Major John Small created the 84th Highland Regiment during the American Revolution (1776-83), in part, to protect the 14th American Colony (i.e., the Maritimes) from invasion by Americans. The 84th Regiment was eventually disbanded at Fort Edward in Windsor (1783) and then many settled in Hants. After the American Revolution, Major Small parceled Hants among the soldiers of the 84th Highland Regiment for their service in the war. Major John Small had a distinguished military career. At age thirty he became a Lieutenant in the British military (1756), and was then sent to fight the French in North America. Later, at the start of the American Revolution, Major Small fought in the famous battle of Bunker Hill in Boston, Massachusetts (1775). In this battle the British wiped out the Americans. He commanded a brigade and three times stormed the hill leading his men from in front. He was immortalized by Trumbull who painted Small arresting the bayonet of a British soldier who was about to kill a wounded American soldier. The village of Minasville was settled by Alexander Cameron (1785), Kennetcook was settled by John and William Singer, and the Gore by Abraham Blois (1794). Other 84th soldiers who settled in the area are John White (1785), Christian Hennigar (1800), Lewis Ettinger (1786); and Thomas Laffin (1786). Major John Small built his own home in Hants. Small built a manor house that he named Selma Hall, after which the village of Selma is named.
