stablish a fortified post at
the mouth of that river with a garrison of fifty men; this with the
aid of a British frigate he thought would secure the inhabitants from
further molestation, and prevent the Americans from occupying the
post, an object they had long coveted. In the latter part of November,
Brigade Major Studholme was sent to St. John with fifty picked men, a
framed block-house and four six-pounders. The small force was brought
in a sloop of war, which remained in the harbor for their protection
till the next spring.

Studholme at first thought of restoring Fort Frederick, which the
rebels had burned the year before, but in the end it was decided to
erect a new fortification on the commanding site since known as Fort
Howe. The lateness of the season rendered it necessary for the
garrison to lose no time. They set to work vigorously and with the
assistance of the inhabitants erected the blockhouses, threw up the
necessary defences, and were in snug winter quarters ere the cold
weather set in.

The accompanying illustration is taken from a sketch of Fort Howe in
1781 by Capt. Benjamin Marston on board his vessel the "Brittania",
which was then lying at anchor in the harbor; the original is believed
to be the only representation of Fort Howe before the arrival of the
Loyalists that is in existence.

Colonel Robert Morse of the Royal Engineers thus describes the fort as
he saw it in 1783:--

"This little work was erected in the course of the late war in
preference to repairing a small square fort thrown up during the
former war [Fort Frederick] the position of the latter being low
and commanded, and not so well situated for the protection of the
houses built in the cod of the bay, where two or three persons
lived of a company to whom a large tract of land had been granted
and who carried on a considerable trade with the Indians and
persons settled up the river. The ridge upon which the new fort
stands was offered by them and a work in which there are eight
pieces of cannon, barracks for 100 men, and a small block-house
was accordingly erected, together with a larger block-house at the
other end of the ridge. The block-houses remain, but the work,
which was composed of fascines and sods, is falling down, and the
ridge on which it stands is too narrow to admit of any useful
works being constructed upon it."

The armament of Fort Howe, according to Col. Morse, consisted of 2
fi