The Kingston Fortifications: Britain's bastion on Lake Ontario

Located at the eastern end of Lake Ontario, at the confluence of the St Lawrence River and the Rideau Canal, the Kingston Fortifications National Historic site in Kingston, Ontario, Canada encompasses two forts and four Martello towers built in the mid-19th century to defend this strategically vital garrison town and its Royal Naval Dockyard.  Given the expansionist impulses of the American republic to the south, exacerbated by various boundary disputes and other irritants during the 19th century, the fortifications built around Kingston were part of the British government's network of defensive structures built to protect British North America against invasion and slow the attackers until Imperial reinforcements could arrive.  Kingston's importance in the 19th century derived from its strategic location at the junction between the St Lawrence River and Great Lakes transportation corridors, at a time when these waterways were the only means of moving people, freight, and military goods through the Canadian wilderness.  With the completion of the Rideau Canal linking Lake Ontario to the Ottawa River in 1832, Kingston's importance as a transshipment hub grew further.  Large sailing ships and steamships traversed Lake Ontario but had to transfer their passengers and cargo to smaller craft capable of navigating the St Lawrence and the Rideau Canal. Kingston's natural harbour also provided safe anchorage for the Royal Navy warships on Lake Ontario tasked with defending Upper Canada against any attack by American forces based across the lake.  The Royal Naval Dockyard at Kingston, constructed in 1788, built and serviced ships of the Royal Navy's Lake Ontario fleet, such as HMS St Lawrence, a 112-gun first-rate ship of the line built in 1814 and decommissioned the next year.  The strong military and naval presence in Kingston allowed Britain to control the entry of ships into the Great Lakes, ensure the uninterrupted flow of vital trade, as well as monitor and, if necessary, blockade or attack American bases along the southeastern shore of Lake Ontario.

The Kingston Fortifications National Historic Site consists of Fort Henry and Fort Frederick, along with the Fort Frederick, Murney, Shoal, and Cathcart Martello towers, all built between 1832 and 1848.  The scant remains of the shoreline Market Battery in downtown Kingston represent another element of what was an integrated system of harbour defences for this city, which served as the first capital of the Province of Canada between 1841 and 1844.  With the easing of tensions with the United States in the late 19th century, the Confederation of Canada in 1867, and the withdrawal of most British forces in 1871, the fortifications around Kingston were abandoned and left to deteriorate.  Fortunately, they have been preserved, restored, and protected through the initiative of visionary individuals and various levels of government.  In 2007, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recognised the Kingston Fortifications and the Rideau Canal they were designed in part to protect, as a World Heritage Site.  Today, the fortifications are managed by a partnership of Parks Canada, the Kingston Historical Society, the Royal Military College of Canada, and the St Lawrence Parks Commission.

Fort Henry

The focal point of the Kingston Fortifications is undoubtedly Fort Henry, nicknamed the 'Citadel of Upper Canada', which sits on 65 acres of land on Point Henry, the highest ground in Kingston.  Given its location at the southern tip of a peninsula jutting into the St Lawrence River, the fort overlooked Kingston's commercial and naval harbours, the entrance to the Rideau Canal, and the naval dockyard on Point Frederick to the immediate west.  Replacing an earlier fort constructed during the War of 1812, the current Fort Henry was built between 1832 and 1837.  Major Richard Bonnycastle of the Corps of Royal Engineers arrived in 1837 to take command of the Royal Engineers in Kingston and oversee the completion of the redoubt, as well as the construction of an advanced battery and storehouses outside the redoubt in 1843.  While the nine-gun advanced battery faced south, over the St Lawrence and Lake Ontario, most of the heavy guns of Fort Henry's redoubt faced north, as it was expected that any American invasion force would cross downriver, march west, and besiege the fort from the landward side.  The fort's north ramparts had nineteen 24-pounder guns capable of firing a 24-pound (11 kilogram) cast iron cannonball to an effective range of 1,100 metres (3,609 feet).  The total cost of constructing Fort Henry was £88,000, equivalent to £14.5 million ($26.9 million) in 2026.  Unlike the citadels at Halifax, Nova Scotia and Quebec City, which reflected 18th century military fortification concepts, Fort Henry represented the latest military thinking in Europe and was the largest and costliest fortress anywhere in British North America west of Quebec City.  Fort Henry's five-sided, casemated redoubt was compact but powerful, designed to make full use of the advantageous topography of its location on Point Henry.

Fort Henry's construction was nearing completion when rebellions broke out in Lower Canada (Quebec) in November 1837 and, the next month, in Upper Canada (Ontario).  As most of the British forces in Upper Canada had been sent to Lower Canada to combat the uprising, Fort Henry was manned only by ordnance personnel and a few sailors.  As the senior remaining officer at Fort Henry, Major Bonnycastle was ordered by Upper Canada's Lieutenant Governor, Sir Francis Bond Head, to defend the fort against the rebels.  Bonnycastle carried out this order by arming the labourers building the fort, recruiting Mohawk warriors from nearby First Nations communities, mobilising militiamen from the area around Kingston, securing the services of a detachment of the Perth Artillery, establishing a unit of naval gunners as the Queen's Marine Artillery, and calling on the people of Kingston to join the local Frontenac Light Dragoons militia unit.  These efforts paid off, as they dissuaded a couple of thousand Upper Canadian rebels and their American sympathisers gathered in Clayton, New York from attacking Fort Henry after a reconnaissance of Point Henry revealed the strengthened defences.  For his efforts in defence of Fort Henry, Bonnycastle was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel and knighted in 1840.

Although it was designed to withstand the smoothbore muzzle-loading artillery of the 1830s, Fort Henry was soon rendered obsolete as a result of rapid advances in artillery technology in the succeeding decades, which saw the advent of more powerful rifled breech-loading guns.  Nevertheless, the fort continued to be manned by troops of the British Army, with the garrison being increased during the 1845-46 Oregon boundary dispute and the 1861-65 American Civil War.  When Britain withdrew most of its forces from Canada in 1871, following the 1867 Confederation of the provinces of Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, the new Government of Canada established the Canadian Gunnery Schools, the forerunner of the Royal Canadian Artillery; one of the two batteries of this permanent artillery force was based at Kingston.  As tensions with the United States subsided after the American Civil War, Fort Henry's military utility waned.  During the 1885 North-West Rebellion in modern-day Saskatchewan and Alberta, the fort was garrisoned by the locally-raised Princess of Wales' Own Rifles militia unit.   In 1891, Fort Henry was abandoned by the military but was again pressed into service during the First World War, serving as an internment camp for enemy aliens between 1914 and 1917.

Severely dilapidated by the 1930s, Fort Henry's tourism potential was recognised and a Depression-era restoration project was launched under the direction of Ronald Way.  Costing $827,692 (equivalent to $18.9 million in 2026), the project was the first time that the Government of Canada had agreed to work with the Government of Ontario in the area of historic restoration.  Fort Henry opened to the public as a living history museum on 1 August 1938; however, a year later, following the outbreak of the Second World War, the fort was designated as 'Camp 31' and used to incarcerate enemy merchant seamen and German naval and air force prisoners of war between 1939 and 1943.

The fact that Fort Henry never fired a shot in anger is a testament to its role as a deterrent to American invasion.   As the promontory on which the fort sits has always been owned by the British or Canadian governments, it was never developed commercially and therefore retains the look and feel of the 19th century landscape.  Fort Henry was administered by the Department of National Defence until 1999, following which it was placed under the control of Parks Canada and is operated by the St Lawrence Parks Commission, opening to the public between May and September each year.

The Martello towers and Market Battery

Although it had been planned in 1829 to complement Fort Henry with additional fortifications, improving relations with the United States in the 1820s and 1830s, as well as cost overruns in the construction of the Rideau Canal, led the British government to conclude that the additional defences were too expensive and unnecessary.  While the British government was reluctant to spend more money on fortifications in Kingston, the prospect of a war over the Oregon boundary dispute with the US government in the 1840s forced the British to commission the construction of four Martello towers along Kingston's waterfront, as well as the nine-gun Market Battery in front of Kingston City Hall.  The construction of the battery and the four towers between 1845 and 1848 was overseen by Colonel William Holloway of the Royal Engineers, supported by Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Richard Bonnycastle.  Kingston's Martello towers reflected decades of British development of round masonry towers and featured innovative designs and high quality construction.  The Murney Tower is considered the most sophisticated Martello tower to be constructed in British North America and, like the others, comprises a basement storage level, a second level with living quarters, and an upper gun platform protected by a high parapet and a removable roof to protect against winter conditions.

Photos taken 18 August 2025, except as indicated

The sign for Fort Henry, located at the intersection of Highway 2 and Fort Henry Drive, east of downtown Kingston, Ontario.

The view along Fort Henry Drive leading to the fort.  The open grassy landward approach allows visitors to appreciate the size and strategic location of the fort on Point Henry.  The natural elevation on which Fort Henry was built, the highest point in Kingston, made it more difficult for attacking enemy infantry to assault the fort's buildings and also extended the range of the fort's artillery.  The granite and limestone bedrock of Point Henry and lack of significant topsoil would have made it very difficult for attackers to dig the parallel trench lines and tunnels up to the fort's walls which were the customary method of attacking fortresses in the 19th century.

A tower sits at the base of the west branch ditch running from the fort's redoubt to Navy Bay.  The ditch served as a barrier to prevent attacking enemy infantry moving from the well-defended north (landward) side of the fort to the weaker south side.  Mounting a 24-pounder cannon each, this tower and an identical tower at the base of the east branch ditch were built in 1846-48.  The towers were designed to prevent attackers from bypassing the ditch in boats.

Another view of the west branch ditch tower and Fort Henry, as seen from across Navy Bay on 11 April 2004.  Trustworthy married soldiers with families were permitted to live in the west and east branch ditch towers, with one family allotted to each of the three floors in each tower.  In the mid-19th century, soldiers' wives washed laundry in a shed located at a small wharf beside the west branch ditch tower.

Looking up the west branch ditch toward the fort's ramparts.  A cannon mounted on the ramparts above the ditch had a clear field of fire along the ditch's entire length.

Visitors line up at the admissions kiosk on Old Henry Lane, leading up to the entrance on the fort's west side.

Below: The front and reverse sides of the Fort Henry self-guided tour map provided to visitors. 

The main entrance gate to Fort Henry, on the fort's west side.  The gate was intentionally designed to be narrow in order to ease the task of defending it against attackers.  Large wooden doors in the gate would be closed if the fort came under attack.

The western range of the Commissariat Stores buildings located in the upper fort, on the south side.  These buildings, commissioned in 1839 by Major Richard Bonnycastle of the Corps of Royal Engineers, were completed in 1843.  They were designed to house various functions that did not need to be within the fort's main redoubt.  Although the Commissariat Stores were not intended to be significant defensive structures, they were built as 22 casemated rooms with vaulted, bombproof ceilings and strong outer walls featuring loopholes to allow defending forces within the fort to fire on attacking enemy infantry.

Another view of the western range of the Commissariat Stores on the upper fort.  Today, this building and an identical and parallel range on the eastern side of the upper fort house shops, a restaurant, visitor restrooms, and an orientation room in their combined 22 casemated rooms.  Originally, the tin roofs of the Commissariat Stores buildings were painted a distinctive red colour.

Located in the western Commissariat Stores building, the vault room was primarily used to store money for the military.  This included money to pay the soldiers' salaries and funds for various military departments, such as the Barracks Department and the Commissariat.  The Barracks Department was responsible for the upkeep of the fort, while the Commissariat was responsible for funding military projects and the purchase of provisions for the army.  The vault room was also occasionally used to store artillery shells.

