Description
Book SynopsisWinner, Keith Matthews Best Book Award presented by Canadian Nautical Research SocietyThe untold story of Point Frederick, where early nineteenth-century Canadians built warships that stopped invasion and brought peace.Warriors and Warships brings to life a much neglected part of Canada's military history, covering the warships and the people who built them at Point Frederick from the late eighteenth century to the mid-nineteenth century. Opposite Kingston, Point Frederick was the 1789 dockyard home of the Provincial Marine on Lake Ontario and the headquarters of Britain's Royal Navy from 1813 to 1853. Today, it is the home of the Royal Military College of Canada.
In this detailed narrative, with over one hundred colour archival maps, aerial views, photographs, and 3D reconstructions, Banks recounts Point Frederick's building of great sail and steam warships and the roles these vessels played in conflict on Lake Ontario, the St. L
Trade ReviewWarriors and Warships is deeply researched and scholarly, but accessible to both general readers and specialists. It brings the history of Kingston’s Point Frederick out of the shadows of more familiar narratives of the early history of Ontario and the War of 1812 and sheds greater light on an important period in our Nation’s history. * Major-General (ret) Paul Hussey, OMM, CD, MSM, BA (Hist) Former Commander, Canadian Defence Academy *
Table of ContentsCONTENTS
Author’s Note and Acknowledgements xii
Introduction xvii
1 Pointe du Montréal 1
2 Finding Navy Bay 13
3 The King’s Dock Yard at Kingston 27
4 Simcoe and Dorchester 43
5 The Provincial Marine 51
6 War and the Provincial Marine 61
7 Arrival of the Royal Navy 75
8 Building a Royal Navy Dockyard 95
9 The Defence of Kingston 107
10 The Shipwrights’ War 117
11 The Winter of Illness and Death 135
12 An Uncertain Peace 145
13 Building for Permanence 161
14 Maintaining Capability 173
15 Decline 193
16 Closing the Yard 205
17 Resurrection 215
18 Garrison Life in the Age of Steam 227
19 Ordnance Department 247
20 Legacy 257
Appendix 1: Main Historical Figures 261
Appendix 2: Vessels of Point Frederick 267
Abbreviations and Glossary 271
Select Bibliography 275
Notes 287
Image Credits
Index
About the Author
