As Halloween draws nearer, and the shelves at Phase 2 grow barer, for those of you who have spent hours fruitlessly scouring Value Village in search of a costume, maybe we can help.
Fort Henry has a long and distinguished role in Canadian history, predating the country itself by decades. And despite actually never coming under attack, the fort has been the site of numerous accidents, hangings and a brief stint as an internment camp that provide plenty of fodder for ghost stories.
Ghosts born of mishap are abound at the fort, and when it comes to accidental deaths at the fort, two stories jump to mind. The first is the tale of a hapless artillery brigadier, who blew himself up when he hastily tried to reload a battery with gunpowder while the barrel was still hot. Perhaps he still walks the battlements of the fort, the explanation for the spectral figure who guests and workers have reported seeing for decades. Dubbed the "Wandering Ghost", he's only appeared at a distance, making an identification as to his identity impossible.
Alcohol has been a familiar sight in the military dating back to the advent of war, and Fort Henry is hardly an exception, as our second ghost sighting demonstrates. Fort Henry is encircled by a ditch 40 ft. wide and 30 ft. deep. Numerous soldiers drunkenly met their end there. One such poor soul was John"Gunner" Smith, who was killed after his rifle misfired. Numerous people have said they've seen him laying in the ditch, screaming for help as he slowly bled to death.
Our last story actually features an interesting historical anecdote. Nils von Schoultz was a Finnish-born Swede who found himself one of the leaders of the Upper Canada Rebellion of 1831. While much of the fighting took place in the rural counties outside Montreal, Schoultz and his band of roughly 150 rebels made it as far as Prescott (south of Smith Falls) before being intercepted and engaged by British Regulars. Elected leader before the battle (later dubbed the Battle of the Windmill), his forces held out for 5 days before surrendering.
Schoultz would be brought to Kingston to face trial (bonus fact: a young John A. Macdonald served as his informal counsel). There, he would be alone amongst the defendants in pleading guilty to the charges he faced, and his conduct during the trial would win him many supporters, who would later mount (unsuccessfully) a campaign to have Lieutenant Governor Sir George Arthur pardon him. Ultimately he was hanged at Fort Henry on December 8th, 1838. He is alleged to haunt the Commanders Room 3, with visitors reporting feeling faint and objects being moved without explanation.
Fort Henry's long history with the paranormal led to it being featured on Ghost Hunters, if you're so inclined maybe check it out! And if you're still unsure about a costume for the upcoming weekend, I'm only half-kidding when I saw maybe you should consider going as a Finnish born French Canadian nationalist?
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