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Fort Montagu is a small
fort A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
of four
cannon A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...
on the eastern shore of New Providence Island (Nassau)
Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the a ...
. Peter Henry Bruce oversaw the construction of the fort that began in 1741 to defend the British possession from Spanish invaders.


Construction

After Governor John Tinker arrived in 1741, he saw that there was only one fort on the island ( Fort Nassau). He knew that one fort wasn't enough defense and had military engineer Peter Henry Bruce construct another one at the eastern end of the island. Construction for the fort began in 1741 and finished in 1742. The fort is made out of limestone and when it was built, it had 23 cannons and over 95 barrels of gun powder.


Raid on Nassau

The fort played an important role during the American War of Independence, as it was the
United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through c ...
' first successful Amphibious assault by
Esek Hopkins Esek Hopkins (April 26, 1718February 26, 1802) was an American naval officer, merchant captain, and privateer. Achieving the rank of Commodore, Hopkins was the only Commander in Chief of the Continental Navy during the American Revolutionary Wa ...
during the
Battle of Nassau The Raid of Nassau (March 3–4, 1776) was a naval operation and amphibious assault by American forces against the British port of Nassau, Bahamas, during the American Revolutionary War. The raid, designed to resolve the issue of gunpowder short ...
. The fort had not seen action for over 30 years. After a stealth approach failed to reach New Providence from the north (due to the sound of a cannon being fired), Hopkins approached New Providence from the East side of the Harbor. However, he first had to deal with Fort Montague. The fort was ordered by Governor
Montfort Browne Montfort Browne (fl. 1760–1780) was a British Army officer and Tory, and a major landowner and developer of British West Florida in the 1760s and 1770s. He commanded the Prince of Wales' American Regiment, a Loyalist regiment, in the Ame ...
to fire three shots as a warning. However, the soldiers evacuated the fort and went home or to Fort Nassau. The Americans seized the fort and Fort Nassau eventually surrendered.


Spanish control

In 1782 a fleet of over 80 Spanish ships approached Fort Nassau. The fort promptly surrendered to the Spanish.


Recaptured for the British

In 1783, Colonel
Andrew Deveaux Andrew Deveaux (30 April 1758 – 11 July 1812) was an American Loyalist from South Carolina who is most famous for his recapture of the Bahamas in 1783. Early life He was born to plantation owners Andrew Deveaux Senior and Catherine Barnwell on ...
, a Loyalist in St. Augustine, Florida, heard that the nearby British territory of The Bahamas had been captured by Spain. Deveaux set out that same year with the goal to recapture it for Britain. Using 220 militia and 150 muskets, he devised a plan to trick the Spanish troops inside. He had his men row from the ship in sight of the Spanish and once they were out of sight, he would tell them to duck down and row back, making it appear as if he had more men than he actually did. This was repeated over and over. Thought to be outnumbered and scared, the Spanish attempted to burn down the fort. However, this was prevented by Andrew Deveaux, who then went on to capture Fort Nassau.


References

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External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20090423080441/http://www.planetware.com/nassau/fort-montagu-bah-ne-nsem.htm Buildings and structures completed in 1742 New Providence 1742 establishments in the British Empire Forts in the Bahamas