Located on the southern side of the upper fort, overlooking the mouth of the St Lawrence River, is the Advanced Battery.  As originally constructed in 1837, this battery was separate from the main fort until the construction of the Commissariat Stores buildings in 1843.  The Advanced Battery was originally equipped with nine 32-pounder smoothbore muzzle-loading guns to control the entrance to the naval dockyard and Kingston harbour.  They fired 32-pound (16-kilogram) cannonballs to an accurate range of approximately 800 yards (730 metres).  As none of the guns mounted in Fort Henry's redoubt faced south toward Lake Ontario, without the Advanced Battery the fort would have been defenceless against an attack from the water.

Cast iron 8-inch smoothbore shell-firing guns dating from the 1840s are now mounted at the Advanced Battery in place of the original 32-pounder cannons.  (Photo taken 20 June 2004)

The upper fort is a large open space to the south of the main fortress, flanked on the east and west by the Commissariat Stores buildings and on the south by the Advanced Battery.  Today, part of the Advanced Battery is used as an outdoor dining patio by the Battery Bistro Restaurant. 

The Battery Bistro Restaurant is located in a portion of the eastern range of the Commissariat Stores.

A view inside the Battery Bistro Restaurant, showing the arched ceilings of the rooms (casemates) within the Commissariat Stores.  The casemates' arched ceilings helped protect against explosive cannonballs, called 'bombs'.  The 22 casemated rooms (11 in each of the east and west Commissariat Stores buildings) measure 5.5 metres (18 feet) in width by 9.1 metres (30 feet) in length.

The ramp leading down to the fort's dry ditch and entrance.  This single entrance linked the upper fort to the main redoubt.  Any enemy seeking to penetrate the redoubt would be forced to attack down this ramp, below walls manned by defending infantry firing rifles, and then cross the dry ditch to reach the gateway that was protected by an equipoise bridge.

The gateway to the redoubt is set in the south curtain wall.  Although the curtain wall did not mount cannons, it did contain loopholes (the square ports on either side of the gateway) through which defending infantrymen could fire towards the upper fort if necessary.  The gateway was linked to the dry ditch by an equipoise bridge that could be flipped up to keep attackers from accessing the redoubt. 

Set on the iron grate above the entrance to the redoubt is a carved stone British Royal Coat of Arms.  It bears the Royal Family's French motto, Dieu et mon droit (God and my right).  Surrounding the shield at the centre is the inscription Honi soit qui mal y pense ('Shame on anyone who thinks evil of it'), the motto of the Order of the Garter, Britain's oldest order of chivalry, founded by King Edward III in 1348.

The Union Jack flies from the flagpole towering over Fort Henry's southeast ramparts, as seen from the dry ditch.  The square openings near the base of the thick limestone walls are loopholes through which the fort's defenders could fire on enemy forces during an attack.

The officers' guardroom was the duty room for the Officer of the Day, responsible for the operations of Fort Henry over a 24-hour period.  As per regimental standing orders, the Officer of the Day was to direct and superintend the routine of daily duties, interior arrangements, and the military police of the garrison, as well as oversee the good order of the barracks.  The Officer of the Day was required to visit the sentries at their posts throughout the fort several times during the day and night, and visit the soldiers during breakfast, dinner, and supper to ensure the quality of their food.  He was also responsible for inspecting the barracks, cells, hospital, regimental school, kitchens, and wash houses to ensure that everything was in order.  A large cabinet on the left contains keys for various parts of the fort that the Officer of the Day was required to inspect during his rounds.

Inside the redoubt and to the left of the gateway upon entering is the men's guardroom, used by soldiers on duty to rest between their sentry shifts.  The room was run by the Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) of the Day, who served a 24-hour shift and was responsible for the sentries posted around the fort, as well as checking on any soldiers incarcerated in the garrison cells for disciplinary infractions.  In the rear corner is the winch which was used to open and close the equipoise bridge.  The white-framed portals on the rear wall are the loopholes in the curtain wall that would be used by defending soldiers to fire at enemy attackers in the dry ditch outside.    

A large parade square fills the interior of the fort's main redoubt.  The roughly-rectangular parade square was used to drill the garrison's infantry and for special events.  Mortars used to fire shells in an upward trajectory were also sited in the parade square.  Five huge cisterns built under the parade square held the fort's water supply.  

A Blomefield cast iron 24-pounder smoothbore muzzle-loading gun manufactured by the Carron Company of Falkirk, Scotland in 1806, mounted on an iron garrison carriage in the parade square.  The cannon bears the cypher of King George III (reigned 1760-1820) on the upper surface of its barrel.

A view of the north side of the fort's interior, marked by the two-storey accommodation and storage block with a covered arcade along its upper level.  Grandstand seating on the north side of the parade square is used by visitors observing the drills and demonstrations put on by costumed re-enactors throughout the day, including members of the famous Fort Henry Guard.

Garrison Cells No. 1, one of the cellblocks used to incarcerate soldiers for disciplinary infractions.  Incarceration was the most common form of punishment and Fort Henry had ten cells in which soldiers could be confined for up to a maximum of 42 days, as stipulated in regulations.  For crimes warranting longer incarcerations, soldiers were sent to the Kingston Penitentiary, opened in 1838, as there were no military prisons in Canada at the time.

One of the small cells, measuring only 2.44 metres (8 feet) by 0.91 metre (3 feet).  Drunk and disorderly conduct was the most common infraction committed by soldiers, given the prevalence of alcoholism in the army.  As such, soldiers often spent time in the cells to sober up.  

Another view of the cellblock, with heavy wooden cell doors and padlocks.  For desertion, a soldier would be branded or tattooed with the letter 'D' under his upper arm.  A repeat deserter would be tattooed with 'BC' (for 'Bad Conduct') under his upper arm and potentially discharged from the regiment.

The men's privy (toilets).  Fort Henry had separate privies for men, women, and officers.  The men's and women's privies were located next to each other in divided rooms.  Boys old enough to hold onto the railings used the men's privy.    

Looking into the pit of the men's privy.  Rainwater collected in a series of drains under the parade square was used to flush the privies, with the effluent flowing through a brick-and-stone pipe into Navy Bay, beside the fort.  In the 1860s, the privies were occasionally flushed out by a fire engine. 

The women's privy, which was also used by any younger children of the garrison's soldiers.  Unlike the men's privy, the women's privy had seats.  Soldiers' wives took turns to clean the privies on a daily basis, being paid for the work.

An office used by the Commissariat Department, located off the southern side of the parade square.  The Commissariat Department was responsible for supplying garrisons and troops of the British Army with food, equipment, and other necessities, handling the purchase, transport, storage, and distribution of these items issued to soldiers posted around the world.  As part of the reforms to the British Army's organisation instituted after the Crimean War (1853-56), the Commissariat Department was placed under the control of the Secretary of State for War in 1858.  Personnel posted to the Commissariat Department as clerks, storekeepers, issuers, and tradesmen were volunteers from other branches of the Army and were selected for their attention to detail and organisational skills.  Failure to perform led to these volunteers being sent back to their original units.  As Fort Henry was a supply depot for military stores for Upper Canada, large quantities of goods were stockpiled in the fort, both for the British Army troops and Canadian militiamen.  The British Army generally insisted that garrisons have sufficient supplies to last at least six to twelve months in case a siege damaged some of the supplies.  In addition to items issued by the Commissariat Department, soldiers could purchase food, alcohol, soap, sewing materials, candles, tobacco, pens and pencils, paper and ink, and other small items from the regimental canteen.  While such canteens were originally operated by private tenants contracted by the Board of Ordnance, the British government transferred management of the canteens to individual regiments in 1863.  A canteen committee of soldiers selected by the regiment's commanding officer was responsible for purchasing goods, with all profits returned to the regiment.  The regimental canteens were often criticised for the poor quality of goods and they were forbidden from selling alcohol before noon, during Holy hours on Sundays, or to any soldier who appeared drunk.  Despite the complaints, restrictions, and high cost, the additional items sold by the canteens offered comfort to the soldiers and added variety to the insufficient and monotonous rations provided by the Commissariat Department.

The armoury, stocked with Snider-Enfield rifles.  The Snider-Enfield was a response by the British Army to the development of breech-loading rifles during the American Civil War (1861-65).  With tens of thousands of Enfield 1853 pattern muzzle-loading rifles issued to its soldiers around the world, the British Army sought an affordable way to convert these existing rifles to breech-loaders rather than incur the huge cost of replacing them with the new technology.  American merchant and amateur inventor Jacob Snider patented a side-hinged breech, which was selected by the British Army.  To convert the existing Enfield 1853 pattern rifles to breech-loading, the last two inches of the breech were cut off and the new Snider mechanism inserted in its place.  The result was the Snider-Enfield Long Rifle of 1866, which remained the principal infantry weapon until 1871.

A member of the Fort Henry Guard, dressed as a Royal Artillery corporal, tells visitors about the various small arms used by the fort's garrison in the 19th century.

The guardsman demonstrates the use of a Snider-Enfield carbine, a shorter version of the Snider-Enfield infantry rifle and used by artillerymen for self-defence.  When the British Army withdrew from Fort Henry, hundreds of functional Snider-Enfield rifles and carbines dating from the 1860s were left behind, many of which continue to be used for demonstrations by the Fort Henry Guard to this day. 

With a loud bang and a puff of smoke, the guardsman fires a blank round from the Snider-Enfield carbine.

Looking east across the parade square as a detachment of the Fort Henry Guard performs a drill.  In the foreground sits a cast iron 13-inch smoothbore muzzle-loading Land Service Mortar.  Such mortars were of great value in siege operations, as they were designed to fire the largest and heaviest possible projectile at a high trajectory.  Mortars were normally fired at a 45-degree angle, with the range adjusted by varying the weight of the propelling charge.

A staircase leads up to the ramparts at the southwest corner of the parade square.  An identical staircase is located at the northwest corner.  An officers' cellar and one of the officers' privies is located under this staircase. 

The No. 1 Officers' Kitchen, located at the southwest corner of the fort's parade square.

The West Officers' Quarters, comprising four casemated rooms located in the west wall of the fort.  Another block of six casemated officers' quarters were located in the east wall.  The officers' quarters were luxurious compared to those of the rank and file soldiers garrisoning the fort.

An exhibit on the British Army's officer corps occupies Officers' Quarters No. 1 at the southwest corner of the fort's parade square.  Most officers were from land-owning families or, especially later in the 19th century, from the growing mercantile middle class, with a minority coming from the aristocracy.  Indeed, in 1867, 15% of the army's officers were from the aristocracy, 15% were sons of officers, and fully 65% came from families of the minor nobility, clergy, and the well-off middle class.  Although the English public school education, with its focus on the classics, that most officers received would not have prepared them for the practical aspects of their military trade, it did create a common language and social network essential to meet social duties and responsibilities as 'an officer and a gentleman'.  As graduation from the Sandhurst military academy (established in 1812) was not required to become an infantry or cavalry officer at this time, officers received military instruction after they joined their regiments; however, by the 1860s, many infantry and cavalry officers had attended Sandhurst.  (Artillery and engineer officers attended the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich, England and were commissioned upon graduation.)  Interestingly, the rank and file soldiers preferred the educated, polished gentlemen officers over those without such social graces, who could be brutal and overbearing.

The tunic of a Lieutenant of the 49th (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) Regiment of Foot, a pattern introduced in 1856 and worn around 1867.  The 49th Regiment was stationed in Kingston during the War of 1812 and this tunic pattern is worn today by the Fort Henry Guard.  An officer could rapidly climb the ranks during wartime, given the level of casualties suffered during combat.  In peacetime, promotion was by seniority in the artillery and engineers, while infantry and cavalry officers who could afford it purchased their promotions after a certain number of years in each rank and when the next higher rank became available.  The price of a promotion depended on supply and demand, as well as the reputation of a particular regiment.  This 'Purchase System' was used to climb the ranks each step from Ensign to Lieutenant Colonel, with the money generated by a retiring officer selling his commission providing valuable income in an era when pensions were rare.  The Purchase System was abolished in 1871.  

