25 MAY 2019 —–
I returned to Halifax from St. John’s NFLD specifically to see the Citadel and the Maritime Museum.
We were taught in school that there has never been a war on Canadian soil. However, there were some BIG wars on what was to become Canadian soil; but technically, not yet Canada. The United States and future Canadian borders were up for grabs by the Catholic French and Protestant English. They fought some bloody wars, wrote treaties, broke treaties, conceded, retained and gained lands from each other for centuries. The first 150 years saw six wars. Each country had allied with various native tribes, and converting them to their respective religions. Later years saw them ally together against the United States invasion.
The Citadel is a National Historic Site. Four forts have occupied this place since its initial construction in 1749, the year the British government founded the town of Halifax. It was named after the Earl of Halifax who was president of the Board of Trade and Plantations. The Board had given settlers free passage, grants of land and supplies for one year to establish a stronghold along the shores of the great harbour. Britain’s idea was to settle mainland Nova Scotia in an attempt to eventually outnumber the French-speaking Roman Catholic Acadians and the Mi’kmaq. When Cornwallis landed with a sloop of war, 13 transports and nearly 2600 settlers, he strategically built the first Citadel on the highest hill to protect the settlers against raids by the Catholic Mi’kmaq, French, and Acadians. These established communities felt an earlier treaty had been broken by the arrival and settlement of these Protestant British. They attacked the citadel 12 times. The British suffered great losses the first winter, but new settlers continued to arrive from England, Ireland and Scotland, with a few ‘Yankee” puritan dissenters, so that in 20 years half the population was British descent.
The second fort was to protect against the French and Americans during the American Revolution. No one attacked. The third fort was during the French Revolution. No one attacked then either. The third citadel got some hasty repairs and upgrades during the War of 1812, and it was then realized that a new citadel needed to be built.
The current Citadel was started in 1828 and completed in 1856; and was built to repel a land-based attack by the United States. It was never attacked, but stood ready to defend the Halifax Harbour and the Royal Navy Dockyard.
An attack from the sea would be difficult to pull off. The enemy would first have to get through the narrow harbour with its shore fortifications at the narrowest part, then past McNabs Island and then past George’s Island. Both had their own fortifications.
I arrived about a half hour before the Citadel opened and a guard suggested that I spend that time walking the perimeter, which I did. It was a cool morning, but just nice for a long stroll. I got to see and appreciate the outer construction. It is star-shaped, allowing for artillery fire in every direction.
It was built down into the hill rather than sitting on top, giving it a very low profile. From the bottom of the hill, the fort was barely visible. A wide moat runs the entire perimeter, with the natural incline of the hill acting as a support for the granite outer wall.
Because the fort is embedded into the hill, the roofs of the buildings are covered in turf.
It made me wonder how they dealt with rain and snow, since the entire facility is so low. They had swales that ran close to the buildings and a huge cistern below ground. The cistern could hold enough water to last through a very long siege.
I arrived back at the front gate just as the 78th Highlander Guards were coming to their post. After a quick photo-op I passed through the gates and into the Citadel. The first thing I noticed was the long, two-storey wooded building off to one side of the courtyard. I realized it stood out because it was the only wooden building. The rest of the buildings were built out of granite and ironstone. With the turf roofs, they looked like part of the outer walls. Only the doorways and odd window gave away the fact they were buildings.
I made my way straight to the wooden building to a woman was dressed in period costume. She offered to guide me through the fort.
The wooden building used to be the barracks, but now houses the information centre, gift shop, cafe, and army museum. A portion of the barracks is still display items that the Highlanders might have had during their three year stay (1869-1871). Most interesting were the fold up cots. Once folded back, they could serve as a chair, and definitely left more room to move around the small room. I laid down on one of the cots and found it to be almost as comfortable as some of the guesthouses I have stayed at in the past.
There were uniforms hung by the cots, looking like they were waiting to be worn, as well as some hats and sporran (the purse that hangs on the front of a kilt). Some hats hat ostrich feathers, others had fur. The sporran was decorated with horse hair tassels.
From the barracks we went to the black powder magazine. It was a stand-alone building with thick stone walls. Inside, hundreds of 100 pound barrels of black powder would have been stored. Black powder becomes unstable if it sits and clumps together. The pressure from its own clumping could cause it to blow up. It was one man’s job to rotate the barrels everyday to prevent that from happening. The building was near dark. Light was supplied by two small windows high up on either end of the building that were also used for ventilation. Although it was cool the day I was there, I could imagine it becoming unbearably hot in mid-summer. The man rotating the barrels could not wear anything metal, for fear of a spark. His shoes would have been wooden, and with no buttons or rivets on his clothing. The wooden floors of the building were held in place with wooden dowels. It was dangerous work, and the man would have been paid a little extra. The thick stone walls were hoped to contain a blast, should one occur.
Next to the black powder magazine was the school. Interesting…. maybe the children were more expendable than any soldiers. It was the typical school room of that era, wooden benches and desks facing the teacher’s desk and blackboard. There were smaller blackboards with riddles written on them. The guide said they change daily, mostly to keep the guides and character actors amused during lulls. A bit of history is helpful in deciphering the answer.
From the school we headed to the top of the wall to the Signal Post. It looked like the mast of a ship, with many different flags flying. In reality, this was the communications tower of the day. It was used to send coded messages down the line to warn of invasions or disasters. A message could reach Fredericton to Cape Breton in 16 hours. However, it was mostly used by merchants to advertise the arrival of their supply ship. A hoist of the dress shop flag could cause a line-up at the front door for the latest fashion, but mostly to have dockworkers ready to unload said merchandise.
To the left of Signal Post was the noon cannon. The cannon is a reproduction of a 12 pounder smooth-bore muzzle loading gun that was used during King George III reign (1760-1820) – a nod to Halifax’s history as a British stronghold. Everyday, except Christmas Day, since 1857 gunners have fired the cannon precisely at noon. It was still early so I came back closer to noon to witness the event. A large group of us gathered on the wall anxiously awaiting, while the gunners kept a close eye on their clock. At precisely noon, they lit the cannon and we all heard the explosive blast. The whole sequence of events lasted about 2 seconds, but we all came away smiling and happy to have experienced it.
After the Signal Post and before the noon gun, I continued to view the other buildings that comprised the outer walls. They included officers’ offices, guard room, tailor’s shop, engineer store, garrison cells, and orderly room. I talked a bit with some of the character actors. They explained the former use of the building we happened to be in, which were pretty much self explanatory by their name.
The entire north part was now a museum where the early history of Halifax was shown, through the eyes of the Mi’kmaq up to modern times. The Army Museum in the big wooden building that gives the story of Atlantic Canada’s military heritage covering over a century. On display are military medals, weapons, artifacts, and personal stories.
Walking back toward the Maritime Museum, I passed the Old Clock Tower. It was surrounded with construction tarps and very much off limits. The clock was a gift from Prince Edward, Duke of Kent (Queen Victoria’s father). He was stationed in Halifax for about a year in 1800. He was obsessed with being punctual and was fed up with the tardiness of the local garrison. It was completed in 1803 and the original clockworks is wound twice a week to keeping Haligonians on time.
An Old Lady with a Backpack 
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