Nova Scotia: The Lost Star and Stripe

In 1960, the American flag ended its evolution to become how the world sees it today – thirteen horizontal, alternating red and white stripes representing the original thirteen colonies, and in the upper left corner against a blue background, fifty stars staggered in horizontal and vertical rows symbolizing the fifty states of the union. However, if one decisive battle at the beginning of the American Revolution had a different outcome, there would be one additional star and stripe on the flag representing the lost colony of Nova Scotia. The attempted siege of Fort Cumberland, which lasted only one month at the end of 1776, could have changed American history forever.

The Outbreak of Revolution

The fort lies on a ridge of Canadian marshland facing the Bay of Fundy and marks the border between the maritime providences of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Originally built in 1751 by the French who named it Fort Beauséjour (now its present day name), the fort fell to the British four years later in 1755 during the French and Indian War and was renamed Fort Cumberland. The capture of the fort opened the door to New Englanders who began settling in throughout Nova Scotia. Twenty years later, events in 1775 set in motion the American Revolution: The Continental Army was formed placing George Washington as commander-in-chief; the first battles took place in Lexington and Concord; Fort Ticonderoga was captured; Boston was under siege; Quebec fell to the patriots; and the British armed schooner Margaretta was captured off Machias, Maine. In Nova Scotia, these events aroused the patriotic sympathies of many families, but there were just as many New Englanders who had moved there to escape political upheaval and to go about the business of farming. This political polarity – those who were eager to join their patriot comrades in the great cause versus those who chose to remain loyal to Britain – put an enormous strain on the two sides eventually leading to civil war throughout the providence.

The Patriot Contingent

The primary commander of the patriot force in Nova Scotia was Jonathan Eddy. A former British officer, he possessed excellent leadership qualities and was a persuasive orator. He farmed on his large parcel of land in Cumberland, an area that held the greatest concentration of patriots. At the onset of the revolution, Eddy petitioned Continental Congress to drive the British out of Nova Scotia, beginning with Fort Cumberland because of its strategic location. Once the fort had fallen into patriot hands, an army would continue throughout the providence until it arrived at Halifax. While Congress and George Washington were interested, they were engrossed in military campaigns of greater importance and magnitude in other locations. Soldiers, ships, and artillery were of limited supply.

The patriot military headquarters was setup in Camphill, a small community on the Baie Verte Road just one mile away from Fort Cumberland. The nearby farmhouse of Ebenezer Gardner was the center for the Committee-of-Safety, the governing assembly of political and military leaders. In essence, the Gardner farmhouse became the Congressional Hall for revolutionary Nova Scotia. Ebenezer Gardner was born in 1735, and lived in Roxbury, Massachusetts. He worked as a potter by trade, and in 1763, ten years after his father’s death, he sold his share of his father’s property and moved to Aulac, Nova Scotia, at the age of twenty-eight to farm and start a family.

Preparation for Battle

Machias was the largest, coastal privateer and patriot center above Boston at the time of the revolution. Eddy went there and recruited twenty men that became the nucleus of his fighting force. When he returned to Camphill, the force combined with Acadians and Indians of various tribes growing to a total striking force of eighty men. The patriots were using a blockade as an initial strategy, and they successfully cut off food and supplies from entering the fort as well as information from leaving.

The British commander of the fort was Colonel Joseph Gorham. His militia consisted of 172 Royal Fencible Americans who were enlisted loyalists under Gorham when he arrived from Boston. As a matter of protection, the fort also housed loyalist families in the immediate vicinity who were able to bear arms. Gorham had the surrounding walls reinforced by a frieze-like barricade of fifteen-foot fence rails jutting out from the fort’s walls. He also had large logs at the top of the parapet placed and tied on rollers, and once the ropes were cut, the logs would roll down instantly crushing any invaders below. Additionally, his men attached bayonets to twelve-foot poles as an extra measure to prevent the walls from being scaled.

Eddy knew that he was out-numbered, but he attempted to bluff Gorham by stating he led a sizeable army. As was the formality of eighteen-century etiquette, Eddy wrote and sent a courteous letter to Gorham explaining that while he abhorred war, it was necessary to the American cause, and further, that it was in his best interest to surrender to the “States of America” and avoid bloodshed. Although Gorham was not certain of the exact size of his force, he called Eddy’s bluff and had no intention of surrendering his fort. In an equally courteous reply, he counter-demanded that Eddy surrender his army in his Majesty’s name and mercy. These were the last words between the two men.

The First Siege

On Wednesday, November 13, 1776, the small ragtag army led by Jonathan Eddy proceeded towards the fort in the pre-dawn morning. His strategy was threefold: the Acadians would provoke a diversionary attack while another party would carry ladders to the walls. The plan also called for a Maliseet Indian to sneak into the fort and unlock the main gate. Once the gate was open, the full force of Eddy’s men would charge and overtake the fort.

Unfortunately, the plan did not go well. Gorham, being a shrewd military strategist, did not redeploy the bulk of his troops in response to the perceived diversionary attack. While the Maliseet Indian did manage to get into the fort, he was quickly spotted by a fencible who sliced the Indian’s arm to the bone just as he was unlocking the gate. Once Eddy’s main fusillade was detected, Gorham responded with a deafening cannonade unleashed by three 9-pounders and three 6-pounders, the largest cannons of the day. The battle was over in two hours as it became quite obvious that Eddy’s men were significantly outnumbered and over-powered. Fortunately, there were no sustained losses, but Eddy and his men had no choice but to bitterly retreat.

