Hope Restored: The American Revolution and the Founding of New Brunswick

by Robert L. Dallison

Few Canadians realize how close the colony of Nova Scotia came to joining the American Revolutionary War in 1775. Many Nova Scotians were immigrants from New England, including the Planters who, some twenty years earlier, had taken over the farms of the expelled Acadians. Between family ties and unrestrained privateering, there was much sympathy in Nova Scotia for the American Patriots. In Hope Restored , Robert Dallison tells the story of how the British raised two regiments and sent their members to the area that, as a result, became New Brunswick, thus overcoming the groundswell and fending off Patriot attacks. These soldiers had two to fight the Americans, and to settle the land as a bulwark against invasion. Spem reduxit (hope restored) became their motto and the motto of the province they founded. As well as telling the story of the Loyalist regiments, Hope Restored describes many Loyalist and Revolutionary War sites, some of which can be visited today. Among them are the Loyalist Encampment and Cemetery in Fredericton, Saint John's Fort Howe, and the MacDonald Farm Provincial Historic Park in Northumberland County. Hope Restored is the second book in the New Brunswick Military Heritage Series published by Goose Lane Editions in collaboration with the New Brunswick Military Heritage Project. Written by historians and military personnel, the books in this series will explore subjects ranging from New Brunswick's pivotal role in the American Revolution to one veteran's account of caring for World War I cavalry horses. All of the volumes will be fully illustrated with modern and archival maps, photos, and works of art and are available at all bookstores in New Brunswick.

120 pages, Paperback

First published June 10, 2003

Reviews

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very slim book that tells a small part of the American Revolution that is not taught in schools and rarely discussed in history books in the United States. Who were the loyalists? What were the Loyalist units and what became of them after the war? This slim volume (106 pages) of information provides the answers. Most books claim that Benedict Arnold settled in England after the war. He did--- eventually. But he spent time in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia first. The book also describes the settlement pattern of Loyalists as a bulwark against the rebels in America. Why? Many histories describe the Loyalists as settling in Nova Scotia instead of New Brunswick. Which is correct and why?

This slim volume answers these questions. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in Canadian or US history at the time of the American Revolution.

[Andrew Theobald · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hope Restored is essentially organized as a series of lists, with the bulk of the text devoted to denoting the Provincial Corps disbanded in New Brunswick and identifying surviving selected sites related to those units. It is an accessible starting point for any exploration of the role played by prominent military Loyalists in the founding of the new colony, but those interested in the wider story should look to the work of Condon, Esther Wright, Thomas B. Allen, and Maya Jasanoff.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. Lots of good info on the founding of what is now New Brunswick.

[Colton Patterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great overview of New Brunswick's early history