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Learn about Redan Battery and Battle of Queenston Heights

School kids learn about the importance of the Redan Battery and the role it played in the War of 1812.
School kids learn about the importance of the Redan Battery and the role it played in the War of 1812. (Photo supplied)

Join the Friends of Fort George for a special Zoom presentation on the Redan Battery at Queenston Heights with archaeologist Suzanne Plousos, this Friday at 10 a.m.

The Battle of Queenston Heights holds great significance in Canadian military lore, says Amanda Gamble, executive director of the Friends of Fort George.

 This major victory early in the War of 1812 cemented Niagara Loyalists’ sympathy for the British cause and inspired many to stand against American invasion of Upper Canada. Major General Isaac Brock’s demise, while leading a frontal attack to retake the Redan Battery, gave loyalists their exemplary hero, explains Gamble.

Throughout this engagement, the Redan Battery played a pivotal role and would later become a stopping point for visitors to the battlefield. In 1975, Parks Canada archaeologist Elizabeth Snow excavated the site to record the structural layout for restoration of the gun emplacement. Review of her artifact collection in 2012, 200 years after the battle, yielded unanticipated evidence of that fateful day, Oct. 13, 1812, Gamble says.

Plousos enjoyed a research career with Parks Canada cultural resources, where she worked as an archaeologist, later specializing as a material culture researcher before retiring in 2013.

The Zoom presentation is free for members; $5 for non-members. Email [email protected] to reserve a spot. 

For more information, contact the Friends of Fort George at www.friendsoffortgeorge.ca or call 905-468-6621.