Fort Henry National Historic Site: History, Defense, Discipline, & Glory

The young infantrymen stood at attention. These foot soldiers wore bright red coats. In their hands, they carried rifles with bayonet points. They marched when ordered. Their faces held serious warrior expressions. On command, they fired their rifles. Clouds of gray smoke puffed from the barrels and the sound of artillery firing echoed through the Parade Ground. These soldiers portrayed the men stationed at Fort Henry in the year 1867, the year of Confederation, when Canada became a nation.

I witnessed this and several more of the many interpretive programs at Fort Henry National Historic Site. I planned this visit to Eastern Ontario’s largest heritage tourism attraction, a UNESCO site, as part of my 1,000 Islands Trip on my 10,000 Mile Grand Tour.

Before visiting Fort Henry, I printed a schedule of the “Activities” from its website (www.forthenry.com). On this Day Program, I used an orange highlighter to mark the event, fort level –upper or lower, and time. This approach made it easy to move from one activity to the next without fumbling in indecisiveness hour-by-hour.

I joined the 2 PM tour, one of eight English tours offered that day. By comparison, the Fort offered only four tours for French speaking people. Our guide wore a dress uniform, the red tunic, and moved with military form. This college student, who landed this role as a summer job, played her part exceptionally well. She moved our group through disciplinary cells, officers’ quarters, soldiers’ barracks, married quarters, schoolroom, and bakery pointing out the signifance of each location. She made history come alive as she explained how wealth bought rank in the military, why disease easily spread in the close quarters, and what interconnected roles officers, soldiers, and women played in daily life at the Fort.

Our guide told us about history. The British Army constructed the original Fort Henry in 1813. They dismantled it when the second Fort Henry was built from 1832 – 1837. The British Army first stationed soldiers at Fort Henry beginning in 1812. Soldiers remained within the fortress until 1891.

Our guide talked about defense. Throughout the 1800s, Fort Henry’s infantrymen prepared to defend themselves in battle should the enemy - the United States - threaten with a military attack. (The US never attacked this strategic stronghold of Kingston, Ontario.) Another purpose for Fort Henry was to defend the terminus of the Rideau Canal, the Royal Naval Dockyards, and Kingston Harbor. In the 1837 Rebellions, during World War I (1914 – 1918), and during World War II (1939 – 1945), the Fort served as a prisoner of war camp and internment camp.

Our guide explained why the Fort mascot is a goat named David. From 1842 – 1843, the Royal Welch Fusiliers served at Fort Henry. Their mascot was a goat. In commemoration of their service, a white Saanen goat lives on the premises. The current goat is “David IX”, the 9^th mascot of Fort Henry.

In this 60 minute tour, I gained a tremendous appreciation for Fort Henry and great insight to life there in the 1800s. This is a credit to the thorough narration of our guide and her depth of training. With this outstanding orientation to the Fort, I appreciated the next series of activities on my pre-selected schedule as more than simply military drills. This was a reenactment of Canadian military history.

I took a seat in the spectator bleachers on the sunny side of the Parade Ground. I watched the Garrison Parade, Artillery Firing, and Rifle Drills. I saw “David IX” take a place of honor with the officers.

When an officer dismissed the soldiers, I walked along the ramparts imagining life there when many companies of 100 men, their wives, and children lived within the Fort walls. They were a disciplined people who faced hardships and sacrifice for the country they served. The glory of a nation born on this land belongs to them. It’s their contribution, Canada’s heritage.

What I had seen and felt during this afternoon at Fort Henry came to a patriotic grand finale - The End of Day Ceremonial. Armed soldiers again formed military lines on the Parade Ground in an elaborate series of movements. Some stood at attention beneath the waving British flag. Other lifted their boots in a high march as they climbed steps up the ramparts and prepared to load a canon. A single infantry man played the bugle. With honor and glory, the soldiers sounded their rifles, fired the canon, and lowered the flag. Not a sound was heard soldiers folded the flag and carried it away for safe keeping.

June 23, 2008

“Fort Henry National Historic Site is one of Canada’s premier historic attractions, and has been designated by the Government of Canada as a place of national significance. In 2007, Fort Henry was included in the designation of the Rideau Canal as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.”

– John Robertson, Manager Fort Henry National Historic Site of Canada

I highly recommend visiting Fort Henry – Patty Lonsbary

Fort Henry National Historic Site of Canada

www.forthenry.com

Kingston, Ontario

From Highway 401, take Exit 623 (Country Road 15) south to the end,

turn right on Country Road 2, turn left at first traffic light to Information Center,

or continue to Fort Henry at the crest of the hill.

New to Me!

Traveling can open your eyes to all kinds of wonders. I especially like natural wonders, but occasionally local culture opens my eyes.

In upstate New York, we found a Wal-Mart with covered spaces for the area Amish people to park their horse and buggy. New to me, but fairly common in places where the Amish live.

