Fort Frontenac Fort Frontenac was a French trading post and military fort built in 1673 at the mouth of the Cataraqui River where the St . Lawrence River leaves Lake Ontario ( at what is now the western end of the La Salle Causeway ) , in a location traditionally known as Cataraqui . It is the present - day location of Kingston , Ontario , Canada . The original fort , a crude , wooden palisade structure , was called Fort Cataraqui but was later named for Louis de Buade de Frontenac , Governor of New France ( Count Frontenac ) , who was responsible for building the fort . The fort , however , was still often referred to as Fort Cataraqui . History . Establishment and early use . The intent of Fort Frontenac was to control the lucrative fur trade in the Great Lakes Basin to the west and the Canadian Shield to the north . It was one of many French outposts that would be established throughout the Great Lakes and upper Mississippi regions . The fort was meant to be a bulwark against the English who were competing with the French for control of the fur trade . Another function of the fort was the provision of supplies and reinforcements to other French installations on the Great Lakes and in the Ohio Valley to the south . Frontenac hoped that the fort would also help fulfill his own business aspirations . The fort was sited to protect a small sheltered bay ( the " cannotage " ) that the French could use as a harbour for large lake - going boats . Unlike the Ottawa River fur trade route into the interior , which was only accessible by canoes , larger vessels could easily navigate the lower lakes . The cost of transporting goods such as furs , trade items , and supplies through at least the lower Great Lakes would be reduced . René - Robert Cavelier , Sieur de La Salle , who assumed responsibility for the fort in 1675 , was granted seigneurial privileges in the vicinity of the fort . In return for these privileges , La Salle was obliged to rebuild the structure . Stone bastions and a stone wall were constructed to strengthen the fort and much of the wooden pallisade was rebuilt . He was also required to attract settlers and meet the spiritual needs of the settlers by building a chapel and establishing a mission . A description of the fort written in the 17th century mentions that : La Salle used Fort Frontenac as a convenient base for his explorations into the interior of North America . The Iroquois siege and reconstruction . Fur trade rivalries led to friction between the French and the Iroquois . A peace treaty was signed in 1667 , but the peace ended in the 1680s . In 1687 the Marquis de Denonville began a campaign against the Iroquois and gathered an army to travel into the Seneca territory south of Lake Ontario . To quell suspicion about his motives , Denonville said he was merely travelling to a peace council at Fort Frontenac . As Denonville and his army moved up the St . Lawrence toward the fort , several Iroquois , including women and children , many of whom were friendly to the French , were captured and imprisoned at Fort Frontenac by intendant de Champigny ostensibly to prevent them from revealing Denonville ' s troops ' location . Some were sent to France to be used as galley slaves . Denonville ' s troops and native allies went on to attack the Seneca . In retaliation for these incidents the Iroquois attacked a number of French settlements , including Fort Frontenac . The fort and the settlement at Cataraqui were besieged for two months in 1688 . Although the fort was not destroyed , the settlement was devastated and many defenders died , mostly from scurvy . The French abandoned and destroyed the fort in 1689 , claiming that its remoteness prevented proper defense and that it could not be adequately supplied . The French again took possession of the fort in 1695 and it was rebuilt and strengthened to serve primarily as a military base of operations . From Fort Frontenac in 1696 the French organized an attack on the Iroquois who inhabited areas south of Lake Ontario . Increased tension between the British and the French in the 1740s led to the French upgrading the fort ' s defensive capabilities by adding new guns , building new barracks and increasing the size of the garrison . Despite these improvements the fort ' s strategic significance gradually decreased . Other forts such as Fort Niagara , Fort Detroit , and Fort Michilimackinac became more important . By the 1750s Fort Frontenac essentially served only as a supply storage depot and harbour for French naval vessels , and its garrison had dwindled . Battle of Fort Frontenac . During the Seven Years ' War between Britain and France , who were vying for control of the North American continent , the British considered Fort Frontenac to be a strategic threat since it was in a position to command transportation and communications to other French fortifications and outposts along the St . Lawrence - Great Lakes water route and in