Siege of Fort Cumberland
| Battle of Fort Cumberland | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the American Revolutionary War | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 United States
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 Great Britain
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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Jonathan Eddy Benoni Danks |
Thomas Dixson | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 400+ militia | 200 militia (Fencibles) | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| "some" killed 5 captured (1 died of wounds) |
13 killed unknown wounded 56 captured |
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The Battle of Fort Cumberland (also known as the Eddy Rebellion) was an attempt by a small number of militia commanded by Jonathan Eddy to bring the American Revolutionary War to Nova Scotia in late 1776. With minimal logistical support from Massachusetts and four to five hundred volunteer militia and Natives, Eddy attempted to besiege and storm Fort Cumberland in central Nova Scotia (near the present-day border between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick) in November 1776.
The fort's defenders, the Royal Fencible American Regiment led by Joseph Goreham, a veteran of the French and Indian War, successfully repelled several attempts by Eddy's militia to storm the fort, and the siege was ultimately relieved when the RFA plus Royal Marine reinforcements drove off the besiegers on November 29. In retaliation for the role of locals who supported the siege, numerous homes and farms were destroyed, and Patriot sympathizers were driven out of the area. The successful defense of Fort Cumberland preserved the territorial integrity of the British Maritime possessions, and Nova Scotia remained loyal throughout the war.
Nova Scotia was generally poorly defended in the early stages of the American Revolutionary War, and unrest in the eastern regions provoked fears of an American-led uprising. Although some reinforcements had reached Halifax by early 1776, the frontiers of the province were only lightly defended.
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Wikipedia