Then, this toilet seat in Ontario stumped me. Ed’s son Andrew solved the mystery. He told me this is an international symbol. What does it mean? Don’t stand on the seat when you pee! He said he’s heard this is a real problem with travelers from some countries like China. Now, that is really new to me!

Hershey Factory & Rideau Canal

Hershey Chocolate Shoppe Visitors’ Centre and Self-Guided Tour

Our visit to the Hershey’s Canada Factory in Smith Falls, Ontario left me flat. As we walked along the elevated viewing areas on a self-guided walking tour, we didn’t see “the rows & rows of Resse Peanut Butter Cups gliding along the conveyor system” as promised in the brochure. We didn’t see our favorite chocolate bars rolling off the packaging lines. The conveyor system was not operational on Sunday. In fact, there is no production on weekends and we had come on a Sunday.

Soon the plant - Hershey’s Canada Inc. - would be completely non-operational, not just weekends. We learned that it would be closing late in 2008. As a consequence, what we saw through viewing windows to the plant floor was machinery packed or crated, setting on pallets ready forklifts to move them for shipment out of the plant. Destination? Unknown.

I suspect that this impending closure is why no investments had been made to create slick, interactive displays of chocolate production or the history of the plant. The displays seemed antiquated by today’s standards. They were simple showcases of dusty artifacts behind glass with too many words to read. There was no theater for visitors to view the History Channel program about Hershey chocolate. Instead the full length, uncut version of the origins of the Hershey Company and biography of its founder Milton Hershey played on a continuous loop from a small screen television. A wooden bench with space for two or three adults was the only seating available. I watched this for awhile then my butt went numb and the DVD malfunctioned. I gave up my seat on the wooden bench, but no one was waiting to take my place.

I think the real draw of this Smith Falls venue is the Hershey Chocolate Shoppe. It’s a chocoholic’s delight! I should know because I am a hopeless chocoholic. I filled my shopping basket with Kisses, Hugs, and red licorice. Ed added a bag of nut & caramel bars by bulk to my purchases. At the check-out, the cashier handed us each a free Oh Henry! Bar.

Outside the plant and Shoppe, we joined Ed’s son Andrew and daughter-in-law Cindy in the shadow of the famous Hershey Kiss-shaped lampposts to munch on some of these goodies. Although the plant left me flat, we left on a high, a sugar high.

June 22, 2008

Hershey Chocolate Shoppe Visitors’ Centre & Self-Guided Tour

Smith Falls, Ontario

Smith Falls: “Heart of the Rideau Canal”

Smith Falls, Ontario must be accustomed to giving up “goodies” like the Hershey plant. I read that the town gave up magnificent waterfalls. The waterfalls once existed in this town but were diverted in order to create the Rideau Canal and three lock stations back in 1832. In retrospect, this was probably a good sacrifice for the local economy.

The Rideau Canal is a chain of lakes, rivers, locks, and canal cuts winding 202 km from Kingston at the head of Lake Ontario to Ottawa, Canada’s capital city. When it opened in 1832, the Rideau Canal was considered to be one of the greatest engineering feats of the 19^th century.

According to a Parks Canada brochure, “The Rideau Canal was conceived in the wake of the War of 1812. It was to be a war-time supply route providing a secure water route for troops and supplies from Montreal to reach settlements of Upper Canada and the strategic naval dockyard at Kingston…When the fear of war passed, the canal soon became a major artery for regional commerce.”

History notes that Smith Falls prospered as a result of building the canal and of subsequent economic development. And, though this prosperity continued for several decades, regional commerce declined with the completion of the St. Lawrence canal system and the introduction of railway and steamboats. Today, pleasure boats dominate the waterway, not commerce.

Our stop along the Smith Falls section of the Rideau Canal gave us time to pause and look at North America’s oldest operating 19^th century canal. Its significance was recognized in 2007 by the World Heritage Committee – United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) - as a World Heritage Site.

With the assistance of interpretative signs, we read about how the locks operate. The details were clear but I would have liked to see a boat pass through. None did. Adjacent to the operational lock was one that had been retired. You could cross over to it on a narrow walkway. Potted flowers sat on the basin which was once the bottom of the lock.

Centennial Park surrounds the water of the Rideau Canal in Smith Falls. A few teenage boys emerged wet from a swim there. Ed dared them to cannonball into the water and measure who landed the furthest from the shoreline. Their competitiveness overruled common sense as they took running leaps into the icy waters. Ed has a knack for encouraging people to do things like this which mostly serves to give him a laugh at the folly.

We found some waterfalls near the park. People were not in the water here. The churning brown water moved fast and cascaded over rocks beneath a pedestrian walkway. I stood over the water for awhile. There was no one around to ask, but it seemed to me that Smith Falls hadn’t given up all its “goodies.” I found a few in Centennial Park along the Rideau Canal.

June 22, 2008

Smiths Falls

www.smithsfalls.ca