Battle of Fort Cumberland - Discontent in Nova Scotia

Discontent in Nova Scotia

Jonathan Eddy was a Massachusetts-born resident of Cumberland County, Nova Scotia, where the fort was located. He and John Allan, both of whom served in the provincial assembly, were the prime movers of Patriot activity in the area, which was one of several hotbeds of agitation in Nova Scotia. The other major areas of Patriot activity were Maugerville in the St. John River valley of Sunbury County (present-day New Brunswick), and Cobequid, and there were also pockets of activity in Pictou and the Passamaquoddy Bay area, which separates present-day Maine and New Brunswick. Patriots in these communities were in contact with each other, and those of Cumberland and Maugerville were active in trying to interest nearby natives (Passamaquoddy, Maliseet, and Mi'kmaq) in their cause.

Eddy believed that with military assistance from the Thirteen Colonies, he might be able to bring down the strongly Loyalist administration of Nova Scotia. Early in 1776, Eddy went to Massachusetts in an attempt to interest political and military leaders there in supporting action in Nova Scotia, while Allan worked to raise interest in Nova Scotia. Allan's work was made more difficult by the arrival of Colonel Goreham and his troops to refortify Fort Cumberland, and by the activities of Michael Francklin, a former Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia and a vocal Loyalist. Eddy returned empty-handed to Nova Scotia in June 1776, only to learn that Goreham had put a price on his head. The activities of Goreham's Fencibles in the Cumberland area were successful enough that Patriot activities there were effectively forced underground; the center of these activities was shifted to Maugerville in part as a consequence of this. Goreham, a veteran of the French and Indian War, was also able to blunt Patriot inroads in the native communities, where the Mi'kmaq refused to take sides, and the Maliseet and Passamaquoddy, at first supportive of the Patriots, ultimately did not turn out in the numbers Eddy had hoped for or been promised.

Eddy returned to Massachusetts in August. While the Second Continental Congress and George Washington would not authorize, fund, or otherwise support military activities in Nova Scotia, Eddy was able to convince the Massachusetts Provincial Congress to provide some material support (primarily muskets, ammunition, powder, and other military supplies) for an attempt on Fort Cumberland. It also allowed Eddy to engage in recruiting in the District of Maine.