, 1782, as described by an observer in a French engraving titled "Attaque de Brimstomhill" Cannon were first mounted on Brimstone Hill in 1689 during the
Nine Years' War, by
Jean-Baptiste du Casse, when the French used them to capture the English
Fort Charles. The English, under
Sir Christopher Codrington, used the same tactic to recapture the fort a year later. From then on, the English used the hill as a fortress, mounting
24-pound cannon, taking advantage of its 972-foot height. In 1711 and 1731, lightning destroyed the
gunpowder magazine. By 1736, the fort had 49 guns. Since 1795, 40 members of "The St. Christopher Corps of Embodied Slaves" served at the fort, armed with
pikes and
cutlasses. French Admiral
Édouard Thomas Burgues de Missiessy raided the island and succeeded in blowing up the powder magazine in 1805. Following the end of the
Napoleonic Wars, the local militias throughout the Caribbean were disbanded in 1838. The fort was abandoned by the British in 1853, and the militia disbanded in 1854. The structures gradually started to decay through vandalism and natural processes. ==20th century==