An officer's coatee of the 82nd Regiment of Foot (Prince of Wales's Volunteers) Battalion.  This style of uniform was worn while the 82nd Regiment of Foot garrisoned Fort Henry between 1844 and 1846. 

An 1845 pattern British infantry officer's sword and scabbard.  This type of sword was an infantry officer's primary weapon, as well as a symbol of rank, throughout the Victorian era (1837-1901). 

A display of British Army officer uniforms and equipment, including the tunic of a major in the 2nd Queen's Halifax Militia; a Canadian militia officer's beaver-felt shako cap (c. 1860); an 1845 pattern infantry officer's sword and scabbard; and a writing box belonging to Captain W.H. King-Harman, a Royal Artillery officer posted to Fort Henry in 1867.

British Army officer shako plates (cap badges): on the left is a plate for the Albert pattern Shako, worn by the 3rd Regiment of Foot (The Buffs); on the right is a plate for the 109th Bombay Infantry (c. 1860).

A display of officer's uniform items of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers, including the mess jacket of an Ensign in the Royal Artillery (c.1870); the epaulettes and storage case of a Royal Artillery lieutenant-colonel (1832-54); and Royal Engineers belt and helmet plates from the Victorian period.

A display of mid-19th century infantry officers' uniforms and equipment, including the tunic of a lieutenant in the Yorkshire Militia in the style worn by regular infantry officers with the substitution of silver lace and buttons for the gold of the regular army; shako plates and belt plates of various infantry regiments; and a Canadian militia officer's undress jacket of a style worn during the 1837 Rebellion, when Fort Henry was garrisoned by local militia.

The tour route continues through the West Officers' Quarters, a series of casemated rooms that have been furnished as they may have appeared in 1867.  Each room measures approximately 5.5 metres by 9.1 metres (18 feet by 30 feet).

A transient officer's quarters, characterised by the light, transportable 'campaign furniture' which could be easily shipped from posting to posting throughout the Empire.  Regiments were rotated through Fort Henry approximately every two years.  While at many posts two officers would share a room this size, Fort Henry was never garrisoned to capacity and each officer had a room of his own.  This room has been recreated to resemble that of an officer who is still in the process of moving into his quarters, with the lack of large furniture suggesting that he has only recently purchased his commission.  Officers were responsible for furnishing their lodgings at the fort at their own expense.  The families of married officers were not housed at Fort Henry, but rather lived in private quarters in Kingston or were left behind in Britain when the officers were posted overseas.  Officers who lived with their families in town maintained their room at the fort as an office or a place to stay in the event of hostilities.   

A well-appointed senior officer's quarters, with the hunting rifles, snowshoes, and fishing pole denoting a man from the upper classes of British society with an interest in gentlemanly sports.  Officers could wear civilian clothing when off duty (unlike rank and file soldiers) and were permitted to participate in social activities in Kingston.  Given that the majority of officers were from rural areas that suffered from a lack of many acceptable occupations for the sons of wealthy landowners, three career choices were available: the army, the church, or the civil service.  For many young men of wealthy families, the army was their first choice as it offered many opportunities for sporting and social engagements.

The Commandant's quarters, which functioned as both sleeping accommodations and office.  Fort Henry's Commandant was usually a captain or, rarely, a major, who was responsible for the daily operation of the fort.  This duty entailed significant paperwork, with documents to be signed, tied with red tape, and locked in tin boxes for shipment by courier to headquarters in Quebec or to authorities in Britain.

Furnished and decorated by the officers, the Ante Room was the social hub of the Officer's Mess and reflects the Victorian sensibilities appropriate for a male dwelling.  When off duty, the fort's officers read, looked at geographic snapshots of the world in a stereoscope, or played chess, cards, or the piano.  The piano in the Ante Room was manufactured at the Fox Piano Factory in Kingston in the 1860s.  Hanging in the Ante Room is a composite photo of the officers of the Royal Canadian Rifle Regiment, (RCRR), the unit that garrisoned Fort Henry the longest.  Expected to participate in the social life of whatever overseas posting they were sent to, the officers also hosted invited guests in the Ante Room before or after dinner in the adjacent Officers' Mess.

The Officers' Mess.  The fort's officers were expected to dine in the mess most evenings of the week, unless their duties required them to be elsewhere.  Married officers were allowed to skip some meals per week so they could dine with their families living in town.  Supper was the primary meal of the day and was served on fine bone china, crystal, and sterling silver trays.  Mess table conversation was often limited to topics such as hunting, sport, horses, and trivia, as talking about women, politics, religion, and work was frowned upon.

The fireplace in the Officers' Mess, with silver trophies and candlesticks sitting atop the mantelpiece.  The silverware, china, trophies, and furniture in the mess were paid for and maintained by the officers at their own expense.  While the officers entertained invited guests at the fort, they in turn were also invited by the upper classes of Kingston society to social events in town, such as formal balls, theatre productions, and skating parties. 

The passageway through the casemated rooms of the western side of the fort, with the former officers' accommodations recreated behind windows.

The Messman's Room, in which officers' meals were prepared under the supervision of the messman.  The messman could be a former senior non-commissioned officer from the army but was often a skilled civilian; he was hired by the fort's officers to run the mess efficiently and oversee the training and duties of each officer's soldier servant.  Officers paid a certain amount each month into a mess fund to pay for the messman's salary, as well as the food and alcohol consumed in the mess.  Food was cooked in the Mess Kitchen, located through the adjacent passageway, and brought to the Messman's Room to be carved and plated.  Sauces and side dishes were prepared in the Messman's Room, with the messman coordinating the mess servants responsible for serving the various courses in the Officers' Mess, next door.  The messman lived and worked in this room and, accompanied by one or two servants, would travel into Kingston nearly every day to purchase food for the officers' meals.  Small gardens planted in the dry ditch around the fort were used to supplement the menus for both officers and soldiers.

Next to the Messman's Room is the wine cellar, measuring 3.1 metres by 6.1 metres (10 feet by 20 feet), where the fort's supply of alcohol was stored in barrels and casks.  As gentlemen by definition, and therefore trusted to drink responsibly, officers were allowed to purchase alcohol and keep it in their private quarters; however, the soldiers were severely punished if caught with alcohol in their barracks.  In 1867, each soldier was issued one pint of beer each day, as it was considered an absolute necessity for its nutritional value and the morale it engendered among the troops.  Soldiers on leave also drank at pubs in Kingston, supplied by local breweries like Morton's, one of the largest in the British Empire.  Skilled civilian coopers employed at Fort Henry constructed barrels for beer issued to the soldiers, casks for the flour used in the fort's bakeries, and other barrels needed to ship military materials into the Canadian interior.  Barrels designed to hold liquids were bound with iron bands, while casks for dry goods could be bound using willow strapping.  Kegs for gunpowder were bound using copper bands to avoid any risk of sparking when the casks were moved for shipment.

The Mess Kitchen, where food for the officers was cooked before being taken to the Messman's Room to be plated prior to serving.

The Mess Kitchen contains a display recounting the escape of several convicted rebels who were held at Fort Henry in 1837 while they awaited confirmation of their sentences.  The prisoners were incarcerated in two rooms adjacent to the Mess Kitchen and three rooms above, with the Mess Kitchen sealed off to prevent the prisoners from gaining access to the underground passageway leading to the Reverse Fire Chambers and, from there, to the dry ditch surrounding the fort.  Alerted to this potential escape route by a sympathetic stone mason working at Fort Henry, the 15 prisoners surreptitiously scraped away the masonry sealing up the door to the Mess Kitchen.  On the night of 29 July 1838, they made their way through the tunnel into the Reverse Fire Chambers and the dry ditch, proceeding along the north ditch wall in the darkness and using an improvised ladder and bed sheets to scale the ditch wall into the unfinished east branch ditch.  The prisoners broke up into small groups and made their way eastward along the shoreline toward the town of Gananoque, where they stole unattended boats and rowed across the St Lawrence River to the United States.  While 13 of the escapees made it to the US, two were re-captured.  One of the re-captured men, John Parker, remained incarcerated at Fort Henry until being shipped to Britain, where a court challenge led to his release.  With a general amnesty declared in 1843, several of the Fort Henry escapees returned to Upper Canada (Ontario).

A cast iron oven set into a chimney in the Mess Kitchen, with a firebox below. 

In the back corner of the Mess Kitchen, a subterranean staircase protected by trap doors leads down to a tunnel linking the main redoubt to the Reverse Fire Chambers.

The tunnel runs under the dry ditch to the Reverse Fire Chambers built into the forward wall of the ditch.

The Reverse Fire Chambers, also known as counterscarp galleries, were designed to permit the fort's defenders to shoot at any attackers who managed to get into the dry ditch, since the cannons on the fort's ramparts could not shoot down into the ditch directly in front of them.  An innovative feature when Fort Henry was constructed, there are two sets of reverse fire chambers, located five metres (16 feet) underground in the northwest and northeast corners of the dry ditch; the northwest chambers are open to the public.  Being underground, these chambers were immune to attack from the ditch.

The first three chambers of the Reverse Fire Galleries feature loopholes only and were intended to be used by soldiers firing a continuous volley of rifle fire at enemies in the ditch.  The fire from the defenders in the Reverse Fire Chambers would have combined with that from defenders firing through loopholes in the redoubt's outer walls to create a murderous crossfire, cutting down any attackers that made it into the dry ditch.  

After the loophole chambers, the next three chambers were each designed to accommodate one cast iron 18-pounder Blomefield smoothbore muzzle-loading carronade, as seen here.  However, for an unknown reason, only two of the chambers were equipped with the intended carronades, with the third chamber being left empty.  The two carronades and their wooden carriages in the Reverse Fire Chambers are original.  Carronades were specialised types of guns, first produced in 1762 by the Carron Foundry in Scotland.  They were designed for use in confined spaces, such as the gun decks of warships and small casemates; being shorter and lighter than traditional cannons, and using a less powerful charge, carronades had a consequently shorter range.  

If attackers had made it into Fort Henry's dry ditch, the 18-pounder carronades in the Reverse Fire Chambers would have fired canister shot, consisting of a large can filled with small round metal balls the size of a golf ball.  Upon being fired, the canister would have disintegrated and the balls spread out, filling the width of the ditch and hitting anyone in their path.

The Married Quarters, located in the north wall of the redoubt.   While marriage by rank and file soldiers was generally frowned upon by the British Army as a distraction, the small percentage of men permitted to be married 'on the strength' (i.e. with their commanding officer's permission) were accommodated with their wives and children in married quarters, such as these at Fort Henry.  Typically, only six percent of a regiment's soldiers were permitted to be married 'on  the strength'; however, at foreign posts this was often increased to 12 percent.  (There was no marriage restriction placed on officers.)  Seniority was usually the basis for granting permission to marry, with the prospective soldiers' wives needing to be of 'good character', often attested to in a letter from their local clergyman.  Up to the 1850s, married soldiers and their wives slept in a corner of the men's barrack room but, after the Crimean war, dedicated married quarters began to be established throughout the British Empire.  By 1867, the married quarters at Fort Henry consisted of an ordinary soldier's barracks room sectioned into three or four separate areas, one for each family.  Blankets strung between bedposts provided some privacy in the evening, while during the day the blankets were tied back to allow inspection of the quarters by the Officer of the Day.  Despite the cramped quarters and lack of privacy, the wives and children of soldiers married on the strength were housed and fed by the British Army at no charge.  A military wife received half rations and any children up to 14 years of age received quarter rations, after which they were cut off and forced to fend for themselves.  Soldiers' wives living in the fort were responsible for keeping the barracks clean and readying them for inspection each day, as well as  scrubbing the men's and women's privies.  They also washed and mended soldiers' clothing, for which they were paid from money deducted from the soldiers' pay.  Any woman refusing to make herself useful was struck off the strength of the regiment, denied rations, and refused accommodations in the barracks.  When a soldier died, his wife often remarried quickly and usually within the regiment, given the free room and board enjoyed by those 'on the strength'.  Widows who chose not to remarry were put on the British Army's Widows and Orphans List for three months and then sent back to their home parish in Britain at public expense.  A widow desiring to remain in Canada and any of her children would be struck off the British Army strength and left to care for themselves.  In contrast to soldiers married 'on the strength' with their families living in the barracks, those who married illicitly had to maintain their families in the nearby town and sneak out to visit them.  If a soldier's secret marriage was discovered by his superiors, he would face stiff punishment.

