the Canadian province of Quebec. The cities of Burlington, Ve ...

. The island is the site of Fort Lennox National Historic Site of Canada. Politically, it is part of Saint-Paul-de-l'Île-aux-Noix.

Background

Île aux Noix is a island in the

. The

French and Indian War The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...

caused the French to build a fort in 1759, named ''fort de l'Isle aux Noix'', to slow the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

advance on

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, but were forced to surrender it in 1760. In 1775, the island was taken by American forces, and used as a base by the American generals

Philip Schuyler Philip John Schuyler (; November 20, 1733 - November 18, 1804) was an American general in the American Revolutionary War, Revolutionary War and a United States Senate, United States Senator from New York (state), New York. He is usually known as ...

and

Richard Montgomery Richard Montgomery (2 December 1738 – 31 December 1775) was an Irish-born American military officer who first served in the British Army. He later became a major general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, and ...

for attacks on Montreal and

. The Americans used the island again in 1776 during their retreat from Canada. Their army spent 10 days on the island: more than 900 American soldiers died from small pox and were buried in two mass graves on Isle aux Noix. The British then built a new fort in 1778 and named it the ''fort of Isle aux Noix''. During the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

, the British used the island to supply their operations against the American fleet on Lake Champlain. The present Fort Lennox was built from 1819 to 1829, when the old fortifications were completely demolished. It remained a military post until 1870 and is now a popular tourist locatio

The Île aux Noix Naval Shipyard was a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

yard from 1812 to 1834 in

and served the RN's Lake Champlain fleet during the

. HMS ''Confiance'' was one of several warships built here.

French fortifications

The population of

New France New France (, ) was the territory colonized by Kingdom of France, France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Kingdom of Great Br ...

during the last years of the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

lived through difficult times. It faced an appreciable reduction in support from the home country, at a time when France's resources were being stripped by the situation on the European continent. In the colony from year to year, civilians and soldiers saw their hopes crushed as they worked out strategies, which were constantly deprived of the necessary royal support. The campaigns of 1759 and 1760 provide strong evidence of this situation and it is in this context that the strategists decided to build a fort on Île aux Noix. From August 16 to 28, 1760, French soldiers commanded by Colonel Bougainville, were besieged by William Haviland during the British advance on Montreal. Bougainville realised that the fort of Île aux Noix could not resist a longer siege. On August 27, Bougainville had his troops silently leave the island in the middle of the night and headed to Montreal where he hoped his soldiers could help. The siege of Isle aux Noix ended on August 28, when a group of about forty French soldiers surrendered to the British forces. The last French governor-general of New France, Pierre François de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil-Cavagnal, surrendered to British Major General Jeffrey Amherst on September 8, 1760. France finally ceded Canada to the British in the Treaty of Paris, signed on February 10, 1763. The strategic importance of Île aux Noix decreased as soon as the conquest of Canada was complete in 1760. Amherst had not thought it wise to preserve the French fortifications on Île aux Noix and therefore he ordered the razing of the entrenchments to salvage the construction materials, which might be reused at Crown Point.

First British fortifications

After New France became a British colony, there was not much use for Île aux Noix as a military post. The French fort was destroyed. Yet after the American invasion of the

province of Quebec Quebec is Canada's largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, New Brunswick to the southeast and a coastal border ...

in 1775-1776 by means of the Richelieu River, the British authorities decided to build a new fort on the island in 1778. It was used during the War of 1812. That fort was demolished to make place for Fort Lennox.

American occupation

In 1775, the island was taken by American forces and used as a base by the American generals Philip Schuyler and Richard Montgomery for attacks on Montreal and Quebec. After being defeated at Quebec and abandoning Montreal, the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775, by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Co ...

regrouped at the island in 1776 in its retreat from the

. The site returned to British hands as an important frontier fort, now its southernmost on the Richelieu. Blockhouses were constructed in 1779 to resist further attack. A much more impressive fortification was built from 1779 to 1782.

