The intent of the following web pages is to provide the site visitor with links to detailed historical information on Fort Haldimand. The history of Fort Haldimand and Carleton Island is very voluminous and beyond the scope of what can be written here.
Carleton Island (originally called Deere Island) was a transient stop for traders before it was used militarily by British General Barry St. Leger while enroute to Fort Stanwix in 1777. Garrisoned in 1778, the British built fortifications that were eventually named Fort Haldimand for the then current Governor of Quebec (1778-1786), General Sir Frederick Haldimand.
The location of the fort site was selected for its difficult access. The fort was three-eights of an octagon built on top of a cliff. It included three bastions for four guns each, ditches 5 by 24 feet, magazines and barracks. The fort was never completed and construction stopped in 1783. The fort was a central part of a much larger site that covered large parts of Carleton Island. This consisted of docks, shipyard, warehouses, merchant’s facilities and an Indian camp. During and after the Revolutionary War, the site was a relocation center for the loyalists displaced from the Mohawk Valley before their placement in Canada. Even after the Jay Treaty of 1794, the British occupied Fort Haldimand. At the start of the War of 1812, the fort was captured by Abner Hubbard on June 26th 1812.
For more information please follow the links below.
- Military History of Fort Haldimand and Carleton Island
- History rlating to Native Americans and Carleton Island
- History relating to British Loyalists and Carleton Island
- Post War of 1812 Hisotry of Carleton Island and Fort Haldimand