Ile aux Noix
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Île aux Noix is an island on the Richelieu River close to the Lake Champlain border in Quebec. The island is the site of Fort Lennox. The site is designated as a National Historic Site of Canada.
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[edit] Background
Île aux Noix is a 210 acre (85 hectare) island in the Richelieu River. The French and Indian War caused the French to build a fort to slow the British advance on Montreal, but were forced to surrender it in 1760. The British named it Fort Lennox. In 1775, the island was taken by American forces, and used as a base by the American generals Philip Schuyler and Richard Montgomery for attacks on Montreal and Quebec until abandoned in 1776. The British then used the island to supply their operations against the American fleet on Lake Champlain during the War of 1812. The present Fort Lennox dates from the 1820s, when the old fortifications were repaired and additions were built. It remained a military post until 1870 and is now a popular tourist location [1].
The Île aux Noix Naval Shipyard was a Royal Navy yard from 1812 to 1834 in Quebec and served the RN's Lake Champlain fleet during the War of 1812. HMS Confiance was one of several warships built here.
[edit] French fortifications
The population of New France during the last years of the Seven Years' War lived through difficult times. It faced an appreciable reduction in support from the home country, at a time when France's resources were being stripped by the situation on the European continent. In the colony from year to year, civilians and soldiers saw their hopes crushed as they worked out strategies, which were constantly deprived of the necessary royal support. The campaigns of 1759 and 1760 provide strong evidence of this situation and it is in this context that the strategists decided to set up a post on Île aux Noix.
[edit] First British fortifications
The last French governor-general of New France, Pierre François de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil-Cavagnal, surrendered to British Major General Jeffrey Amherst on September 8, 1760. France finally ceded Canada to the British in the Treaty of Paris, signed on February 10, 1763.
The strategic importance of Île aux Noix decreased as soon as the conquest of Canada was complete in 1760. Amherst had not thought it wise to preserve the French fortifications on Île aux Noix and therefore he ordered the razing of the entrenchments to salvage the construction materials, which might be reused at Crown Point.
[edit] American fortifications
In 1775, the island was taken by American forces and used as a base by the American generals Philip Schuyler and Richard Montgomery for attacks on Montreal and Quebec until abandoned in 1776.
[edit] Second British fortifications
During the War of 1812, the race for naval superiority in the area re-established the military importance of the island, which became the main support point for the British navy on this border.
[edit] Postwar
The postwar period provided another opportunity to rethink the defensive system on the Upper Richelieu in the light of the experience acquired in the War of 1812. This time the endless debate between Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec and Île aux Noix brought the engineer officers into direct opposition to the naval officers. The engineers favoured Saint-Jean because of the many possibilities of bypassing Île aux Noix, while the naval officers, convinced by the experiences of the recent war, preferred Île aux Noix because of its advantages against an operation over water. The latter were further favoured by the activities of the Americans a short distance from the border, since the construction of Fort Montgomery provided the competent British authorities with an argument for supporting Île aux Noix.
[edit] Troops
- local French troops
- 1st Regiment of Foot (Royal Scots)
[edit] Further reading
- Charbonneau, A. (1994). The Fortifications of Île Aux Noix. Supply and Services Canada. ISBN 0-660-15194-4
