Kings County Vignettes
The Battle of Blomidon
The History and Geography of Nova Scotia by John B. Calkin, published in 1878, has a chapter on the American Revolution (1775-1783). In the paragraph "Nova Scotia During the War" he states:"During the war the coast settlements were kept in constant alarm by privateers fitted out in New England. Yarmouth, Annapolis, Cornwallis, Lunenburg, and other places were plundered. Two armed vessels came up Annapolis Basin. The invaders seized the block-house, spiked the cannon, and then loaded their vessels with whatever they found of value in the houses and shops. A militia force from Cornwallis captured a privateer in the Bay of Fundy, and brought in the crew as prisoners." (pp.148-149).
A History of Nova Scotia or Acadie by Beamish Murdock, Esq. Q.C. , published in 1886, has a chapter on the part Nova Scotia played in the American Revolutionary War. He has this statement: "All persons were called upon to swear allegiance. Light infantry companies were directed to be formed."
Following this is a list of all centers in the province, and states that Cornwallis and Horton each had fifty men ready to protect the area.
The following poem given to Kings Historical Society by Ms. Belle Belcher Robinson refers to Benjamin Belcher who was born in Gibraltar in 1743 and died in Cornwallis in 1802. Others mentioned in the poem -- Amos Sheffield, Will Bishop and Jonathan Crane -- are well known in the history of Cornwallis and Horton.
THE BATTLE OF BLOMIDON May 21, 1781
Marauders from Maine on our shores made a swoop;
The cannon were seven that spoke from their sloop;
And hands that were greedy clutched gladly upon
A ship Amos Sheffield had filled for Saint John.
Their sally was smashed in ten minutes or sooner;
Yanks captured Will Bishop and Jonathan Crane
And all of their party who struggled in vain.
Thus loaded with loot and captives galore,
Three vessels set out from Cornwallis shore,
Then Benjamin Belcher, once born at Gibraltar,
Was fit to be tied in an over-sized halter;
He learned where a vessel with guns might be got,
And rode like a madman to Horton Town Plot.
We were twenty-eight strong in the schooner SUCCESS,
Militiamen bold who with Belcher did press
By horse out to Horton and clambered on board,
And sailed on the track of our foe-men abhorred.
The season was May and the orchards were white;
It seemed a grand day for a wonderful fight.
With the tide running in, they were caught at the Cape;
We hammered their sloop, and in haste to escape
Some took to their dories and scrambled to land
While others lay dead in the ship they had manned.
Still slowed by the tide was the schooner they'd taken
And this by its captors was quickly forsaken,
And promptly Will Bishop and Jonathan Crane
Discomfit their guards and a victory gain.
Thus over the Basin by noon we withdrew
With three captured ships and our jubilant crew.
"The blow that we struck at the Cape was a squelcher!"
Remarked our stout commodore, Benjamin Belcher.
(Watson Kirkconnell)