ong before the war ended, it was obvious that the existing defence system was inadequate to protect the communications and population of Upper Canada. Many of the posts like Fort George and Fort Malden were earth and palisade fortifications which provided no protection against artillery. Others, like the fortifications at York, were incomplete and poorly armed. Over the course of the war many field fortifications and batteries were thrown up, the remains of two are still clearly visible in the Queenston Heights National Historic Park. More substantial works were begun at Kingston and Prescott.

The objective after the war was to limit the number of small garrisons, with main posts at Kingston and York to protect the naval yards and capital. This was part of a much greater military construction program which encompassed the Citadels at Quebec and Halifax, and Fort Lennox on the Richelieu River.

In addition to forts, the colonial government funded the construction of the Rideau Canal to provide for an alternate supply route between Lower and Upper Canada in the event of a future war, by-passing the St. Lawrence. Small garrisons were maintained at Prescott (Fort Wellington) and Niagara (Fort Mississauga) and a naval base with related fortifications was established at Penetanguishene on Nottawasaga Bay.

The naval race on the Great Lakes was effectively ended by the Rush Bagot Agreement in 1818, which established limits on the number and type of war vessels for each side on the lakes.

The frontier posts were maintained for many years, the size of garrisons fluctuating based on the state of international tensions. In the 1830s, 1840s and 1860s regular troops and militia with improved artillery were placed in the forts in response to border incursions (rebellion of 1837-1838; Fenian Raids, 1866) and the threat of war with the United States (Oregon Crisis, 1848).

The Rideau Canal was built by the British Army in the 1820s to provide a more secure line of communications and supply between Montreal and Kingston. Blockhouses such as that shown in this illustration were built at several points to provide protection against raids.

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Cannons at Fort Henry, Kingston, [ca. 1910]
Marsden Kemp
Marsden Kemp fonds
Black and white print
Reference Code: C 130-1-0-15-65
Archives of Ontario, I0003974

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Martello Tower at Fort Mississauga,
Niagara-on-the-Lake, 1915
John Boyd
John Boyd fonds
Black and white print
Reference Code: C 7-3, 12061
Archives of Ontario, I0003522

The City of Toronto purchased Fort York from the federal government at the beginning of the twentieth century, although the military continued to use the fort until the city restored it as an historic site between 1932 and 1934. The image to the right shows the fort in 1908 when industrial buildings were encroaching on the ramparts. Years later Hammond noted in a letter to Brigadier General E. A. Cruickshank,

Changes in military technology made Fort York obsolete by the 1830s and a new, modern work was built as the main defence work west of Kingston.

Located on the grounds of the Canadian National Exhibition the only structure connected to this fort still surviving is the Stanley Barracks.