Fort Wellington

Prescott, ON

Fort Wellington was Ordinance Land, controlled by the military, and was not considered a part of either town or township.  It dates from 1838 and is situated on the remains of an earlier fort from the War of 1812.  The fort was built by the British to defend the strategic St. Lawrence River from American attack.  When the last British soldiers left the fort, the land was then subdivided into town lots and sold or granted to settlers.  In 1812, the fort was a mud fort, with a very crude block-house, and rough conditions  for troops stationed there.

Augusta militiamen had their part in fending off American invaders.  They were called to action in 1838 when the Americans again attempted to liberate Canada at the Battle of the Windmill.   Lieutenant John Dulmage, 2nd Regiment, Grenville Militia, fell in action there, fighting against the "Rebels and Brigands" on the 13th day of November 1838, at age 37 years.  He has been known since as the "Hero of the Windmill", and lies buried in Maynard Cemetery amidst his kinfolk.

The fort consists of earthworks surrounded by a palisade and a ditch.  A caponier in the south ditch provides flanking fire.  A row of cedar posts, called fraising, project horizontally from the ramparts.  Within the earthworks, three original buildings remain.  The officer's quarters is a one storey log building with clapboard siding and a hipped, shingle roof.  The latrine, which has an exterior similar to that of the officer's quarters, covers a 10 foot deep privy pit.  The blockhouse occupies the centre of the fort.  It is a square, 3 storey structure with limestone walls a yard thick and a hipped, tin roof.  Loop holes on each floor and a machicolated gallery around the top storey allow for the defense of the building.  The blockhouse contained storerooms on the first floor and barracks on the second and third floors. 

Fort Wellington , restored to the 1846 period, is operated by the Canadian Parks Service.  It had been declared a National Historic Site in 1923.

Click on the thumbnail prints.

Prescott Loyalist Days 1978-1989

 Credits

 Augusta Royal Township Number by Goldie Connell

 Prescott Walking Tour Booklet

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