Template:EarlyHalifaxDefense

The town of Halifax was established on 21 Jun 1749 by Governor Edward Cornwallis and about 2,500 settlers. With Cornwallis were only two companies of soldiers. By July he had added two full regiments of troops from Fortress of Louisbourg to guard against attacks by hostile Indians and the Acadian French. Cornwallis had his principal engineer, John Brewse, devise a plan for a land side defense of the town and harbor. Brewse's plan was to create a horseshoe type defense around the town with five forts connected by a palisade on the land side while the open part of the horseshoe along the shore could be protected by gun batteries

The forts themselves were square with protruding bastions at each corner. The outer dimensions were 193' from bastion tip to bastion tip, while the inner square dimensions were 125' on a side with curtains of 75'. Trees were cleared back some 30' to provide a field of fire. The fort walls were double set 10' high logs, 6" around. The double set logs were set upon one another so that the gaps were all covered and then loopholes were cut for guns. Inside each fort were barracks for two companies of soldiers, about 100 men.