Fort Gaspareaux, NB

I stood at the edge of the water, thankful that I had neither wig nor false teeth, as the wind would have ripped them from me and flung them to the waves and ice.  I was standing at Fort Gaspareaux, New Brunswick. 

The remains of the fort were located on Highway 960 near Port Elgin, facing Baie Verte and the Northumberland Straight.

Fort Gaspareaux was a National Historic Site of Canada.  The plaque on the fieldstone cairn read:

Built by French troops in 1751 to prevent the English from penetrating the Chignecto Isthmus, Fort Gaspareaux served particularly as a provisioning base for the forts of Acadia.  When on the 17th of June, 1755, Fort Beausejour capitulated to General Monckton's army, M. de Villeray, having only 19 soldiers at Gaspareaux was also forced to surrender.  Colonel John Winslow took possession of the fort in Monckton's name.  Its poor condition, together with its general strategic unimportance, led the English to burn it in September, 1756.

In addition to the cairn, there was a navigational beacon known as "Port Elgin lighthouse" and a small military graveyard for nine British soldiers.

At the end of winter, only the flag pole and Parks Canada sign kept company shuddering in the wind.  The snow had melted revealing the rises, swells, indentations and ditches recontructed to show where the fort had once stood.  In summer, there would have been picnic tables, expanses of lawn and salt-marsh to explore, perhaps a gentle breeze.

The views were 270 degrees of...well, I couldn't do them justice in words or photos.  The expanses of water, snow and ice stretched for miles and the sky was endless.  As I stood there in a wind that did its best to peel the hair from my skin, I was overwhelmed with the scale of the scene. I was gob-smacked.

You must see the place for yourself. 

(Hang on to your hair and teeth.)

Words in red will take you to another site with additional information, if you click on them.  All photos are mine.