Key Facts
- Date of siege
- November 1776
- Attacker force size
- 400–500 militia and Native volunteers
- Siege relief date
- November 29, 1776
- Defending regiment
- Royal Fencible American Regiment
- Outcome for region
- Nova Scotia remained loyal to Britain throughout the war
Strategic Narrative Overview
Eddy's force moved against Fort Cumberland in November 1776, mounting several attempts to storm the fortification. The garrison, the Royal Fencible American Regiment under Joseph Goreham, a French and Indian War veteran, repelled each assault. The besiegers lacked the artillery and supplies necessary to reduce the fort, and their efforts stalled before British marine reinforcements arrived to relieve the garrison.
01 / The Origins
As the American Revolutionary War spread along the eastern seaboard, Patriot sympathizers in Nova Scotia and their Massachusetts backers saw an opportunity to bring the colony into rebellion. Jonathan Eddy, a militia commander with limited logistical support from Massachusetts, gathered four to five hundred volunteer militia and Native allies with the aim of seizing Fort Cumberland and triggering a broader uprising in the British Maritime provinces in late 1776.
03 / The Outcome
On November 29, 1776, RFA troops combined with marine reinforcements drove Eddy's militia from the area, ending the siege. In reprisal, British forces and loyalist settlers destroyed homes and farms belonging to those who had supported the Patriots, and Patriot sympathizers were expelled from the region. The successful defense preserved British sovereignty over Nova Scotia, which remained loyal for the remainder of the war.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Jonathan Eddy.
Side B
1 belligerent
Joseph Goreham.
Kinetic Engagement Axis
Scroll horizontally to view full axis. Events plotted relatively.