The Second Siege

Eddy’s army was soon growing restless after their failed attempt to overtake the fort. The only strategy that was working was the blockade – the fort inhabitants would have to eventually surrender without food, supplies, and fuel to stay warm – but it was not working fast enough. Without Continental troops and heavy guns, the only remaining solution was to burn them out. The new plan was to set fire to the dozen buildings clustered around the fort, and with the aid of a strong wind, the fire would spread to the fort and ignite its wooden enforcements and interior buildings. Just over a week from the first siege attempt, between the hours of three and four o’clock in the morning of November 21, the second siege against Fort Cumberland began. The veil of darkness was broken by a red glow that rose from the buildings set on fire by Eddy’s men. A strong wind carried burning embers over the wall and into the fort. Well hidden in the darkness, Eddy’s men fired their muskets at the fencibles whenever they showed themselves against the fire’s illumination. It seemed as though this plan would finally succeed.

With the prospect of burning to death or killed by patriot muskets, the frightened souls inside the fort worked together in amazing coordination and calmness. Bucket brigades put out the worst fires and small ones were quickly stamped out. Once the buildings torched by the patriots burned down to coals and the wind diminished, further threat to the fort was over and the red sky returned to darkness.

The fort could not be conquered, the patriots could not fight against cannons, and there was nothing left to burn. Finally, when the British warship Vulture anchored offshore bringing with it 160 fresh marines and supplies, the Nova Scotia rebellion was over.

Retribution

On the morning of November 29, 1776, a heavy frost covered the marsh giving it ghost-like sheen. 163 men equipped with flints, bayonets, and muskets left the fort and made their way towards Camphill. Major Thomas Batt of the Royal Fencibles led them, and they marched in silence except for the crunch of frozen marsh under their feet. As they approached Camphill, the silence was broken by a startled voice followed by the sound of running feet. They were discovered. The fencibles shouted and charged like wild animals towards Eliphalet Read’s farmhouse where Eddy was suspected to be sleeping. A black drummer boy inside beat a drum awaking the patriot army, who started to fall out of the farmhouse half-dressed and in a state of confusion. The men were taken by total surprise. The farmhouse was pelted by a hailstorm of musketry, shattering the windows and splintering the doorways. The Indians camped in the fields left behind their teepees and smoldering fires as they ran off into the surrounding woods. First a Micmac Indian was struck by a musket ball and fell dead to the ground, and then a private in the patriot army. The rest of the men, returned fire over their shoulders as they fled into the woods. Among these fleeing men was Jonathan Eddy, who escaped capture with only seconds to spare. When the fencibles entered the farmhouse, only the black drummer boy was found who had been abandoned by his comrades.

Ebenezer Gardner had narrowly escaped the approaching mob. At the sound of gunfire at the Read farm, he did the same things his neighbors were doing: packing a few valuables in bundles and stacking them at the edge of the adjoining woods. He managed to move some of his cows and oxen to the edge as well. When the fencibles were seen in the distance coming down the road towards his farm, Ebenezer and his wife, Damaris, dropped everything and ran out of the house with their four young children. Susannah, the oldest at six, ran with four- year-old Eunice, while two-year-old Hannah and one-year-old Eben Jr. were clasped tightly in the arms of their parents. The family continued running into the woods in terror, carrying their children and few possessions with the cattle and oxen following behind. Because his house acquired such symbolic importance as the seat of the patriot government, it had become an object of hatred to both the British and the loyalists. This house was the prime target on this day of wrath, and Batt ordered without remorse that the house be burnt to the ground.

The Refugees

The Gardner farmhouse, originally singled out for the maximum penalty of burning, set the rampage pattern. When the Camphill rout was over, twelve farmhouses and barns owned by known and suspected patriots were set on fire. Often there were only seconds to decide if a home was to be burned in the process of sorting out the loyalist homes versus patriot. When it was unknown, they erred on the side of vengeance and set the house on fire. In most cases, the houses were plundered and pillaged littering doorsteps with furniture and books before set on fire. Livestock were rounded up and shot, granaries set on fire, and crops destroyed. The rampage finally came to an end, not because of remorse or fatigue from continuous warfare, but because it was teatime.

It began to rain when the soldiers were finally given the order to return back to the fort. They slowly walked past the burnt-out buildings, past the women and children digging through the charred ruins of their former homes. The troops passed refugees lined up along the road in the cold drizzle, and some had begun loading the dead onto ox carts. For those who escaped beyond through woods spent a comfortless night after a terrible day. Like other families, Ebenezer, Damaris, and their four little children huddled together in the dark night, cold and hungry, without food or blankets, as the wind and rain tormented them. The remnants of Eddy’s army eventually departed Nova Scotia in small groups back to Machias. It was rumored that Ebenezer and his family rode upon the backs of their livestock through snow and bitter cold on their three hundred mile exodus. Yet they survived the unimaginable hardship of that journey, and arrived in Machias at the end of 1776. They went immediately to work and constructed their second farmhouse to give them shelter from the winter cold. Ebenezer continued to serve in the revolution as a private under Benjamin Foster who was instrumental figure during the capture of the Margaretta. Not only had his family survived the treacherous journey to Machias, it was expanded to include five more children: Samuel, Thomas, John, William, and Nathan. Ebenezer Gardner lived, quite happily, until the ripe age of ninety-seven.

Source: Clarke, Ernest, The Siege of fort Cumberland, 1776: An Episode in the American Revolution, McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1995