Martello Tower 2
A Martello tower is a permanent fortification work made of stone. In Québec City, it was in response to the American threat that Governor Craig authorized, without waiting for approval from London, the construction of four such towers on the Quebec promontory, two of which are located on the Plains of Abraham (towers 1 and 2).
Centuries of history
The structure was used for centuries in the Mediterranean to combat piracy and became very popular when in 1794 a tower situated on Corsica’s Cape Mortella held two Royal Navy ships in check for two days.
Impressed with their effectiveness, the British decided to build them along their shore for protection against the French threat. By 1808, they had 73 of them.
In Québec City, mindful of the American threat, without waiting for London’s permission, Governor Craig authorized the construction of four Martello towers on the Québec promontory, two of them—towers 1 and 2—on the Plains of Abraham.
Towers 1, 2 and 3 were started in 1808 and completed in 1810, with tower 4 coming two years later. Although operational in the War of 1812, they remained unproven because Québec was not attacked during the conflict.
Martello towers were also used in North America to defend the colonies. In all, 17 were built in Canada in the 19th century in Halifax, Québec City, Kingston and Saint John.
Martello Tower 2
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With their simple architecture, Martello towers are inexpensive to build and easy to defend. They are placed almost parallel to the enceinte over the entire width of the promontory and afford one another mutual protection.
The western wall of the tower, which faces the potential enemy, is quite thick whereas the thinner eastern wall could easily be destroyed by cannon fire from the city should the tower be taken by the enemy.
The towers in the centre (2 and 3) and those at the two ends (1 and 4) were made to house garrisons of about 20 and 12 men respectively. They were supposed to contain enough supplies to last their occupants about a month without needing relief.
