From Niagara At Large
With the countdown to this coming year’s War of 1812 bicentennial commemorations now less than five months away, groups on both the Canadian and U.S. sides of the border are stepping up their efforts to promote the event with re-enactments of the war.
An image from a previous battle re-enactment at Old Fort Erie. Courtesy of Niagara Parks Commission.
This coming Saturday, Aug. 6 and Sunday, Aug. 7, the Niagara Parks Commission is once again joining in the build-up to the commemorations with a ramped up battle re-enactment weekend at Old Fort Erie, a strategic battle front in the real war, located at the mouth of the Niagara River in Fort Erie, Ontario and directly across the waters from Buffalo, N.Y.An August 2 media release from the Niagara Parks Commission, the steward of parklands along the Ontario side of the Niagara River, says that this, “Canada’s largest battle re-enactment weekend, portrays the excitement and drama of the War of 1812 with an action-packed schedule of events planned for an entire weekend.”
Soldiers' march at Old Fort Erie. Photo courtesy of NPC
Event highlights, the media release goes on to say, include battle re-enactments on Saturday at 11 a.m., 2 p.m., and 8 p.m., where hundreds of re-enactors will participate in Drummond’s Night Assault on the Fort. Follow the action up-close and then experience a dramatic Lantern Tour of the Fort under attack at 9 p.m.
A memorial service, honouring all of those who fell in the battle will be hold on Sunday morning at 10:30 and the last battle re-enactment of the weekend, the American Sortie, will be held on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Schedules and admission information is included below:
Hours:
Saturday, August 6 Fort Hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Battles: 11 a.m., 2 p.m. & 8 p.m.; Lantern Tour: 9 p.m.
Sunday, August 7 Fort Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Memorial Service 10:30 a.m.; Battle 1 p.m
Admission:
Entrance includes Day Programs or Evening Lantern tour. Battles are free.
Adult: $12.25 (13+), Children (6-12): $7.95 plus tax, Children under 5 are free.
Located at 350 Lakeshore Road in Fort Erie, Ontario, Old Fort Erie is approximately 30 kilometres (19 miles) or a scenic 20-minute drive south of Niagara Falls and is close to the Peace Bridge from Buffalo, New York. The new Visitor Centre, grounds and the main floor rooms of the Fort are wheelchair accessible.
Niagara At Large 
When I was 5 or 6, I used to play Cowboys & Indians. And then I grew up.
What’s so great about human carnage? Why are we so gung ho to celebrate and glorify brother killing brother?
Please readers, help me understand this. I can appreciate honouring those who died on the battlefield to protect our families, our freedoms and our way of life, but pretend-killing? Re-enactments of bloody and horrific battles that resulted in so much death and suffering?
Am I the only one who thinks this is kind of sick? Am I the only one who abhors war?
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Re-enactment of war is not the same as glorifying or celebrating war. It is a visual depiction of past events. Would you also ban writing about wars in history books?
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No Nick, I wouldn’t ban wars from the history books.
Recording battles and “playing war” are two different things. Mature adults pretending to kill other adults to honour the memories of those who fought and died is, in my opinion, silly. Why not re-enact the persecution of Jews to honour those who were killed in WWII concentration camps? Or how about re-enacting the dropping of bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
We need to remember the horrors of war so we can avoid them. Will the re-enactments remind people just how terrible and bloody war is? I have my doubts. Is the 200th anniversary celebrations about anything other than bringing visitors to the area and increasing tourism and the local economy? I again have my doubts.
One final thought. I read that the Americans are also planning War of 1812 celebrations. I remember from history class that the British and French forces (with help from many First Nations peoples) were fighting to stop an American invasion. They were fighting to protect their homes, families and way of life. What exactly then are the Americans celebrating?
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Visual depiction of events is no different from writing about them. Wars are re-enacted every night on the History Channel. Guess what? People watch.
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I haven’t seen these re-enactments, so I’ll stay neutral for a moment. But I do see a real problem with sanitized portrayals of war, especially as seen on TV etc. War can not always be avoided, but it is disgusting, and that isn’t often shown. Flashy “shock and awe” shots of an Iraq invasion don’t show the casualties. Some of us would vomit if they did. We all remember the Iran -Contra issue, but many of us are unaware that American supported dictators and “contras” in Central America murdered countless civilian “opponents” (death squad style) and committed genocide against indigenous Mayans. Congress eventually outlawed aid (millions of dollars for weapons etc.) but Reagan found a loophole (Ollie North issue). It goes on and on. One final example, mainstream news shows should be more transparent. Instead of desriptors like “Egypt’s Mubarak regime/dictatorship”, for example, they should specify “American supported Mubarak regime.” Mainstream media doesn’t mention that important fact. It’s called propoganda.
Back to the re-enactments, I doubt they show some of the ugly side of that conflict, including butchered soldiers dying of blood loss, gangrene etc. Maybe they should.
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Aha, here we go again, everything is the fault of the United States. Do you really believe that they acted alone in the actions you mentioned and others? It helps nothing or no one to turn a discussion on war re-enactments into an anti-American tirade.
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As the author of this story on the recent re-enactment weekend at Old Fort Erie, I have found it interesting to see how the comments below the piece kind of morphed into what Nick Strugar sensed was “an anti-American tirade.”
Frankly, I don’t understand what Ollie North, the Iran-Contra issue, etc. have to do with this War of 1812 event leading up to the bicentennial commemorations beginning next year.
Having talked to organizers of these events, I have never received the impression for a moment that they are about celebrating war. Rather they are about remembering those who fought and lost their lives in the last military struggle between the United States and a Canada still very much under British control.
More importantly, these bicentennial events are intended to remind all of us of the 200 years of relative piece between two neighbours that may have their differences, but continue to remain friends just the same.
As for any finger pointing at the U.S. when it comes to the treatment of other countries and peoples, we still have not got the full story on Canada’s role in turning prisoners in Afghanistan over to authorities in that country and what became of those prisoners. And don’t even get me started on the treatment of Native people in Canada over the past 200 years.
So let’s try to put things in perspective here and keep in mind what these War of 1812 commemorations are about.
Doug Draper, Niagara At Large.
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Doug, your reply was both correct and thought provoking. Kudos to you for putting things in perspective. As for people that point fingers at the USA I highly suggest that they read “The Americans” by Canadian writer Gordon Sinclair.
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