Tourist day 2

Another Tourist Day
Today as you know was to be spent as a tourist. So after finding some light bulbs for the RV (not an easy job finding 12 volt fluorescent bulbs) I went in search of the tourist haunts.
First off was the Tourist Information Center (after all if you want to find tourist things you have to know where to look). Every town of any size has one of these and Windsor has a large one. Now accompanied with maps and guides off I went.
Next stop was Mackenzie Hall which was the courthouse and goaul for the area since the 1800’s (please don’t ask me what a goaul is but I think it may be the jail. Next to it was St. Ann’s Church with its old cemetery and I found some really old headstones.
Both of these had been captured during the War of 1812 by the Americans and to some extent rebuilt afterwards.
Then onto the First Baptist Church of Sandwich which was a Black church and the end of the Underground Railway for slaves escaping from the southern states in the US to seek asylum in Canada. They were given shelter here by the abolitionists and found jobs but were required to do some work on the church (sometimes making bricks).
After that it was onto the town of Amherstberg where Fort Malden and the Kings Docks and Shipyard were located. When the War of Independence was over the British set up Fort Malden because the Americans then had Fort Detroit on the other side of the river. Remember that even before the War of Independence this area saw many battles between the French and the British and Detroit was settled in 1705. So a lot went on here as it was a major trade center and a chock point for the Great Lakes and the ships that traveled up and down river.
Fort Malden still has a rebuilt barracks and cookhouse and the ramparts and guns are still in place. These were dirt ramparts and large brick buildings housed the commissaries and administrative buildings. Some 700-800 soldiers were stationed here. When the British lost the naval battle of Lake Eire they had stripped the fort of it’s guns to fight the naval engagement and afterwards determined that it was not defendable and burned the fort to the ground. Later in 1814 when the treaty was signed ending the war it was later rebuilt and the Americans had rebuilt most of the fort site and occupied it for about two years.
A soldiers lot in the British army was somewhat regimented. He slept in a Barracks room with about 40 others (two to a bed). Ate, slept and did washed there. He was paid one shilling a day (about 25 cents) and out of this 8 cents was taken out for his food and 7 cents for his uniforms. He was issued two uniforms to begin with (one battle and one work), as well as given 1 lb of meat, 1 lb of flour and some other grain per day. The meat was not always the best (often old salt pork and not totally edible). But he was allowed to buy seeds and try to grow some vegetables in a garden set aside for the soldiers. The term of enlistment was 21 years. Many however, enlisted for a warm place to sleep and food to eat.
Well that finished off the day except I had a great barbequed hamburger at the Canadian Legion Hall and went out for a really nice pizza type sandwich at a great little Italian Restarant.
1 Grace Hospital Nurses Residence
2 Baptist Church the end of the Underground Railway
3 and 4 Barracks at Ft Malden
5 Ft Malden