Jonathan Eddy (–1804) was an American military officer and politician who served in the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...

and the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

. After the French and Indian War, he settled in

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

as a New England Planter, becoming a member of the General Assembly of Nova Scotia. During the

, he was strongly supportive of the rebellion against the Crown. He encouraged the residents of Nova Scotia to join in open revolt against King George III and England. He led a failed attempt to capture Fort Cumberland in 1776 and was forced to retreat to

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, the place of his birth. The following year, he led the defense of Machias, Maine during the Battle of Machias (1777). After the war, he established the community now known as Eddington, Maine in 1784, where he died.

French and Indian War

Jonathan Eddy was born in Norton, Massachusetts in 1726 or 1727. In 1755, he enlisted in the Massachusetts militia and participated in

Robert Monckton Lieutenant general (United Kingdom), Lieutenant-General Robert Monckton (24 June 1726 – 21 May 1782) was a British Army officer, politician and colonial administrator. He had a distinguished military and political career, being second in com ...

's successful capture of Fort Beauséjour on the

Isthmus of Chignecto The Isthmus of Chignecto is an isthmus bordering the Maritime provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia that connects the Nova Scotia peninsula with North America. The isthmus separates the waters of Chignecto Bay, a sub-basin of the Bay of ...

in the

. He received a militia captain's commission in 1758, when he apparently saw no action, and again in 1759, when his company was garrisoned at Fort Cumberland (the name Fort Beauséjour was switched after its capture). After the war, Eddy returned home to Norton, only to return to Cumberland as a New England Planter in 1763. From 1770 to 1775 he served in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly, representing Cumberland Township.

American Revolution

When the

began in Massachusetts in 1775, Eddy openly supported the rebellion. Following Governor Francis Legge's crackdown on seditious persons, and seeing an opportunity, Eddy fled to his riding in Cumberland. He made frequent excursions to see

Samuel Adams Samuel Adams (, 1722 – October 2, 1803) was an American statesman, Political philosophy, political philosopher, and a Founding Father of the United States. He was a politician in Province of Massachusetts Bay, colonial Massachusetts, a le ...

and the General Court of Massachusetts, as well as to General

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

. There, he was met with varying degrees of support for his proposed rebellion. Adams pledged full support, troops, weapons, ammunition and more, while Washington was less enthusiastic, failing to promise direct support for the venture. He was eventually able to convince the Massachusetts legislature to provide logistical support in the form of small arms (

musket A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually dis ...

s) and other military supplies. In the summer of 1776, Mariot Arbuthnot, the new

governor of Nova Scotia The following is a list of the governors and lieutenant governors of Nova Scotia. Though the present day office of the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia, lieutenant governor in Nova Scotia came into being only upon the province's entry into Can ...

, ordered Colonel

Joseph Goreham Joseph Gorham (sometimes recorded as Goreham, 1725–1790) was an American colonial military officer during King George's War and later a United Kingdom, British army commander during the Seven Years' War and the American Revolutionary War. ...

's Royal Fencible American Regiment to secure Fort Cumberland and keep watch for any signs of an American invasion of the province. Eddy, knowing he was being monitored by authorities loyal to the Crown, fled to Massachusetts where he was made a full colonel in the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775, by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Co ...

and was given authority to raise a regiment of his own with the sole purpose of the invasion of Nova Scotia through Cumberland and

Truro Truro (; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England; it is the southernmost city in the United Kingdom, just under west-south-west of Charing Cross in London. It is Cornwall's county town, s ...

and then east into Halifax.Clarke, p. 73

Siege of Fort Cumberland

Shortly after General William Howe's army departed Nova Scotia to attack New York in 1776, Eddy made his move. His force of 180 American militiamen, Natives, and Nova Scotians marched on Fort Cumberland. They attempted to storm the fort on November 13, 1776, but were repulsed. Two more attempts were made on November 22 and 23, but on November 28 arrived at the head of the

Bay of Fundy The Bay of Fundy () is a bay between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the U.S. state of Maine. It is an arm of the Gulf of Maine. Its tidal range is the highest in the world. The bay was ...

with British marines aboard and relieved the fort in a joint operation with the RFA garrison. Eddy and his militia force were scattered, eventually regrouping near the Saint John River. Eddy and many of his supporters who had lived near the fort had their properties destroyed in retaliation. Eddy spent the remainder of the war managing the defense of Machias in the

District of Maine The District of Maine was the governmental designation for what is now the U.S. state of Maine from October 25, 1780, to March 15, 1820, when it was Admission to the Union, admitted to the Union as the List of U.S. states by date of admission to ...

(then a part of Massachusetts), and was awarded a tract of land in the

Ohio Country The Ohio Country (Ohio Territory, Ohio Valley) was a name used for a loosely defined region of colonial North America west of the Appalachian Mountains and south of Lake Erie. Control of the territory and the region's fur trade was disputed i ...

in 1801 for his role in the war. He moved to Stoughtonham after the war, where he served in the Massachusetts legislature. In 1784 he established a settlement on the eastern bank of the Penobscot River that grew to become Eddington, Maine, where he died in 1804.

Notes

References

* Parks Canada "The History of Fort Beausejour" 1995 * Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, Halifax, N.S. Exhibit: The History of H.M.S. Vulture * * This book also contains Eddy's report of January 1777 as well as additional documents and reports. * Clarke, Ernest; ''The Siege of Fort Cumberland, 1776''; McGill-Queen's University Press, Montreal & Kingston, 1995.
History of Penobscot, Maine

External links