The Schoolroom, adjacent to the Married Quarters, where the fort's soldiers and their children were educated.  The British Army supported education in the belief that education made soldiers more effective, a view that was more enlightened than that prevailing in civilian society in Britain or Canada at that time.  The sons and daughters of soldiers married 'on the strength' were required to attend the military school in Fort Henry until age 14, with education being seen as a ticket to more productive lives, either within the Army or in the civilian world.  The school at Fort Henry was divided into an 'infants' school for those aged nine and under, and a 'grown children' school for those aged 10 to 14.  The infants were overseen by the schoolmistress in the morning while the grown children were taught by the schoolmaster.  In the afternoon, older girls were taught domestic skills, such as knitting and sewing, by the schoolmistress.  The strict course of instruction given to the older boys and girls included reading, writing, dictation, singing, grammar, English history, geography, arithmetic, and algebra.  At age 14, children were no longer cared for by the British Army and were forced to find work: boys could join the army as drummer boys, become child labourers, or be apprenticed to a nearby tradesman, while girls could usually find work as servants.  In addition to educating children, the Schoolroom was also used to educate soldiers in reading and writing; by the 1860s, a soldier of the British Army was required to be able to read and write before he could be promoted from private to corporal.  Classes for soldiers were offered in the evenings and some soldiers were even excused from drill if they attended classes. 

One of the fort's two bakeries, housing ovens in which bread for the garrison was baked each day.  (The other bakery was located in the Advanced Battery.)  After Fort Henry was completed, the British Army's Commissariat Department hired civilian workers to perform regular duties.  This included civilian bakers hired to bake bread for the troops.  The baker had to wake up early each day to build a fire inside the brick-lined ovens.  When the bricks were sufficiently hot, the baker would rake out the hot embers and slide the loaves into the oven with a long-handled board, letting the radiant heat from the bricks bake the bread.  The first batch of bread would usually take 45 minutes to bake, with a skilled baker being able to bake a second batch without having to relight the fire.  Each oven could accommodate 120 loaves at a time and the baked loaves were subsequently cut into one-pound sections, to be served with the soldiers' main meal of the day, at noon. 

One of Fort Henry's costumed re-enactors twists fresh dough into pretzels to be baked in the ovens and later sold in the nearby gift shop.  During the 1860s, each soldier at Fort Henry received a one pound daily bread ration.  The bread was made of whole wheat flour, which was cheaper than bleached white flour.

The No. 1 Cookhouse, one of two kitchens used to cook food for the soldiers and their families.  Meals consisted primarily of beef soups and stews and the main meal of the day was served at noon.  A trained mess corporal oversaw operations in the cookhouse and supervised the company cook and the assistant company cook, positions that were filled on a rotating basis by unmarried soldiers of the garrison.  The company cook and assistant company cook jobs began after the evening meal on a Saturday and lasted one week.  Responsibilities included cooking all the meals, ensuring they were ready to be served on time, and cleaning the cookhouse and its implements.  They also accompanied the mess corporal on his daily trips into Kingston to purchase groceries.  As the soldiers serving as cooks did not know or care about proper cooking and food preparation, the quality of army food was poor; however, it was still slightly better than what lower class civilians ate in Britain or Canada.  For married soldiers in the 1860s, their wives worked together to prepare meals for their families in the fort's No. 2 Cookhouse. 

Regulations prescribed that each soldier was entitled to a daily ration of 0.75 pounds of meat (including the weight of bone or gristle), one pound of potatoes, one pound of bread, 1/3 of an ounce of coffee, 1/6 of an ounce of tea, two ounces of sugar, half an ounce of salt, and 1/36 of an ounce of pepper.  The meat and potatoes for each mess (barrack room) was put in a mesh bag and labelled to ensure a fair allotment, and then boiled in the large iron cauldrons, along with any seasonal vegetables the soldiers had been able to procure on their own.  Indeed, vegetables added some variety to this monotonous diet of meat and potatoes, and the soldiers were sometimes given permission to plant vegetable gardens in the fort's dry ditch.  In  the 1850s and 1860s, soldiers of the Royal Canadian Rifle Regiment planted gardens using seeds shipped from Britain.  After 1857, an extra 3.5 pence per soldier was allocated from the regimental fund to help augment the soldiers' meagre diet, with the men usually pooling these funds to purchase extra rations to share among themselves. 

A view of part of the north side of Fort Henry's redoubt, as seen from the parade square.  The two-storey north side of the fort houses most of the living quarters, with the soldiers living in casemated rooms on the upper level and the lower level rooms accommodating the Mess Kitchen, Married Quarters, Schoolroom, Bakery, Cookhouse No. 1, and storage.  The casemated rooms derived their strength from their construction: 8-10 layers of brick, over which was laid a layer of 'donkeys back' flagstones and crushed stone to absorb shock, and topped by crude asphalt and flagstones on the ramparts above.  Such construction rendered the casemates relatively immune from attack by the smoothbore artillery of the 1830s. 

The Fort Henry Guard Drill Squad marches through the redoubt's gateway into the parade square for a demonstration of 19th century British Army drill, one of several military demonstrations held throughout the day by these skilled re-enactors.  The Fort Henry Guard is largely composed of university and college students who train intensively to learn the dress, deportment, and drill of a British Army soldier of the 1860s.

Below: The Fort Henry Guard Drill Squad deploys in two staggered rows to conduct a firing drill, demonstrating mid-19th century infantry tactics.

By standing in two staggered lines, infantrymen were able to maintain a continuous volley of fire, with one line firing while the other reloaded, as shown here.  The soldiers could also advance toward an objective, with each line leap-frogging the other, pausing to fire along the way toward an objective.

Below: The Fort Henry Guard Drill Squad divides into two opposing sections to demonstrate infantry tactics using the bayonets on their Snider-Enfield rifles for hand-to-hand combat. 

Following the demonstration, the Fort Henry Guard Drill Squad marches off the parade square. 

A staircase off the parade square leads to the upper level of the north wall of the redoubt, featuring various displays and exhibits, as well as the fort's ramparts. 

Looking along the covered balcony running the length of the north wall of the fort's redoubt.  On the left, a series of casemated rooms now houses a variety of displays and exhibits on the 19th century Anglo-American tensions that led to Fort Henry's construction, the Fort Henry Guard, the building of the Rideau Canal, and small arms, as well as recreated soldiers' barrack rooms.

A former barrack room houses displays on the mid-19th century tension between Britain and the United states, as seen from both sides, and the system of British defences that protected Canada.  The British government was concerned about a potential US invasion of Canada from the American Revolution through to the end of the Civil War in 1865, as the Americans understood that the only practical way to attack Britain was by invading Canada.  British strategy for North America was thus to ensure secure communications with Britain and delay the advance of any American invasion force long enough to allow British reinforcements to arrive; failing this, British forces would retreat to Quebec City and await the arrival of the Royal Navy.  Britain's principal defensive works in Canada in the mid-1800s were the star-shaped Citadel in Halifax, Nova Scotia, guarding the key British naval base in North America; La Citadelle in Quebec City, rebuilt between 1820 and 1831; the Rideau Canal between Lake Ontario and the Ottawa River, built as a military supply route to bypass the vulnerable St Lawrence River; and the defences of Kingston.  Kingston's strategic location at the junction of the St Lawrence River and Lake Ontario increased in importance with the construction of the Rideau Canal between 1826 and 1832.  The canal's construction prompted various committees to call for the strengthening of the defences at Kingston, with one proposal in 1829 recommending an ambitious plan to build six stone redoubts throughout the town, with Martello towers built at half-mile intervals along the town's waterfront.  Given that the construction of the Rideau Canal ran significantly over-budget, and in light of gradually improving relations with the US, the plans for Kingston's defences were scaled back and only the second Fort Henry and four Martello towers were ever built.

A model of the packet ship Victoria, one of the many swift, regularly-scheduled vessels hired by the British government to carry 'packets' (mail) and passengers across the world's oceans.  Key North American destinations for such packet ships were New York, Halifax, and Quebec City. 

Another of the former barrack rooms now contains displays on the construction of the Rideau Canal and the Kingston Fortifications, built during a significant period in Canada's history, when Great Britain successfully defended British North America from the threat of American invasion.  The Rideau Canal and the Kingston Fortifications are part of a network of 900 national historic sites across Canada, and in 2007 were recognised by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as a place of outstanding universal value and added to the World Heritage List as a world heritage site. 

Displays on the mandate of Parks Canada, the federal agency responsible for protecting and promoting nation historic and cultural heritage sites, as well as the construction of the Rideau Canal, Fort Henry, and the Kingston Fortifications.  Although the fortifications at Kingston were abandoned and left to deteriorate shortly after being turned over to the new Government of Canada in 1867, the Kingston Fortifications National Historic Site is today protected and managed by a partnership of Parks Canada, the Kingston Historical Society, the Royal Military College of Canada, and the St Lawrence Parks Commission. 

A bust of Lieutenant-Colonel John By (1783-1836) of the Corps of Royal Engineers.  In one of North America's greatest civil engineering works of the 19th century, By supervised the design and construction of the Rideau Canal between 1826 and 1832.  Although the canal's specifications called for locks to accommodate traditional flat-bottomed sailing vessels, Lieutenant-Colonel By was farsighted enough to see that larger steam-powered ships were the future and he successfully lobbied to increase the dimensions of the canal's locks.  As a result, the Rideau Canal was one of the first canals in the world designed specifically for steamships.  When completed, the Rideau Canal encompassed 47 masonry locks at 24 lockstations and 74 dams spread along 202 kilometres (125 miles) of the Rideau and Cataraqui Rivers running through the Upper Canadian wilderness.  Planning for the Rideau Canal began as a response to the War of 1812, with the canal intended to provide a secure alternate supply route for British forces in Upper Canada, bypassing the St Lawrence River, which was vulnerable to an American attack.  To overcome the navigational challenges posed by falls, rapids, swamps, and rocky shallows on the Rideau and Cataraqui Rivers, the canal's system of locks, dams, and embankments raised water levels along the rivers to allow safe passage.  Following the opening of the Rideau Canal on 24 May 1832, vessels travelling from its northern terminus on the Ottawa River ascended 85 metres (280 feet) to the summit of the canal and then descended 50 metres (164 feet) to the southern terminus at Kingston on Lake Ontario.  As the threat of American invasion receded over the course of the 19th century, the Rideau Canal became an important commercial artery between Montreal and the Great Lakes until the coming of the railways; since then, the canal has become a popular recreational waterway for pleasure boaters.