Images

File:We stand on guard for thee.JPG, Fort Lennox File:Fort Lennox.JPG, Fort Lennox on île-aux-Noix File:Fort Lennox, Québec, Canada.jpg, Fort Lennox File:Fort Lennox (septembre 2000).jpg, Fort Lennox File:Latrines of Fort Lennox.JPG, The soldiers' latrines in Fort Lennox. File:Barracks of Fort Lennox.JPG, Behind the barracks of Fort Lennox. File:Commissariat Store of Fort Lennox.JPG, The Commissariat Store of Fort Lennox. File:Fort Lennox Powder Magazine 2.JPG, Behind the Powder Magazine at Fort Lennox. File:Powder Magazine and Barracks.JPG, The powder magazine and barracks File:Cannon inside Fort Lennox.JPG, Cannon inside Fort Lennox. File:Fort Lennox 1886.jpg, Fort Lennox, Isle-aux-Noix, QC, 1886, Henry Richard S. Bunnett, Oil on canvas. File:Inside the Fort Lennox Latrines.JPG, Inside the soldiers' latrines in Fort Lennox. File:Fort Lennox Kitchen.JPG, A soldiers' kitchen in Fort Lennox. Located in the casemate behind the barracks. File:Fort Lennox Warehouse.JPG, A warehouse located in the casemate behind the barracks of Fort Lennox. File:Fort Lennox Powder Magazine.JPG, Inside the powder magazine at Fort Lennox. File:Entrance of Fort Lennox.JPG, Entrance of Fort Lennox built on Isle-aux-Noix on the Richelieu river. File:Moat around Fort Lennox.JPG, Moat around Fort Lennox. On the left is the top of a chimney above a kitchen located in Fort Lennox. File:Fort Lennox.jpg, Saint-Paul-de-l'Île-aux-Noix (Québec) File:Fort Lennox-Dortoir-2.jpg, One of the soldiers' barracks of the 24th Regiment at Fort Lennox File:Fort Lennox (septembre 2000) (2).jpg, Arcade at Fort Lennox, Province of Quebec

Second British fortifications

During the War of 1812, the race for

naval A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operatio ...

superiority in the area re-established the military importance of the island, which became the main support point for the British navy on this border. The flagship of the British squadron on Lake Champlain, , a 36 gun 5th rate

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...

, became the largest vessel ever constructed at Île aux Noix. :''See Battle of Lake Champlain''

Postwar

The postwar period provided another opportunity to rethink the defensive system on the Upper Richelieu in the light of the experience acquired in the War of 1812. This time the endless debate between

Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu () is a city in eastern Montérégie in the Canadian province of Quebec, about southeast of Montreal, located roughly halfway between Montreal and the Canada–United States border with the state of Vermont. It is sit ...

and Île aux Noix brought the engineer officers into direct opposition to the naval officers. The engineers favoured Saint-Jean because of the many possibilities of bypassing Île aux Noix, while the naval officers, convinced by the experiences of the recent war, preferred Île aux Noix because of its advantages against an operation over water. The latter were further favoured by the activities of the Americans a short distance from the border, since the construction of Fort Montgomery provided the competent British authorities with an argument for supporting Île aux Noix.

Troops

* French regulars * British 1st Regiment of Foot (

Royal Scots The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment), once known as the Royal Regiment of Foot, was the oldest and most senior infantry regiment line infantry, of the line of the British Army, having been raised in 1633 during the reign of Charles I of England ...

)

Internment camp

From 1940 the island was the home of an internment camp which held European Jewish refugees who had been forcibly removed from Britain. The camp was initially called Camp I, later Camp No. 41. Internees were treated as enemy aliens, and only after a year did the Canadian authorities begin to treat them as refugees. They were still not free to leave the camp, however, in some cases until 1944.http://www.jewishtribune.ca/uncategorized/2011/05/03/the-jews-that-churchill-deported-to-canada

References

External links

Île aux NoixFort Lennox National Historic Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Noix, Ile Aux Landforms of Montérégie River islands of Quebec War of 1812 forts Seven Years' War American Revolutionary War sites Military forts in Quebec Royal Navy bases in Canada Jewish Canadian history World War II internment camps in Canada