Keeping It FUN!

by Judi McWilliams

Chris Robins Part One - "The Principal's Office!" Writing about the War of 1812 does seem to take you back in time! This next article is about an extraordinary individual, Mr. Chris Robins, History/Geography Teacher at our local West High School in Cobourg, Ontario and Professional Re-enactor! What takes me back in time, even before we began our interview about the War of 1812 and Mr. Robin’s involvement with re-enacting, is where we met? Recently, I wrote an article about an interview with my nephew Zackery Caron, a student at the West high school. Mr. Robins just happens to be one of Zack’s teachers and is still a mentor in the “life of re-enacting”. What took me way back in time, was waiting “in the principals office” for Mr. Robins. It was a tad humorous, as the students were called to the office over the P.A. system. The look on some of their faces was “fear” (for lack of better word), even though most were being called in just to pick up their report cards! The school is “old”, over 100 years old. It consists of three levels. Apparently it was built over several periods of time, some of the levels are split into half levels, all very confusing! With hesitation I was off and on my way to the third floor, down the hall to room "something or other". Chris met me with enthusiasm and I was instantly put at ease by his "excitement" to talk. I squeezed myself into a "very small" student desk (still designed for right-handed people), so I sat sideways to accommodate for my "left-handedness"! We had about half an hour to talk before we were to head off to the re-enactment training “boot camp”. I wanted to find out about Chris and his involvement with re-enacting! Chris was a student at the West high school and has been teaching history/geography there since 1987. His first experiences with re-enacting began in Norwood, with a local regiment. Here they re-enacted the Civil War period of time as apposed to the War of 1812. He is now involved mainly with the First Kentucky Rifle Regiment Re-enactment Unit, where he devotes his re-enactment time, depending on the time of year. He tells me that there are two types of re-enactors that he spends time with. The students are one type and the other type is his summertime regiment, that Chris calls the “real re-enactors”. Chris seems to always have a gleam in his eyes and a smile on his face, which made me laugh when he told me the difference between student re-enactors and "real re-enactors" are the people with "gun powder"! (To be continued - Part Two)

Characters of the War of 1812

by Judi McWilliams

Relationships Continued (Part Two)
The finances of the regiments were a constant balancing mission. With budgeting for daily rations and such, they had to take all kinds of situations into consideration. Even down to how many children each soldier had. It is reported that recruiting officers received payment for recruiting soldiers, married or not, which was in direct conflict to their own rule to not recruit married men. As a result, they did not, in fact, stop the number of families recruited for each regiment. What did stop the growth of families, however, was when a regiment went aboard ship to sail to Great Britain, or when the soldiers were sent to Battle. How did the women cope with their spouses abroad or at Battle? At first it was reported to be impossible, and that the parishes were overwhelmed with the abandoned women and children. Parliament tried to implement Acts to deal with these challenges, but unfortunately, like today, in extreme times of hardship, people sometimes take advantage of the systems put in place to assist with finances, housing, medical expenses, etc. It happened during the War of 1812, where some women and children used fake documents to take advantage of the systems put in place. It was less expensive, at that time, to actually let the spouses and children go abroad with the soldiers, although they had limits on how many families could go. All of these findings are left to interpretation. The more I read about the War of 1812, the more I see that all rules were left to interpretation. After reading all this, I took a moment to see just how (remotely so) many things haven’t changed since 1812! People today still abuse our resources. I feel it was (remotely so) justifiable in the 1812’s to take advantage of resources to feed yourself and your children, but, today we live in a world with ample abundance. I believe that some people do take advantage by not taking responsibility for their own actions. I guess what I am trying to say is that although people did similar actions during that period of time, it seemed to be solely for survival purposes, was not wrought with rationalizations and excuses. A few weeks ago, I wrote about Daily Rations. I am now finding out more about the "daily ration allotments". The daily ration allotment rule stated that the number of spouses and children ratio would be 6 to 100 men. However, this did not take into consideration how many children were in each family. This would lead to overdrawn rations, leaving the regiment with a shortfall both financially and rations on hand. All of this information gives us some insight into the Characters and lives of the soldiers, their wives and children.