A display of original hand tools used to construct the Rideau Canal in 1826-32 and recovered from the Royal Engineers' shop at the Ottawa Locks.  The items include a shovel blade and handle, a prybar end, the mattock tip of a pickaxe, tools used to split stones, a mason's mallet, chisel and point, and a mason's square and level.  Surveying the route for the canal commenced shortly after the end of the War of 1812 and the canal project was vigorously backed by the influential Duke of Wellington, hero of the Napoleonic Wars, who supported a strong defence system in British North America and viewed the canal as an essential component of this system.  More than 6,000 workers built the canal, most employed by local contractors under the direction of the Corps of Royal Engineers.  Irish immigrants and French Canadians were principally involved in digging pits, hauling stones, and building the dams and locks, while many of the stonemasons were Scottish.  Two companies of soldiers of the Royal Sappers and Miners carried out more complex tasks.  Despite the project's complexity and occasional mishaps, work progressed well and was completed in only six years.

Looking through several connected barrack rooms on the upper level of the north side of Fort Henry's redoubt.  The soldiers who lived in these barrack rooms generally came from the lowest classes of British society, described as the 'scum of the earth' by the Duke of Wellington.

A view of one of the barrack rooms on the upper level of the north wall of the redoubt.  These rooms were generally poorly lit, heated, and ventilated and the smell of unwashed bodies and the stench of the urine tub placed in each room as a nightly convenience for the men would have been almost unbearable.  Despite the daily inspections and regular cleaning of the barrack rooms, soldiers were afflicted by various illnesses, including tuberculosis, respiratory ailments, and fevers; in 1860, these illnesses were responsible for 37% of the soldiers entering hospital.  Conditions in Canada were still better than elsewhere in the Empire, with half as many soldiers hospitalised than in Britain.  Notwithstanding the harshness of army life, it was better than the conditions most civilians faced in the 19th century, and the soldiers had accommodations, food, a bed with sheets and a blanket, clothing and necessaries provided at little cost, and opportunities for promotion and the higher pay that came with it.  A soldier was paid one shilling per day, less any deductions for food and some items of clothing.

The balcony along the north wall of the redoubt overlooks the parade square.

A gallery devoted to the War of 1812 and the period of the first Fort Henry (1814-32), explaining the war's impact on the Kingston region and why Point Henry was strategically significant.  As an attack on Great Britain directly was logistically impractical, the war launched by the United States in 1812 was fought in British North America, with most of the biggest battles of the conflict occurring in Upper Canada (present-day Ontario).  With the British Army's resources stretched thin due to the Napoleonic Wars, only 9,000 soldiers were stationed in British North America, supplemented by locally-raised militia units and aboriginal warriors who joined the fight against the American invaders.  This was the first time that British soldiers, English and French Canadian militiamen, and aboriginal warriors fought together to oppose a common enemy.  Victory in the War of 1812 and the new sense of common purpose among the British North American colonies that it created led to the development of a unique identity, neither British nor American, which eventually paved the way for the creation of the Dominion of Canada in 1867.

The gallery features artefacts and displays explaining the origins, outcomes, and implications of the War of 1812, the 11 November 1813 Battle of Crysler's Farm (148 kilometres east of Kingston), and the impact of the war on Kingston itself.  When the War commenced, Kingston's population numbered fewer than 2,000 people.  The town grew steadily throughout the war to accommodate the soldiers garrisoned there, as well as the skilled workers imported to build ships at the Royal Naval Dockyard for the defence of Lake Ontario.  Kingston was attacked only once during the war, when an American naval squadron pursued HMS Royal George into the mouth of the Cataraqui River and exchanged gunfire with the shore batteries.  While Kingston served as a springboard for British attacks on American bases across Lake Ontario at Oswego and Sacketts Harbor, work was also carried out to strengthen the town's defences, including the construction of fortifications on Point Henry and Point Frederick, the installation of gun batteries at Mississauga Point and Murney Point, and a defensive perimeter to the west and north comprising a wooden palisade connecting a series of blockhouses.  By the end of the war, Kingston had up to 7,000 residents and, as an Imperial garrison and strategic transportation and political centre, continued to grow throughout the 19th century. 

A British Army officer's jacket, circa 1812.  Officers' jackets from the War of 1812 period were a double-breasted version of the single-breasted jacket worn by the other ranks.  Each regiment distinguished itself by using a different coloured facing on the collar, breast, and cuffs of the jacket.  The officer's jacket could be worn with the lapels worn folded back on both sides to display the facings or, more commonly on active service, folded across entirely or, as seen here, displaying the facings as two triangles below the collar.  Silver or gold lace at the buttonholes was used on officers' jackets of some regiments, while other regiments used a simple embroidered twist in the colour of the regimental facing.  Officers' jackets from the War of 1812 period are extremely rare and this one is likely from an English county militia regiment, the Oxford Loyal Volunteers, which did not serve in North America.  Nevertheless, other than the insignia on the buttons, this jacket is similar to those worn by officers of the 104th Regiment of Foot, originally from New Brunswick, which fought in Upper Canada during the War of 1812. 

A 'Brown Bess' flintlock musket, the standard infantry weapon of the British soldier during the War of 1812.  Most of the muskets used in North America were known as the 'India pattern', consisting of a 42-inch (106.7-centimetre) smoothbore barrel mounted on a wooden stock with a flintlock firing mechanism.  A trained British soldier could load and fire three shots per minute in ideal conditions, with drill manuals of the era outlining the 20 movements needed to load and fire the Brown Bess musket. 

Mannequins dressed in uniforms of the British Army during the War of 1812:  

• Left: A soldier of the 49th Regiment of Foot dressed in the 1812 pattern shako (cap) worn in later stages of the war, as well as a red wool jacket with dark green regimental facings on the collar, cuffs, and shoulder straps.  A distinctive lace of regimental design adorns the buttonholes, collar, shoulder straps, and edging of of the jacket.  During the colder months, soldiers wore grey woollen trousers, as seen here.  Commanded by Colonel Isaac Brock, the 49th Regiment of Foot arrived in Canada in 1802 and was thus very familiar with the area when the War of 1812 broke out.  Throughout the war, the regiment fought in most of the actions on the Niagara Peninsula and, in November 1813 was in Kingston and Prescott when an American force advanced toward Montreal.  The 49th, along with the 89th Regiment, local militiamen, and 30 Mohawk warriors, intercepted and defeated the American force at Crysler's Farm on 11 November.  

• Right: A gunner of the Royal Artillery, wearing the corps' dark blue tunic with red facings and yellow lace.  The shako is of the 'stovepipe' type worn during the early part of the War, until the new 1812 pattern was issued.  This gunner is holding a sponge and a rammer, used to swab and load the muzzle-loading guns of the early 19th century.  Throughout the War of 1812, the Royal  Artillery served alongside the infantry regiments of the British Army, both in the field and in garrisons like Kingston.

A recreated 1860s barrack room, with soldiers' cots lining the walls, an iron stove along the rear wall, and a central mess table laid out for a meal.  The iron cots were folded in half during the day due to limited space.  At full strength, Fort Henry could accommodate 323 soldiers and 11 officers, with each soldiers' barrack room housing up to 19 men.  British infantry regiments posted to Fort Henry typically spent one-and-a-half to two years on station before being rotated out.  Until the late 1820s, when the single, folding cot was introduced, soldiers slept in four-man bunk beds (two up, two down) on straw mattresses with a blanket and a coverlet or rug, with the bedding being washed once a month.  The barrack rooms were inspected for cleanliness each morning as a precaution against the spread of disease, which could spiral out of control quickly given the cramped quarters.  All uniforms and gear issued to the soldiers were neatly arranged on the shelves and hooks over each cot and soldiers' personal possessions were stored in barrack boxes at the end of each bed.  Heat in the barrack rooms was provided by coal or wood fires, with the fuel being carefully regulated.

A gallery devoted to the history of the Canadian artillery units.  Displayed here are items of the uniform of an officer of the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery, including a full dress jacket and pouch belt, sword and scabbard, riding breeches, and riding boots with spurs.  A profile tells the story of Lieutenant Colonel Thomas 'Jingo' Strange, who is considered the 'Father of Canadian Artillery' for his role in overseeing the training of 'B' Battery at Quebec City and Kingston and for recommending the establishment of the Royal Military College, the Dominion Artillery Association, and the Dominion Cartridge Factory.  After Canada's Confederation in 1867, and with the British government eager to withdraw its forces from Canadian soil, in 1871 the Canadian government formed two permanent artillery units, 'A' Battery School of Gunnery at Kingston and 'B' Battery School of Gunnery at Quebec City.  The new units were trained and commanded by officers of the British Army's Royal Artillery.  In 1880, 'A' and 'B' Batteries swapped garrisons, and in 1883 'C' Battery was formed to garrison British Columbia.  At the same time, the Royal Canadian Artillery was established as a regimental body to oversee all professional artillery in Canada.  In 1885, 'A' and 'B' Batteries were deployed to help suppress the North-West Rebellion, seeing action in the Battle of Batoche.  Following a reorganisation of the gunnery schools in 1893, the field batteries became 'A' Battery and 'B' Battery of the Royal Canadian Field Artillery, stationed in Kingston, and the garrison artillery of 'A', 'B', and 'C' Batteries formed Numbers 1 and 2 Companies of the Royal Canadian Garrison Artillery, based at Quebec.

A Royal Canadian Artillery officer's dress helmet, circa 1900.

The field tunic of Major J.N.S. Leslie of the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery, 1901.

A display on Canadian artillery forces in the First and Second World Wars.  In the First World War, the gunners of the Canadian Corps supported the infantry at the Battle of the Somme (August and November 1916), the attack on Vimy Ridge (April 1917), the assault on fortified trenches at Hill 70 (August 1917), and the Battle of Passchendaele (October 1917), while the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery (RCHA) Brigade supported Allied counterattacks during the massive German offensive in the spring of 1918.  During the Second World War, the 1st Field Regiment, RCHA was deployed to England.  In July 1943, the RCHA regiment accompanied 1st Canadian Division to Sicily and fought in the Italian campaign until January 1945, after which it was shipped to the Netherlands to join 1st Canadian Army for the final weeks of the war.  Meanwhile, the medium, anti-tank, and anti-aircraft guns of the Royal Canadian Artillery supported the D-Day landings on 6 June 1944 and the subsequent liberation of Belgium and the Netherlands.  After the end of the war, the Active Force Royal Canadian Artillery comprised four batteries, a section of signal operators, and three batteries of RCHA, with new Royal Canadian Schools of Artillery established in four locations across Canada.

Left: A steel helmet Mk II manufactured by General Steelwares of Toronto, Ontario.  This was the most common version of the helmet issued to Canadian troops during the Second World War, with some 1,131,600 helmets being produced between 1940 and 1943. 

Right: A field service cap, also known as a 'wedge cap', officially introduced into the Canadian Army in 1939 at the same time as a new battle dress uniform.  Wedge style caps had been worn by Canadian troops in the First World War, but were never widespread.  After 1939, the khaki field service cap became the standard headdress of the Canadian Army in the field, with some exceptions.

Another former barrack room contains display cases holding a wide range of small arms spanning the last 250 years.  The cases in the centre of the room hold a variety of handguns, while the cases along the walls hold various long guns.  To improve marksmanship, British Army regiments annually sent their soldiers to shooting ranges, with select officers and enlisted men sent to the School of Musketry to train and attain qualification as instructors.  These men were then made responsible for teaching marksmanship within their regiments.  The British Army motivated men to improve their marksmanship skills by awarding proficiency badges and holding shooting competitions within and between regiments, with the best shots being awarded prizes of cash, trophies, and medals.  Shooting contests were also popular civilian events and, with the departure of British soldiers from Canadian soil scheduled for 1871, the Government of Canada established the Dominion of Canada Rifle Association in 1868.  The Association was intended to help inculcate marksmanship skills in the Canadian populace so that citizens could help defend the nation.

Two examples of East India Company light dragoon pistols, one conserved and the other restored.  Preserving small arms requires a six-step process: proper identification and recording of data; disassembly; cleaning; preservation; display and storage; and maintenance.  Protective coatings (wax on wood, light machine oil on metal) are re-applied annually, while every five years the guns are dismantled, inspected, re-coated, and re-assembled.  

