Both hobbies that I pursue with passion involve shooting. There’s photography, and there’s 19th-Century British Military Reenacting. And oddly enough, I love being the villain which means going south of the border since we’re into War of 1812 territory. Over the Canadian Thanksgiving Weekend, I have for the past four years I along with the…
If you’ve ever been to Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario and you happen to walk along the river’s edge or stand at Fort George take a quick look across the Niagara River. You’ll see standing tall at the river’s mouth a collection of somber stone buildings. But what you may not realize is that you’re looking at the…
Sometimes it’s fun to play tourist. With going away the next weekend I decided to take Heather and a camera (or two) to the 35th Annual battle of Stoney Creek Reenactment, rather than dress in wool and carry a musket. Both are fun ways to enjoy a 19th-century military reenactment. Battlefield Park is home to…
Came for the War of 1812, Stayed for the Great War. Well okay, the weather wasn’t that bad on the Sunday. But this is where the problems with these early season reenactments come into play. The weather has been all sorts of weird this year. We were wearing great coats in April at the Drill…
If there’s one thing that is awesome about the historical reenactment hobby is that you get to spend a lot of time at some of the sites that are a part of Canadian History. Fort George in Niagara-On-The-Lake, Ontario. This beautiful late 18th century fort was built following the American occupation of Fort Niagara across…
If there is one thing that is great about the reenacting hobby is that it gives me a chance to explore the area where the battles I reenact were fought which are part of the story of not just the country of Canada but the Province of Ontario. Prescott, Ontario is one such community that…
Deeply intertwined with the history of Toronto, Ontario is Fort York. Like Fort Erie, Fort York was established in the early days of Upper Canada after it’s establishment following the American Rebellion. Loyalists to the British Crown followed General John Graves Simcoe to the wilderness of the newly created colony of Upper Canada. While the…
Winter has been something that has been a bit elusive for us in Southern Ontario. Notable the lack of snow the second week into the new year and the new project. So the title of the week isn’t really fitting, but I kept it anyways because if I used “Muddy Fort” people would think I…
I was very happy that I was able to make it down to New Orleans during the bicentennial years of the War of 1812, even though I cut it awefully close. But here he is, immortalized in Jackson Square, President Andrew Jackson. Jackson was the general in command of the defense of New Orleans during…
You don’t see a big battle, you hear it. A 4×5 camera isn’t exact the best camera to capture a military reenactment, but I figured what the heck! Now usually at an event like this I’m out on the field shooting a musket rather than a camera, but when I woke up on the Sunday…
It ended with an explosion, but this is how it started, the sun creeping up over the historic fort, the trees, earthworks, masonry redoubts and blockhouses, tangled abatis, and rows of white tents. This was the scene early Saturday morning as near 1100 military reenactors started to crawl out of their tents and start to…
Located a handful of kilometers from the US/Canada border sits a lonely blockhouse, an odd sight today. Most Blockhouses in Canada are usually attached to some larger fort or remainders from a larger complex. But not just one sitting out at an intersection of two provincial highways. But the Lacolle Blockhouse is such a spot,…
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