On this day in 1813, the Canadian Volunteers mustered and were reviewed for the first time. To many who don't know the history of the War of 1812, the name "Canadian Volunteers" is misleading. These Canadians were, in fact, fighting on the side of the American invaders. If captured, they would have been treated as traitors to the Crown.
On this day in 1813, Joe Willcocks, the most notorious traitor in Canadian history, received his commission as a Major in the United States army. He had a profound impact on Canadian history and politics, but today he is virtually forgotten in the history books.
Read MoreDrive an hour east of Ottawa and get off Highway 417 and you'll find yourself on the old stagecoach road to Montreal and the village of Dunvegan. In the mid-1800s it was a prosperous little village. A store was built in 1840 by a man named McIntosh, and 20 years later it had changed owners and welcomed travellers as the White Star Inn,.
Read MoreA very special thank you to Linda Brown, who operates the printer's shop in the village. She gave me much information that went into the part in Brothers at War where Jacob apprentices to Joe Willcocks. I imagined Linda's shop when I pictured the scene where Jacob and Eli are clowning about and tip over the letter cases.
Read MoreThe show that makes Fort Erie a favourite with re-enactors and visitors alike, however, is the staging of General Drummond's night-time assault on the fort. The American artillery takes its stations on the bastions.
Read MoreIn Canada, we had our own republic movement in 1813-14. The men who fought, risked their property and liberty for the idea of a republic, and died in battle and on the scaffold are virtually forgotten today. No one knows where Joe Willcocks is buried, but some think it might be beneath what is now a parking lot in downtown Fort Erie. I know of at least one historian who, if he could identify Willcocks' final resting place, would make a point of going there and pissing on it.
Read MoreWhen the Canadian Volunteers met for their Regimental Dinner at Fort George this past weekend, they were allowed to use the kitchen to prepare the meal, and the officer's mess to enjoy it. It's one thing for the soldier re-enactors to train according to Napoleonic drill manuals, and fire replicas of 1812 muskets. It's quite another to be able to prepare a banquet feast using the technologies and techniques of 200 years ago.
Read MoreThe traitors are gathering in Fort George this weekend. I wish I could be there with them. They're planning another season of plunder and pillage, looting and burning, treachery and skulduggery. And oh what fun they're going to have.
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