A display of Canadian-made Ross rifles, developed in the early 1900s when Britain was unable to supply any small arms; however, the Ross evolved to become too long, too heavy, and too unreliable for military service, suffering from design and quality control issues.  Having lost confidence in the Ross rifle, the Army was rearmed with Lee-Enfield rifles.  From top to bottom: the Mark I (1902), of which 9,500 were produced; the Mark I carbine (1905), of which 1,000 were produced; the Mark II (1906-1910), of which 96,000 were produced; and the Mark III (1915), of which 280,000 were produced.  While its undersized chamber and small bolt-stop led the Mark III to jam badly in combat and resulted in its withdrawal from front line service in summer 1916, the Mark III remained in reserve service until 1946.  The guards at Fort Henry during both World Wars were armed with the Mark III. 

Some of the many historic long guns on display in the small arms exhibit.  The case on the right holds several examples of magazine-loading rifles, developed at the same time as single-shot breech-loading rifles.  Rifles fed by magazines allowed a very high rate of fire. As mass production of complex pieces was possible by the late 19th century, several very successful designs of magazine-loading rifles were introduced.  Seen here are examples of magazine-loading rifles in service between 1860 and 1905, including the Spencer repeating rifle (1860), the Winchester carbine (1876), the Mauser Model 71/84 (1884), the Lee-Metford (1888), and the Ross rifle Mark II (1905).

A display of military multi-shot revolvers.  Although revolvers had been developed as early as the 1500s, they did not enter widespread use until the rise of mass production techniques in the 1850s.  In British service, the double action revolver was considered superior: pulling the trigger causes the cylinder to rotate and the hammer to be cocked and then released.  While early revolvers used the percussion ignition system, later models developed in line with rifles by adopting cartridges containing the ignition system.  This became the common system for revolvers by the 1870s.

A display of bayonets.  In 1650, an infantryman was vulnerable while reloading his musket or rifle, as he had nothing else to defend himself with.  This necessitated pikemen to protect the infantrymen from an enemy cavalry attack.  With the introduction of the socket bayonet in the late 1600s, the infantryman could be his own pikeman.  This led to changes in organisation, tactics, and drill that lasted for 300 years.  The case holds examples of bayonets from the 18th to early 20th centuries, including socket, sword, and knife bayonets of various patterns.

This gallery tells the story of the Fort Henry Guard, the 'Red Coated Ambassadors of Kingston', who have since 1938 interpreted the lives of the British infantry and artillery soldiers garrisoned at the fort in 1867.  The Guard's motto is Et Nos Meremu, Latin for 'We Also Serve'.  The Fort Henry Guard was the brainchild of Ronald L. Way, a graduate of Queen's University in Kingston, who was hired as the historical researcher for the joint federal-provincial project to restore Fort Henry during the Great Depression.  As the restoration work progressed, Way's role changed and he was eventually appointed as Fort Henry's first director upon completion of the project.  To bring the site to life, Way proposed the Fort Henry Guard, a brand new concept in interpreting history to the public.  Fort Henry opened to the public on 1 August 1938 in a ceremony attended by Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King and a party of government dignitaries.

While the first uniform worn by the Fort Henry Guard consisted of tunics and helmets borrowed from the Canadian Army, as new research became available the Guard's uniform, equipment, and drill grew to more accurately reflect the British garrisons in Canada in the mid-19th century.  On the right side of this cabinet is a Fort Henry Guard uniform from 1948, when the fort re-opened after the Second World War; at this time, the Guard used tunics from the Governor General's Foot Guards and cylindrical shakos.  While Fort Henry's female staff were originally restricted to working as tour guides or in the on-site shops and restaurants, from 1993 women were permitted to join the Fort Henry Guard as military interpreters in both of the Guard's units, the Drill Squad and the Corps of Drums.

An example of the original white tunic worn by fife players of the Fort Henry Guard's Corps of Drums.  The white tunics were later replaced by the red tunics worn today.  The Corps of Drums consists of drummers, fifers, and buglers who recreate the historic role of the Drums as the signallers in British Army regiments.  On the battlefield, the Drums passed commands by drum beats and bugle calls, while in garrison the Drums regulated the soldiers' day by issuing commands and marking time. 

The red tunic of the Fort Henry Guard Drill Squad, emulating the uniform of British Army infantry regiments in the 1860s.

Displays on the Fort Henry Guard Corps of Drums (left) and artillerymen (right).  All members of the Fort Henry Guard are also trained and uniformed as members of the Royal Artillery in 1867.  Artillery drills performed by the Guard are based on original British Army manuals from the mid-19th century and the artillery pieces fired by the Fort Henry Guard consist of the stationary garrison guns on the ramparts and two mobile, 6-pounder Armstrong field guns.

A drummer's tunic of the Fort Henry Guard's Corps of Drums, featuring 'crown and inch' lace on the seams and wings.

This chair was used in the Ontario Legislature by William Folger Nickle, MPP when he represented the riding of Kingston and the Islands from 1908 to 1911 and again from 1922 to 1926.  His son, William McAdam Nickle, MPP used the same chair when he represented the riding from 1952 to 1962.  On 28 June 1959, Queen Elizabeth II used the chair on the occasion of her visit to Fort Henry.

A second barrack room serves at the Fort Henry Guard Memorial Room, explaining the recruitment, training, and duties of the university and college students who join the Guard and the unit's role as cultural ambassadors for the Province of Ontario and the City of Kingston.  In the centre of the room is a custom-made table and chairs crafted by the cabinetmaker at Upper Canada Village in Morrisburg, Ontario to mark the 300th anniversary of the City of Kingston in 1973.  Fort Henry Guard shako plate images are carved into the table's corners.  In keeping with British and Canadian regimental practice of appointing royalty, senior military officers, and distinguished citizens to honourary positions in their units, the Fort Henry Guard has appointed Honourary Commanders since 1956 to help support the Guard and promote it to the wider public.  The first Honourary Commander of the Fort Henry Guard, from 1956 to 1990, was General Lemuel C. Shepherd Jr., 20th Commandant of the United States Marine Corps.  This appointment reflected the close association between the Fort Henry Guard and the US Marine Corps, which continues to the present; the two units have exchanged gifts, including ceremonial drums, and paraded together.

A display cabinet in the Fort Henry Guard Memorial Room dedicated to the Guard's founder, Ronald Lawrence Way (1908-1978).  A pioneer of 'living history' interpretation, Way was appointed as Fort Henry's first director in 1938.  The display holds his 1973 Honorary Doctorate of Laws degree from Queen's University, Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal, Order of Canada, and Order of Canada 10-year anniversary commemorative coin.  The bottom shelf of the cabinet holds a white pith helmet worn by a member of the Fort Henry Guard during the fort's opening ceremonies on 1 August 1938; a Fort Henry Guard fatigue sweater worn by guardsmen for cleaning duties in 1938; and a roll book dated 14 August 1938, listing the names of the 21 men in the first Fort Henry Guard. 

Spectators on risers around the edge of the parade square watch one of the many demonstrations of military drill conducted daily at Fort Henry.

The tour route proceeds up to the ramparts.  Note the spelling of 'serjeant' on the door; this is an archaic spelling of the rank of 'sergeant' that was in use in the 19th century British Army and is still used by several British Army regiments deriving their heritage from the British light infantry, such as The Rifles.

The narrow stone staircase leading up to the ramparts.

Looking down onto Fort Henry's parade square from the eastern ramparts.

The northeast corner of the ramparts feature a Blomefield cast iron 32-pounder smoothbore muzzle-loading gun (foreground) and an Armstrong 7-inch breech-loading rifled gun (background).  The northeast corner of Fort Henry was deemed the most vulnerable to attack due to the topography of the surrounding hill.  As a consequence, an 8-inch shell gun replaced the original 24-pounder gun in 1863 and this was in turn replaced in 1875 by the 7-inch Armstrong gun.  Most of the fort's heavy guns face north, as it was anticipated that an American attack would come from the landward side after enemy forces had crossed the St Lawrence downriver and marched west.  Any attackers not driven off by solid shot cannonballs, would have been cut down by canister shot, which was very effective against massed infantry at shorter ranges.  A step on the ramparts allowed infantrymen to step up, fire over the wall, and then step back to reload their muskets under cover.       

The Armstrong 7-inch gun on its traversing carriage on the northeast ramparts, installed here in 1875.  This breech-loading rifled gun, manufactured in 1862, weighs 9,148 pounds (4,149 kilograms) and carries the cypher of Queen Victoria (reigned 1837-1901).  It fired a 110-pound (50-kilogram) shell at 1,100 feet per second (340 metres per second) to a maximum range of 10,500 feet (3,200 metres).  The W.G. Armstrong Company and the Royal Gun Factory built 959 of these 7-inch guns between 1859 and 1864; however, the pressure created by the explosive charge needed to fire the 110-pound shell proved too much for the 'screw' breech mechanism.  In 1864, the remaining 7-inch Armstrong guns were relegated to use as fortress artillery pieces, such as this example at Fort Henry. 

The eastern ramparts atop the East Officers' Quarters.  The artillery pieces mounted on the eastern ramparts comprise three Blomefield cast iron smoothbore muzzle-loading 24-pounder guns on traversing carriages; a cast iron 24-pounder smoothbore muzzle-loading carronade; and a cast iron 10-inch smoothbore Land Service Mortar.

Facing southeast over Deadman Bay and the St Lawrence River are two Blomefield 24-pounder smoothbore muzzle-loading guns, with a 24-pounder smoothbore muzzle-loading carronade and a 10-inch Land service Mortar in between.  The 24-pounder gun in the foreground was manufactured by Samuel Walker & Company and bears the cypher of King George III on its barrel and the serial number 95 on its right trunnion.

The tower at the base of the fort's east branch ditch, overlooking Cedar Island in the St Lawrence River, on which the Cathcart Tower, one of Kingston's four defensive Martello towers, was built.  The towers built in the east and west branch ditches were each equipped with a single 24-pounder gun on their top floor.  After dismantling the removable wooden roof of the tower, the defenders could swivel the gun 360 degrees to sweep the water or the land leading up to the fort.  The towers were built in an elliptical shape, with the wall facing the fort being quite thin and the wall facing the water being very thick; this ensured that should the towers be captured by enemy forces, the fort's guns could easily smash through the towers' walls to prevent the towers' guns from being directed at the fort itself.

A member of the Fort Henry Guard, dressed as a member of the Royal Artillery, demonstrates the use of the bugle for signalling orders to the soldiers of the garrison.

The view from the southern ramparts of the fort's redoubt, with the gap in the ditch wall carrying the ramp up to the Advanced Battery.  The western range of the Commissariat Stores buildings are on the right.  At the right side of the photo, against the ditch wall, is Fort Henry's first well, the only structure remaining from the original  fort built during the War of 1812.

A view of the southern side of the dry ditch encircling the fort's main redoubt, as seen from the western ramparts.  The ditch measured approximately 12 metres (40 feet) in width, with a depth of 9 metres (30 feet) and was constructed between the wall of the redoubt (the escarp) and another wall (the counterscarp).  The ditch was designed to prevent attackers from getting close to the walls of the redoubt and the depth of the ditch meant that anyone attacking the fort would need to use ladders to climb down.  During the climb down into the ditch and once at the bottom, the attackers would be met by a hail of rifle fire from defenders shooting through the 302 loopholes in the redoubt's walls, as well as the Reverse Fire Chambers in the northeast and northwest corners of the ditch.  

Looking eastward across the parade square from atop the western ramparts.