the Ohio Valley . Although not as important as it once was , the fort was still a base from which the western outposts were supplied . The British reasoned that if they were to disable the fort , supplies would be cut off and the outposts would no longer be able to defend themselves . The Indian trade in the upper country ( the " Pays d ' en Haut " ) would also be disrupted . Fort Frontenac was also regarded as a threat to Fort Oswego , which was built by the British across the lake from Fort Frontenac in 1722 to compete with Fort Frontenac for the Indian trade , and later enhanced as a military establishment . Indeed , General Montcalm used Fort Frontenac as a staging point to attack the fortifications at Oswego in August 1756 . The British also hoped that taking the well - known fort would boost troop morale and honour after their demoralizing battle defeat at Fort Ticonderoga ( Fort Carillon ) in July 1758 . In August 1758 , the British under the command of Lieutenant - Colonel John Bradstreet left Fort Oswego with a force of a little over 3000 men and attacked Fort Frontenac . The fort ' s garrison of 110 men , commanded by Pierre - Jacques Payen de Noyan et de Chavoy , surrendered and were allowed to leave . Bradstreet captured the fort ' s supplies and nine French naval vessels , and destroyed much of the fort . He quickly departed to avoid further conflict with any French support troops . For the British , Fort Oswego was secured , and the army ' s reputation was restored . For the French , the fort ' s loss was considered to be only a temporary setback . ' Fort Frontenac ' s surrender did not succeed in completely severing French communications and transportation to the west since other routes were available ( e . g . the Ottawa River - Lake Huron route ) . Supplies could also be moved west from other French posts ( e . g . Fort de La Présentation ) . In the long term , however , the surrender compromised French prestige among the Indians , which was a major factor leading to the defeat of New France in North America . Since the fort was no longer perceived to be important to the French , it was never rebuilt and was left abandoned for the next 25 years . French imperial power was waning in the late 1750s , and by 1763 France had withdrawn from the North American mainland . Cataraqui and the remains of Fort Frontenac were relinquished to the British . Reconstruction and modern times . United Empire Loyalist s who had fled the United States after the American War of Independence formed a community in the vicinity of the fort and along the Cataraqui River waterfront . To protect the growing population of Cataraqui ( eventually to be called Kingston ) from attack from the United States , the British partly rebuilt Fort Frontenac in 1783 to accommodate a military garrison . By October 1783 , a lime kiln , hospital , barracks , officers ' quarters , storehouses , and a bakehouse were completed on the site of the old fort . In 1787 , the rebuilt fort became known as Tête - de - Pont Barracks . During the War of 1812 , the fort was the focus of military activity in Kingston , having housed many military troops . Many of the present barrack buildings were built between 1821 and 1824 . After British imperial forces withdrew from most Canadian locations in 1870 - 71 , the militia authorized the creation of two batteries of garrison artillery which provided garrison duties and schools of gunnery . " " A " " Battery School of Gunnery was established at Tête - de - Pont Barracks and other locations in Kingston ( " " B " " Battery was located in Quebec ) . These batteries were known as the Regiment of Canadian Artillery . When this regiment evolved into the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery ( RCHA ) , its headquarters was based at the Tête - de - Pont Barracks from 1905 to 1939 . After the RCHA left for operational duties during the Second World War , the fort was used as a personnel depot . In 1939 the site of the fort again became known as Fort Frontenac . Canadian Army staff training began at Fort Frontenac when the Canadian Army Staff College moved to the fort from the Royal Military College in 1948 . The college is now known as the Canadian Army Command and Staff College . Fort Frontenac was also the location of the National Defence College until 1994 . Fort Frontenac was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1923 . Archaeology . In 1982 , archaeological investigation began at the fort . During the spring of 1984 , the City of Kingston redesigned the intersection of Ontario and Place d ' Armes Streets so that the northwest bastion ( Bastion St . Michel ) and curtain wall could be excavated and partially reconstructed . The research also provided important details about the development and use of the fort and surrounding area , and helped to establish the relationship between the physical remains and the information included in historical maps and plans .