Battle of Fort Cumberland (Alternity)

The Battle of Fort Cumberland (referred to by some historians as the First Battle of Fort Cumberland) was a decisive victory by militia forces under Colonel Jonathan Eddy that resulted in the seizure of Fort Cumberland in modern day Nova Scotia County, Maine, and the beginning of the Maritime Uprisings.

Course of battle
Eddy first began laying siege to Fort Cumberland on November 10, 1776, three days after capturing a 30-man party aboard the supply sloop Polly that had been sent to get word out of the fort's predicament. It was at this point the commander of the fort's garrison, Col. Joseph Goreham, realized that he was in a precarious position, with over 60 of his 200-man garrison having fallen prisoner to Eddy in the preceding three weeks. Continual efforts to get messengers past Eddy's troops failed, helping to isolate the battle from the colonial authorities. The already inadequately-equipped garrison was initially able to hold out against Eddy's force, but following the disappearance of Captain Thomas Dixson and a three-man volunteer crew while attempting to cross Scotia Bay's Minas Basin inlet (the body of one of his crew was recovered by a fishing boat near Cape Split on the 18th) to bring word to the British authorities at Halifax of Eddy's presence, Goreham realized that no reinforcements were coming. The final charge around midday on the 15th (with the American ranks swelled to roughly 600 by local Patriot sympathizers and Acadian guerrillas) utilized a newly-arrived single cannon to disable one of Goreham's hastily mounted guns and break through the poorly constructed palisade, effectively breaching the fort's perimeter. Less than an hour later, the badly outnumbered Goreham surrendered the fort to Eddy. Casualties were relatively light on both sides, with Eddy's force suffering only 12 dead and 15 wounded, while the British suffered 20 dead and 26 wounded.

Aftermath
The success at Fort Cumberland energized local Acadians, enlarging Eddy's force to just over a thousand men, a force that would prove instrumental in holding the fort and his victory at the Battle of Sackville in mid-December, after which Eddy was finally granted support from the Continental Army, in the form of Colonel John Allan, over a hundred allied Mi'kmaq Indians, multiple cannons, and several hundred Continental regulars. Word of the capture didn't reach authorities at Halifax or Windsor for over a week, by which time Eddy had completely occupied the fort and repaired damage incurred during the battle. A force of 175 men from Windsor marched overland in an attempt to retake Fort Cumberland on the 28th (in the so-called Second Battle of Fort Cumberland), but without success, resulting in a decisive rout and ending plans for a second force from Halifax.