A cast iron 32-pounder smoothbore muzzle-loading carronade positioned at an embrasure in the wall of the west ramparts is specially sited to fire down the length of the west branch ditch.  (Photo taken 20 June 2004)  

Two cast iron Blomefield 32-pounder smoothbore muzzle-loading guns on the northwest ramparts.  Both guns are mounted on wooden traversing carriages to provide a wider arc of fire.  Designed by Sir Thomas Blomefield in the early 1790s, the 32-pounder was the heaviest cannon used aboard Royal Navy ships from the 1790s to the late 1830s.  The gun fired a solid shot weighing 32 pounds (15 kilograms).  Nearly 3,700 Blomefield 32-pounders were manufactured and they were the most common type of 32-pounder gun in use in Canada.

The Fort Henry Guard Drill Squad parades in formation.  The tunic, equipment, and weapons used by the Drill Squad are patterned on those of infantry regiments in the 1860s, prior to the withdrawal of the British Army from Canada in 1871.  The Drill Squad's parade movements are based on British Army training manuals from the same period.

The Fort Henry Guard is inspected by the Officer of the Day following a drill demonstration in the parade square.  While the  soldiers and non-commissioned officers are wearing the red tunics of the infantry, the officer is dressed in the blue uniform of the Royal Artillery.   

The north face of the redoubt, with storerooms on the lower level and the covered arcade fronting the barrack rooms on the upper level. 

One of the former storerooms in the lower level of the north redoubt now houses a display on British Army artillery ammunition between 1760 and 1880.  The exhibit includes various types of projectiles and the tools used by gunners, both in the field and in garrisons like Fort Henry.

A display case holding the various specialised tools used by gunners of the 19th century to sight various calibres of artillery.  The bottom of the case holds different types of ammunition used during the period, including grape shot and canister shot for cutting down enemy infantrymen.

Examples of canister shot, filled with iron balls that dispersed upon being fired.  In 1861, there were three patterns of canister: Class 1 (an iron case with iron ends), Class 2 (a tin case with an iron bottom), and Class 3 (a tin case with a wood bottom.  Though deadly when used against massed infantry, canister shot was not effective beyond 1,050 feet (320 metres).

A display of tools used to make explosive charges for artillery and the chemical components of gunpowder (sulphur, saltpetre, and charcoal).  Thought to have first been developed by the Chinese, gunpowder was introduced to European warfare in the 14th century and spurred the development of artillery.  Gunpowder burns quickly, forming gasses that expand at enormous speed to force a projectile out of the barrel of an artillery piece.  Charges could be either propellant or bursting.  A propellant charge was the measure of gunpowder placed in the chamber of the artillery piece to provide the force required to propel the projectile out of the barrel.  A bursting charge was the measure of gunpowder placed in a shell projectile designed to detonate at a specific time and disperse its contents (e.g. shrapnel). 

Adjacent to the ammunition display is an exhibit of 19th century artillery pieces, including this 5-inch breech-loading howitzer, Mark I, from 1899.  This steel rifled gun weighed 448 kilograms (988 pounds) and fired a 23-kilogram (50-pound) shell to a maximum range of 4,480 metres (14,700 feet) at a muzzle velocity of 238 metres (782 feet) per second.  In the background sits a bronze 9-pounder smoothbore muzzle-loading field gun from 1813, along with its limber.  On the floor in between is a 4.52-inch iron Coehorn mortar.

A bronze 9-pounder smoothbore muzzle-loading howitzer on a wooden carriage in the southeast corner of the parade square.

A view of the rear of the 9-pounder howitzer, showing the screw mechanism used to elevate and depress the barrel.  This howitzer weighs 629 kilograms (1,386 pounds) and was manufactured in 1853.

The magazine, located in the northeast corner of the fort, was two storeys high and could accommodate up to 1,250 barrels (60 tons) of gunpowder.  Explosive black powder was used to fire muskets, rifles, pistols, and artillery pieces and it was important that a sufficient quantity of powder be stocked to defend Kingston against a potential enemy attack.  Even without any threat of immediate attack, the fort still used large quantities of gunpowder each year for training exercises and for firing the 'time guns'.  Black powder packed in hardwood barrels of various sizes was shipped around the word by the British Army.  The most common barrel sizes were Full (100 pounds), Half (50 pounds), and Quarter (25 pounds).  Powder barrels shipped to Fort Henry were stacked in racks up to nine barrels high, with a maximum capacity of 660 barrels in the larger magazine and 340 barrels in the smaller magazine.  Once the barrels were opened, the loose powder was used to make ammunition for rifle and cannon cartridges, which were stored in smaller metal-lined cases until required.  Given the threat of explosion caused by fire, heat, sparks, and extreme friction, safety procedures and regulations were rigorously enforced by the British Army.  The magazine's doors and window shutters were made of non-sparking copper or brass instead of iron, and it was forbidden to bring candles, lanterns, greased rags, or any other flammable materials into the magazine.  Illumination in the magazine was provided by natural light or by lanterns placed in special light recesses in the passageways and separated from the magazine by panes of glass.  Anyone needing to enter the magazine was required to first change into special clothing, consisting of clean white frocks and trousers and plain leather or soft felt slippers, since metal buttons or iron hobnails on military boots posed a major risk of generating sparks that could accidentally detonate the tons of powder in the magazine.

The magazine was designed to protect the gunpowder against moisture which would render it inert.  Design features include vents in the walls built in a zig-zag pattern to prevent debris or sabotage tools from blowing into the magazine from outside, as well as wooden plank floors laid atop low brick piers on a concrete foundation to promote good air circulation and prevent rising damp.  Additionally, window shutters and air holes were opened daily, except on Sundays or rainy days, to air out the magazine, while small bundles of lime whitewash were sometimes placed near the vents to absorb moisture from the air.  To minimise damage to the rest of the fort in the event of an explosion, a 4.6-metre (15-foot) tall blast wall (no longer present) was built outside the magazine, with the ground between the magazine wall and the blast wall paved and kept free of weeds to prevent risk of fire.  All magazine workers practiced fire prevention measures at least once per week to ensure a rapid and effective response in the event of a conflagration.

When not being used for artillery firing demonstrations by the Fort Henry Guard Drill Squad, the two Armstrong 6-pounder rifled breech-loading field guns and their limbers are parked on the east side of the parade square.  

A view of the breech end of one of the Armstrong 6-pounder field guns.  The breech block and cartridge of this functional gun has been removed for safe storage.  The 6-pounder gun fires a 2.5-inch (6.35-centimetre) round to a range of approximately 6,000 feet (1,829 metres).

A former officer's accommodation in the east wall of the redoubt now houses an exhibit on Fort Henry's role as an internment camp for enemy aliens between 1914 and 1917.  Fort Henry was Canada's first permanent internment camp and one of 24 such camps across Canada established by the federal government to house 8,579 male enemy aliens of military age who could potentially return to their home countries to fight for Canada's enemies.  (An 'enemy alien' was defined as anyone residing in Canada who was a citizen of a state legally at war with the British Empire.)  The internees included citizens of the German, Austro-Hungarian, and Ottoman Empires, as well as Bulgaria; over 5,000 Ukrainian-Canadians, were among those interned.  This exhibit, developed by the Canadian War Museum and the Ukrainian-Canadian Civil Liberties Foundation, tells the story of who the internees were, the conditions they experienced in the camps, and the legacy of internment.

Officers' Quarters No. 11, located in the southeast wall of the redoubt, made up with folding cots and a central dining table to resemble one of Fort Henry's dormitories for interned enemy aliens or prisoners of war.  

Another room in the east wall of the redoubt houses additional displays on Fort Henry's role as a place of internment during three periods: following the Upper Canada Rebellion of 1837-38; during the First World War, when the fort interned enemy aliens; and during the Second World War, when German prisoners of war were housed within the redoubt.  From 1939 to 1943, Fort Henry was used to intern civilians suspected of Nazi loyalties, as well as German merchant seamen and captured German naval and air force personnel.  This role ended in late 1943 due to the Geneva Convention's prohibition on the use of fortifications as prisons. 

A 1-pounder Vickers-Maxim machine gun on a steel field carriage.  The Vickers gun, dating from 1905, has a steel barrel surrounded by a water-filled brass cooling case.  The total length of the gun is 0.76 metre (2 feet 9.5 inches) and it weighs 186 kilograms (410 pounds).  This particular Vickers gun was stationed in the Advanced Battery during the First World War, when Fort Henry served as an internment camp, and manned by soldiers of the Princess of Wales' Own Regiment.  

A display of items made by captured German soldiers interned in Fort Henry during the Second World War, including paintings, a toy soldier, a model cannon, a turned wooden vase, a cigar box, a slingshot, a painted artillery shell, and a ship in a bottle.  Also displayed on the upper left side is the wooden snuff box made in 1838 by John Parker, one of 15 rebels who escaped incarceration in Fort Henry after the unsuccessful Upper Canada Rebellion of 1837.  On the lower right of the display is the standard issue shirt and trousers issued to prisoners of war held at Fort Henry during the Second World War.

The Fort Henry Guard's artillery drill team prepare one of the Armstrong 6-pounder rifled breech-loading field guns for a demonstration on the parade square.  When serving as artillerymen, Fort Henry Guard members wear the undress uniform of the Royal Artillery in 1867. 

A member of the gun crew inspects the gun and carriage under the supervision of the officer.  While regulations of the 1860s stipulated a crew of seven to operate the 6-pounder field gun, it could be served by as little as three or even two men.

With the gun ready for the demonstration, the crew receives the order to deploy. 

After being pulled onto the parade square, the gun is rapidly detached from the limber and set up in position, while the limber is pulled clear.  As the  limber contains a box holding the blank ammunition used for the firing demonstration, it is positioned some distance away from the gun.  Keeping the limber away from the gun served to minimise the risk of being hit by enemy counter-battery fire, which could cause a catastrophic explosion if the ammunition detonated.

A member of the gun crew swabs any debris from the barrel using a long wooden ramrod tipped with a wet sponge inserted into the breech.

As part of the intricate artillery drill, a member of the gun crew withdraws a single round from the limber and, clutching it in two hands, runs to the gun to load it in the breech.  Here, the gun has been loaded and the breech-closed in advance of the order to fire. 

A plume of white smoke as the field gun is fired, accompanied by the loud percussion reverberating off the limestone walls of the redoubt.

After firing, the artillerymen re-attach the limber to the gun and prepare to pull it off the parade square, demonstrating the high mobility of the field artillery.

The gun crew pulls the gun and limber off the parade square following the demonstration.  The Garrison Artillery stationed at Fort Henry in the 1860s consisted of five officers and 116 non-commissioned officers and men.  They trained by firing their guns at a wooden barrel moored in the lake as a target, with each of the fort's heavy guns firing up to 140 practice rounds per year and each mortar firing up to 40 practice rounds per year.  A well-trained gun crew could fire a 24- or 32-pounder gun up to three times every two minutes. 

The view from Fort Henry's western ramparts, overlooking Navy Bay and the Royal Military College of Canada on Point Frederick, with the city of Kingston visible beyond.

Shoal Tower

Situated just offshore from downtown Kingston, near the confluence of the St Lawrence River and the Rideau Canal, is Victoria Tower, commonly known as Shoal Tower.  One of four circular Martello towers constructed by British military engineers around Kingston between 1846 and 1848, Shoal Tower is the only one entirely surrounded by water.  This feature also makes it unique among the 16 Martello towers built in British North America.  Combined with the nearby Market Battery, Fort Frederick, and Fort Henry, the four Martello towers comprised an integrated system of fortifications protecting the strategically-important town during a period of escalating tensions with the United States.  As with the other Martello towers, the top of the tower was the fighting platform equipped with guns, with living quarters on the middle level, and ordnance stores on the lower level.  With stone walls up to 4.27 metres (14 feet) thick, Shoal Tower was designed to defend the Royal Naval Dockyard, where the British constructed ships to defend Lake Ontario and the upper St Lawrence.  

