The boom of a stout iron cannon reverberates across farmers’ fields in Prince Edward County, Ont.
Lined up in formation behind its smoking barrel are a dozen members of the Canadian Regiment of Fencible Infantry, dressed in painstakingly accurate uniforms. Some have muskets, others a fife and drum.
For decades, the group has re-enacted crucial battles and moments from the War of 1812. The United States declared war on Great Britain back then in part because of trade skirmishes and interference, as well as the forced conscription of Americans into British naval service.
During the war, the Americans attempted to take British-held land in Canada, but were met with stiff resistance from a united front of British, Canadian, Métis and Indigenous fighters.
The Fencibles have represented their regiment in Europe and deep into “enemy territory” in the United States to commemorate numerous battles of note. The group typically heads to New York in February to help re-enact the Battle of Ogdensburg, a British victory.
But this year, they stayed put.
“All of our members pretty well are Canadians, and a lot of them are very angry, as many Canadians are, about the situation and they’re very hesitant to go across the border,” said David Moore, who acts as the major to the Canadian Regiment of Fencible Infantry, also known as the Fencibles.
True, the Canadian dollar hasn’t helped, but U.S. President Donald Trump’s talk of making Canada the 51st state is keeping the Fencibles firmly on this side of the St Lawrence River.
WATCH | These War of 1812 re-enactors are thinking twice about heading stateside:
“There have been events down in the States, in New York and Michigan and so on, and everyone has said, ‘No, I think we’re gonna pass and wait and see how this all plays out, to see if the rhetoric fades away,'” Moore said.
Many of the Fencibles have deep roots in this part of southeastern Ontario, with ancestors who fought for the British in the War of 1812 and beyond.
“My family’s had properties taken from the Americans before. So that’s my apprehension [about crossing the border],” said Shawn Finnegan, who traces his family’s roots in the area back to before the American Revolution.
Donald Trump repeatedly referred to former prime minister Justin Trudeau as a “governor” and has insisted Canada “only works as a state.” Trump has also called the Canada-U.S. border an “artificial line.”
Finnegan said the annexation talk is “pretty upsetting” considering “we helped them out during and after 9/11,” referring to the fact that more than 200 flights were diverted to Canada after U.S. airspace closed in response to al-Qaeda’s attack on Sept. 11, 2001. Canada took in thousands of stranded passengers until it was safe to resume normal operations.
“We stepped up to help them out in their time of need, and this is pretty much their thanks to us: they want to take us over. So, like a lot of Canadians, it’s an over-my-dead-body kind of feeling.”
John Osinski, a War of 1812 re-enactor who lives in Middleburgh, N.Y., is feeling the separation from his Canadian friends.
“Oh, we missed the Fencibles,” he said. “We need each other. We can’t tell our stories, our mutual stories, down here. We can’t tell them without each other.”
Osinski, who often represents a New York militia unit that volunteered for federal service in December 1812, said he is optimistic the current tensions between the countries will be resolved.
“We’ve experienced this kind of thing in our history in the past. And the War of 1812 didn’t accomplish anything, in reality, other than causing more destruction. And the people on the border, either side of it, weren’t really in favour of what happened,” he said.
“I don’t suspect for a moment that [the Trump administration] is trying to make Canada a 51st state,” he said. “But [the notion] causes hard times and we just got to get through it.”
Craig Russell, another longtime American friend of the Fencibles who often plays the role of a Clinton County, N.Y., militia officer, shares that sentiment.
“I’m 20 miles away from the border,” he said. “I play tuba in a concert band in Montreal, a summer band. I do a lot of things in both countries, culturally and historically.”
“My thing is, let’s get this whole thing settled and move on. It’s just a crisis that doesn’t have to be,” Russell said.
The friends hope the tensions ease by the time America celebrates the 250th anniversary of the War of Independence in 2026, perhaps even long before then.
In the meantime, the Fencibles are committed to marking important battles on the Canadian side of the border.
Putting the uniform on and celebrating the nation’s history has become particularly meaningful to Moore at the moment.
“If you don’t actively hang on to your heritage, it’s lost,” Moore said. “Then, when a question comes up like, should we join the States? Well, if you don’t know the country you’re in, then you have a hard time answering that.
“But if you know your history, if you know what’s happened here, then I think you’re more likely to say this is a country worth defending — our history, our nation — and staying independent.”