Characters of the War of 1812

by Judi McWilliams

Relationships Continued (Part One)
The War of 1812 Bicentennial Celebrations will soon be here! We are becoming more aware of the wonderful events and festivals Ontario communities are hosting now and leading up to this occasion. I am still excited to share with you my research, particularly as I have recently discovered why history plays such an integral part of our lives today! I will continue briefly with the “marriage” issue, continuing with the Characters in the War of 1812. There are reports and writings as to what occurred in the War of 1812, however, I suspect all is subject to interpretation. Traditionally, today, a suitor would ask, out of respect, for the hand in marriage from the bride’s father. During the War of 1812, a soldier was required to get the permission from the Commanding Officer. It seems that as long as we “are in love” today that meets the basic requirements. However, during the War of 1812, the approval would depend on considerations, such as the woman’s honesty, her character, her ability to conduct herself respectfully, and (can you imagine), her ability to support herself! It seems that the approval also had to do with the number of soldiers, in marriage, that the regiment would be willing to support! If we do not get the approval from the father today, or others, we have the choice to elope. The consequences may be severe, but, sometimes families accept the decision and celebrate after the fact. But, during the War of 1812 it was a completely different story! If the soldier did not get the consent of the Commanding Officer, it is reported that the new spouse would not be allowed to go into the barracks of the regiment, or worse, the soldier’s spouse and children could be cut off rations, limited to personal hygiene regiments. Also, their abilities to travel and life’s necessities in general would be limited to cut off entirely. It seems though, that the regiments could not place restrictions on precisely whom the soldier would marry, but could place restrictions on the nature of the married life of the soldier. The complexity of the rules, regulations and policies during the War of 1812 seem insurmountably difficult to figure out!
(To be continued)

Characters of the War of 1812

by Judi McWilliams

Relationships... (Part Two )

It is understood that the soldiers would actually desert their own unit to obtain an increased bonus for enlistment with a new unit, taking both enlistment bonuses (their old bonus being about $16 and in 1814 it went up to $124 approximately). It reminds me of my teenage days. Although my motives were often different, I did leave but then eventually returned. My parents often referred to my leave of absence as AWOL. “AWOL” stands for Absence Without Leave. Looking at the soldier's other options, the option of paying a hefty bail of twenty pounds was not always available to a soldier, so he did indeed go to the county prison to spend two days of confinement in a cold damp cell! The information further states the soldier was not permitted any visitors or provisions. Not only would the soldier become ill from the damp environment, not to mention the stress of it all, but he might never recover to his former health! To top off all of this, the soldier would be discharged from the army. The final option was marriage. Some soldiers, it is reported, took on several wives, with children by each. He would then move from place to place, although this became a burden to the parish and expensive to everyone in the communities. It seems that there was a low opinion of the women (although many of the women were modest and educated), who ended up in the barracks. In the barracks, they would become frightened, disgusted, and would resort to drinking to get through the ordeal, often leading to becoming pregnant. I feel unable to tell you more about what really happened in the barracks of these soldiers and to the women, as there are so many interpretations. In my next article, I will talk further about the Characters of the War of 1812, from the wives, to the soldiers to their families. I’m excited to share with you my research and particularly as I have recently discovered why history plays such an integral part of our lives today!

Characters of the War of 1812

by Judi McWilliams

Relationships... (Part One)

History has its own way of being interpreted. There were apparently very few written journals, notes, and letters during the War of 1812. The knowledge that we do have, reminds me of the childhood game we played called “password”. The game starts with someone whispering a word or phrase into the ear of the next person, the word/phrase is then whispered around the table. By the time the word/phrase gets to the final person, it is stated out loud and is usually misinterpreted. Again, the evidence of the experiences of a soldier’s family and relationships, as I understand it, come to us by conclusions of evidence of archaeological specimens, pictures that survived, witness and generations of “gossip”. With the soldiers being in battle and away in encampments, I wondered how and when a relationship would/could develop during the War of 1812. It is said that there is some information that has survived as to the reasons why a soldier married. The information says that women of lower orders of society sometimes proclaimed that the soldiers were the fathers of their child, even though this was often not the case! A soldier was actually put in jail and imprisoned as a means for the parish to garnish the soldiers pay to cover any expenses the parish might incur for taking care of the woman and child. The common word entrapment comes to my mind and actually, as I see it, seems to be the basis of many modern television soap opera shows today. (I wonder if these actions were that of the women or the Parish!) Apparently, a wrongfully accused soldier had three options once accused of “bastardy”. He could go to prison, marry the woman, or the course of desertion. Desertion, during the War of 1812, was with reference to leave without permission without any intention of returning, often leading to extreme penalties being incarceration or even execution! Desertion for American soldiers, I discovered, was just under 13 percent.
(To be continued)