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Brimstone Hill is nearly 800 feet high
with steep and precipitous slopes which had to be tamed by the disciplines
of engineering and architecture, and at the risk and probable loss of
human lives. The walls of the structures are predominantly of stone,
labouriously and skilfully fashioned from the hard volcanic rock of which
the hill is composed. (The black volcanic stone was then better known as
brimstone, hence the name of the fortress). The mortar to cement the
stones was produced on site from the limestone which covers much of the
middle and lower slopes. The Fortress is virtually a man-made out growth
of the natural hill. |
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The physical location of the
Fortress presents attractive panoramic vistas of forested mountains,
cultivated fields, the historical township of Sandy Point, and
neighbouring Dutch, English and French islands across the Caribbean Sea.
It commands astounding views of the Caribbean, including Nevis,
Montserrat, Saba, St. Martin and St. Barts, and sprawls over 38
acres, its massive Fort George citadel being defended by
seven-foot-thick walls.
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These, however were not always sufficient
protection, as in the February of 1782, a French fleet of nearly 50
ships appeared on the horizon off St. Kitt's and Nevis. Headed by
Admiral Count François de Grasse, whose flagship was the
exceptionally imposing 130-gun Ville de Paris, the fleet had
been dispatched to force the British from the rich sugar colonies of
St. Kitts & Nevis--and that meant dislodging them from Brimstone
Hill, otherwise known as The Gibraltar of the West Indies. The
8,000-man French siege force, supported by de Grasse's substantial
fleet, calmly set to its task. |
After a month of almost continuous bombardment, and
despite staunch resistance by Brimstone's 1,000 British troops, the French
succeeded finally in punching 40-foot holes in the citadel's thick walls.
Knowing their situation finally to be without hope, the British
surrendered. The French siege commander, the Marquis de Bouille, paid
tribute to their heroic defence by allowing the British garrison to leave
Brimstone Hill as an undefeated force, in full uniform and with standards
held aloft. One year later, when the Treaty of Versailles returned St.
Kitts to British rule, the same honour was accorded to the French
garrison. |