The Shoal Tower, as seen on 13 April 2004.  Due to advancements in artillery technology, Shoal Tower was rendered obsolete by the 1860s, less than 20 years after its construction.  After its military utility had been eclipsed, the tower continued to be used for a few more years by the Royal Canadian Rifle Regiment as accommodations for married soldiers and their families.  Today, Shoal Tower and its three sisters are some of the few remaining Martello towers left in Canada.  Shoal Tower was designated by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada as a National Historic Site in 1924.  Being located offshore, it is not accessible to the public.

Market Battery (1848-1875)

The remains of the Market Battery in Confederation Park in downtown Kingston, across from City Hall in the background.  Built in response to the 1845-46 Oregon boundary dispute between Great Britain and the United States, the battery's walls once rose 20 feet (6.1 metres) directly out of the water and the battery housed nine guns.

The Market Battery existed from 1848 to 1875 and, in company with the nearby Shoal Tower, defended Kingston's harbour and the Rideau Canal.  The park was created in 1875 and the Market Battery was dismantled between 1875 and 1885 to make way for railway lines serving the Kingston and Pembroke Railway. 

Murney Tower

Located in the waterfront MacDonald Park to the west of downtown Kingston, Murney Tower Redoubt was constructed in 1846 as one of the four Martello towers included in the fortification scheme authorised by the Imperial government during the Oregon boundary dispute with the United States in 1845-46.  This tower was one of the last British defensive works begun in the Canadian interior and considered to be the most sophisticated of the Martello Towers built in British North America.  Murney Tower was garrisoned by men of the British Army's Royal Canadian Rifle Regiment from 1848 to 1870 and, later, by the Canadian militia from 1871 to 1885; however, the tower was not fully armed until 1862, long after rapid advances in artillery technology had already rendered the tower obsolete.  Murney Tower sat abandoned between 1885 and 1925, after which it was opened to the public by the Kingston Historical Society. 

Below: The front and reverse sides of the information pamphlet given to paying visitors.

The northwest face of Murney Tower.  The tower was constructed atop a small hill and surrounded by  a deep ditch as added defences against attackers.  Two of the four stone caponiers at the base of the tower are seen in this photo.  Connected to the inside of the tower, such caponiers were designed to permit the defenders to fire through the square loopholes at any enemy soldiers who made it into the ditch.  In addition to guarding against an American invasion, the garrison of Murney Tower also maintained a watch for army or militia deserters seeking to escape from Kingston.   

The southeast face of Murney Tower.  The black shutters halfway up the side of the tower conceal gun ports for carronades aimed toward the east, north, and west, the directions from which landward attacks would have come.  The Murney Tower Museum is operated by the Kingston Historical Society, in partnership with Parks Canada, between Victoria Day in May and Labour Day in September.  It is part of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site of the Rideau Canal and Kingston Fortifications. 

As with other Martello towers, the second of three floors inside was used as living quarters for the soldiers garrisoning the tower and their families; at one point, six families lived here together.  The middle of the large room is dominated by the thick stone central column supporting the weight of the heavy gun mounted on the upper level.

The former living quarters for soldiers and their families now houses the admissions desk and various exhibits and artefacts telling the story of the tower and its inhabitants.  The Murney Tower Museum is Kingston's oldest operating museum and holds over one thousand domestic and military artefacts.  Note the thickness of the walls, as seen at the entrance and the gunport to the left.  

One of the three cast iron 32-pounder smoothbore muzzle-loading carronades that were mounted on the second floor of Murney Tower.  Only two of the carronades remain in the tower today.  Designed in 1778 by the Carron Company in Falkirk, Scotland, such carronades saw service until the last quarter of the 19th century.  They were effective as powerful, short-range weapons against infantry, firing a solid round shot.  

A display of how this room would have looked when housing the tower's garrison troops and their families in the mid-19th century.  Military folding beds lined the perimeter of the room and were folded up each morning to provide more space.  The original beds used in the Murney Tower were made of wood, with mattresses of straw 'tick'.  With the beds spaced only inches apart, blankets were hung between them to offer a modicum of privacy.  Simple wooden tables and benches were used at mealtime and shelves and hooks mounted high on the wall accommodated cooking utensils and clothing.

The large brick stove along the fort's south wall was used to prepare meals for the soldiers and their families.  Typical meals consisted of soups or stews and bread.  Two large cooking pots are permanently installed on the stove, which prevented them from being removed for cleaning after meals.  Without new pots, the tower's residents would usually just add more food to the residue from the last meal.

A closer look at the dining table, laid out for a meal.  Soldiers' lives were ones of routine, with their days starting at daybreak with the firing of a gun or the sounding of the 'rouse' by a bugler or drummer.  Three parades were held each day, in the morning at 10:00 a.m., in the afternoon at 2:00 p.m., and in the evening at 6:00 p.m.  Supper was served around 6:00 p.m., followed by free time between 7:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m.  All lights were extinguished at 9:00 p.m.

The second of the two cast iron 32-pounder smoothbore muzzle-loading carronades currently displayed in Murney Tower.  The carronades weighed about 862 kilograms (1,900 pounds) and had a range of approximately 400 metres (1,312 feet)

A display of domestic items from the 19th and early 20th centuries, including a coffee grinder, candle holder, cast iron waffle iron, and various utensils. 

A display of artefacts discovered by Parks Canada during archaeological excavations within Murney Tower's dry ditch in 1998.  The items recovered include personal effects, pottery sherds, bone fragments from food waste, buttons, a gunner's equipment, building debris, and a rock drill for boring into the bedrock to excavate the ditch.

A display of military artefacts, including (1) a mid-19th century Long Service and Good Conduct medal; (2) a Turkish Crimean War medal, 1854-56, awarded by Ottoman Sultan Abdülmecid I to allied military personnel who survived the war; (3) a copy of the British Army's Regulations for Musketry Instructions, 1887; and (4) the account (pay) book of Hugh Connolly of the Royal Canadian Regiment of Rifles, 1857.

Visitors climb a narrow, curved stone staircase to the upper level, housing the tower's gun platform.

The tower's gun platform houses a single Blomefield cast iron 32-pounder smoothbore muzzle-loading gun on a traversing carriage that can rotate through 360 degrees.

The Blomefield 32-pounder gun had a range of approximately 2,000 metres (6,562 feet).  Most of the cannonballs used by the Blomefield gun and the 32-pounder carronades on the tower's main level were hollow and filled with an explosive (usually black powder) and a fuse.

Sitting next to the Blomefield gun is an Addison furnace.  This portable furnace was introduced in 1846 and an example was sent to British North America as a model from which others would be produced.  The Addison furnace could heat up to fifteen 32-pounder cannonballs to glowing red temperatures within 40-50 minutes of being lit.  A heated cannonball was removed from the furnace and carried to the gun on a two-handled 'hot shot' litter.  The hot shot was loaded into the gun's muzzle after the gunpowder charge, a dry wad (a coil of dry rope), and a damp wad (a damp coil of rope) had already been loaded into the gun.  The damp wad prevented the hot shot from igniting the gunpowder charge.  When fired at wooden naval ships, the fires these hot shot rounds created were almost impossible to extinguish.  Hot shots could also ignite gunpowder stored aboard warships, causing catastrophic explosions.  The furnace was manned by four soldiers: one to supervise, one to maintain the fire, and two to insert and remove the cannonballs.

Unlike many other Martello towers built around the world, which featured open-air gun platforms, the Martello towers in Kingston were fitted with removable wood-and-tin snow roofs.  Providing protection against the harsh Canadian winter, the roofs could be dismantled before battle by loosening the turnbuckles on the cross-pins and removing the support structure.  After a battle, a new roof would have been built over the gun platform.  A permanent roof installed in 1867 replaced the original 1848 roof.  In 1921, a severe storm blew the roof off, killing a local boy.  The current roof was installed by Parks Canada in 2003.  The 2003 roof features an improved structure and, along with the window area, is painted in colours recorded in an 1856 British military watercolour of Murney Tower. 

After returning to the barracks level, a narrow staircase leads to the tower's basement.

The basement of Murney Tower was used for the storage of ammunition and supplies, as well as to access the four caponiers at the tower's base.  The rooms on the lower level are arranged around the thick central column supporting the weight of the 32-pounder Blomefield gun on the upper level gun platform. 

The Artillery Store, where cannonballs and rifles were stored.  The number of people living on the barracks level upstairs precluded munitions and weapons from being stored there. 

A display of iron cannonballs, showing the holes used to fill them with gunpowder and insert a fuse.  On the upper right is a grapeshot round, comprising a series of small, solid balls mounted on iron plates.  When such a round was fired, the small balls would disperse like a shotgun blast, cutting down enemy infantry and cavalry, or destroying the rigging of enemy warships. 

A view into the carefully-protected magazine, used to store gunpowder for the Blomefield gun and the three carronades. 

The Magazine was specifically designed to store gunpowder and, as such, includes various safety features to ensure the proper storage of this extremely volatile material.  The double arch includes a gap in between to allow condensation between the arches to evaporate.  Ventilation shafts built into the sides of the arch permitted the circulation of air, which prevented the gunpowder from becoming too dry and potentially exploding.

The rear of the Magazine features a window (left) that admitted light from a candle outside while shielding the gunpowder from a dangerous open flame. 

At the centre of this room, the platform and railings cover the hole providing access to the cistern under the tower.  Rainwater falling on the gun platform was directed through a piping system into the cistern.  The tower's inhabitants used a hand pump to draw water from the cistern up to their living quarters on the second level.

No. 3 Store was used for the storage of various items, including blankets, clothing, and food.  Ventilation shafts on the walls prevented food from becoming stale.

A short passage equipped with both a wooden door and an iron gate leads from No. 3 Store to the tower's southeast caponier.

The interior of the southeast caponier.  Made of thick limestone blocks and with a sloped ceiling and loopholes, Murney Tower's four caponiers served as its last line of defence.  The tower's garrison troops would have fired their rifles through the loopholes at any attacking enemy infantrymen who made it into the dry ditch. 

A final look at Murney Tower, showing the footbridge across the dry ditch to the tower's second level entrance.  The Kingston Historical Society, established in 1893, has managed the tower in partnership with Parks Canada since 1924.  This partnership was one of the first between Parks Canada and a community group.  Following the First World War, the Society's treasurer, O.D. Skelton, wrote to the Minister of Militia and Defence, Hugh Guthrie, describing Murney Tower as a 'valued historical relic which should be preserved for future generations.'  Although the Society was largely inactive during the Second World War, it was revived in 1950 by Lieutenant-Colonel Courtlandt M. Strange, who served as its President until his death in 1958.

Fort Frederick (photos taken 10 January 2004)

Limestone walls surround Fort Frederick's Martello Tower at the southern tip of Point Frederick, the site of Kingston's Royal Naval Dockyard.  Named after Frederick, Prince of Wales (1707-1751), the 41-hectare Point Frederick is today the site of the Royal Military College of Canada, established in 1876.  Fort Frederick is part of the Kingston Fortifications National Historic Site and the Point Frederick Buildings National Historic Site. 

As with the three other Martello towers built around Kingston, the Fort Frederick tower was constructed in 1845-46 in response to the Oregon boundary dispute between Great Britain and the United States.  It was built on the site of the original Fort Frederick, dating from the War of 1812.  The tower's walls are 1.68 metres (5.5 feet) thick and, like the Murney Tower, the Fort Frederick Martello tower is surrounded by a dry ditch and features four caponiers at its base.  Of note, Canada's future second Prime Minister, Alexander Mackenzie (in office November 1873 - October 1878), worked as a foreman on the Fort Frederick Martello tower's construction.  Abandoned in 1870, the tower's upper floors were used as a common room for cadets between 1909 and 1919; today the Fort Frederick Martello tower houses the Royal Military College museum.