page_title: Fort George, Ontario
section_title: Post-War of 1812
hierarchical_section_title: Fort George, Ontario / History / Post-War of 1812
caption_attribution_description: English: Identifier: storyofisaacbroc00nursey (find matches) Title: The story of Isaac Brock, hero, defender and saviour of upper Canada, 1812 Year: 1908 (1900s) Authors: Nursey, Walter R., 1847-1927. (from old catalog) Subjects: Brock, Isaac, Sir, 1769-1812. (from old catalog) Publisher: Toronto, W. Briggs Contributing Library: The Library of Congress Digitizing Sponsor: Sloan Foundation View Book Page: Book Viewer About This Book: Catalog Entry View All Images: All Images From Book Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book. Text Appearing Before Image: the British. I dare not, gentlemen, said our hero, in openingthe debate, weaken my flanks at Niagara and Erie,though I realize I am leaving Queenston not properlyprotected. I have just learned that General Dearbornstates that while Tippecanoe Harrison invades Canada,at Detroit, with 7,000 men—I do not think it necessaryI should point out Detroit on the map, he added with asmile— and while a United States squadron—not a Brit-ish one, mark you—sweeps Lake Ontario from SackettsHarbour, Dearborn himself will threaten Montreal fromLake Champlain. While the east and the west are thusbeing annexed by the enemy, our friend Van Rensselaeris to entertain us here. An ordinary boat, as we all know, can be rowed acrossthe river at Queenston in less than ten minutes. Ourspies have reported that forty batteaux, to carry fortymen each, are in readiness at Tonawanda. Evans andMacdonell, when they called on Van Rensselaer, saw atleast a dozen boats moored at Lewiston, some of which 128 »J%», Text Appearing After Image: Brocks Last Council could carry eighty men. During the deplorable armis-tice, as General Sheaffe is aware —looking at that officer—^ Van Rensselaer brought up 400 boats and batteauxfrom Ogdensburg and other points, all of his previouslyblockaded fleet, so the enemy has no lack of transport.The most eiTective disposition of our limited force is, Iadmit, somewhat of a problem. There is no use in evad-ing the fact that in point of numbers and ordnance weare too weak, and as Sir George Prevost has written menot to expect any further aid. Colonel Talbot must sendus a few of his militia. Macdonell, he said, turning to his aide, will youwrite at once, to-night, to Colonel Talbot, at Port Talbot,stating that I am strongly induced to believe I will soonbe attacked, and tell him that I wish him to send 200men, the militia under his command, without delay, bywater to Fort Erie. This was Brocks last official letter dictated in council. General Sheaffe, he said, addressing that officer, you, p Note About Images Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original work.
context_page_description: Fort George was a military fortification in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada. The fort was used by the British Army, the Canadian militia, and the United States Armed Forces for a brief period. The fort was mostly destroyed during the War of 1812. The site of the fort has been a national historic site National Historic Site of Canada since 1921, and features a reconstruction of Fort George.
  The British established Fort George in the 1790s to replace Fort Niagara, although many of its structures were demolished in May 1813, during the Battle of Fort George. After the battle, American forces occupied the fort for seven months before withdrawing in December 1813. Although the British regained the fort shortly afterwards, little effort was put into its reconstruction after they captured Fort Niagara the following week. The poor wartime design of Fort George led its replacement by Fort Mississauga in the 1820s; although Fort George continued to see limited use from the military until the end of the First World War. During the late-1930s, the Niagara Parks Commission built a reconstruction of Fort George.
context_section_description: In 1817, American president James Monroe visited the Canadian side of the Niagara River in a goodwill trip, and was entertained by British officers at the fort. However, Fort George's inability to guard the mouth of the Niagara River was criticized by military analysts after the war, leading to the construction of Fort Mississauga near the mouth of the river in the 1820s. During the same period, work on Butler's Barracks was undertaken southwest of the fort, and out of range of the batteries on the American side of the river. 
  The equipment within the fort was later auctioned away in 1821, and its palisades relocated to other sites in the next year. By 1825, the body of Isaac Brock was disinterred from the northeast bastion, and placed at Brock's Monument in Queenston. In 1828, the headquarters of British Army centre division was formally moved to York, with the fort reportedly only made up of a few "wooden decaying barracks". In 1839, Navy Hall was converted into a barracks for the British garrison, with the fort's former barracks being converted to a stables.
  During the 1860s, the Canadian government took control of the British military complex in the area, which included Fort George, Fort Mississauga, Butler's Barracks, and the training commons; although the ruins of Fort George saw little use from the Canadian militia. The ruins of the fort was intermittently leased to a private citizen, who acted as  a custodian-tenant of the property. During this period, several buildings were converted for other uses; with the officers' quarters incorporated into a farmhouse, the stone gunpowder magazine used for storing hay, and the property itself used as a grazing field for cattle. By the 1880s the bastions and the gunpowder magazine were in poor condition, portions of the fort were being used as farmland, with only the officers' quarters occupied by a custodian. 
  In 1882, the Wright family was granted a lease from the Department of Militia and Defence; which led to the opening of a golf club in the area, with the golf course occupying portions of the ruins. The golf course was transformed into an eighteen-hole course in 1895, further expanding into the ruins in 1895. The fort's ruins were the subject of controversy when the golf club proposed clearing the ruins of the fort. As the golf club's membership was predominantly made up of American residents summering in the area, the proposal was subject to criticism from local and Toronto-based newspapers; publishing nationalistic editorials that were critical of the proposal, describing it as a "desecration of sacred heroic sites as [selling out] to Sabbath-breaking Americans". Facing stiff criticism, the golf club eventually abandoned their plans for the fort ruins. The golf club ceased operations shortly before the First World War.
  During the First World War, the Canadian military built a military hospital on the site of the fort's esplanade, with a mess, kitchen, and guardhouse and lands adjacent to the fort; collectively known as Camp Niagara. The buildings remained in use by the military until the end of the war.
caption: The fort's gunpowder magazine in 1908. By the 20th century, the magazine was the only structure from the original fort still standing.
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