One of the first sights you see if you visit the picturesque Mackinac Island is white stone walls sitting high above the ferry docks. Fort Mackinac has a long history that covers much of the early days of French, British, and American history in the region. The island, set in the major trade route of the Straights of Mackinac that divide “The Mitt” from the “Upper Penisula” of Michigan traces it’s importance back well before the colonial history of the early 18th-Century. And while the military history of the island ended five years before the turn of the 20th-Century, today the fort remains one ofRead More →

The term battle is a bit misleading. The Battle of Fort Dearborn is one of the many skirmishes that took place in the old Northwest during the course of the Anglo-American War of 1812. The Indigenous peoples who decided to take advantage of the conflict further east began a campaign against American settlers and expansion by laying siege to the series of Forts established to aid in the colonisation of the American territories established after the Northwest Indian Wars of the previous century. Some of these sieges met with success, but after the defeat of the Americans at Mackinac Island, General William Hull began toRead More →

If you’ve never heard of Fort Amherstburg or even Fort Malden, I’ll forgive you. Being from the Greater Toronto/Hamilton region of Ontario, much of Western Ontario is a bit of a mystery. It also doesn’t help that today Fort Malden doesn’t look too much like a fort when you compare it to places like Fort York, Fort Erie, and Fort Wellington. Located in the small town of Amherstburg, the fort’s garrison saw some of the heaviest and earliest fightings during the Anglo-American War of 1812 and had a long history beyond that of a military post. They were initially constructed as Fort Amherstburg following theRead More →

If there is a single fort in Ontario that I would choose to hide out in during a Zombie uprising, that fort is located in Prescott, Ontario. Fort Wellington, named for Sir Arthur Wellesly, following his victory at Talavera on 27 June 1809. Unlike many forts in Ontario, Wellington never saw a direct attack during its entire history; the garrison proved an excellent defensive post along the venerable supply line of the St. Lawerence River. The village of Prescott, established in 1810 as a stopping point for the main road from Montreal heading west to the main urban centres of Kingston and York (Toronto). AndRead More →