Contact and Recruitment
Information
Thank you for visiting! If you have reached this page, then we hope that you
are interested in enlisting. Reenacting is a great hobby and we look forward
to meeting you. Here are some things you need to know if you are interested.
In the 1860's, many Canadians enlisted in the Union army as substitutes,
paid a sum called a bounty to serve for those fortunate enough to buy their
way out of the war. We can't offer new recruits a bounty, but we can offer
you comradeship, good fun, and the chance to do what many only dream of - to
step into the past. We guarantee that you'll gain friendships and memories
that will last for a lifetime.
If you want to join us, you need to contact either Lt.
Mark Somerville, commander of D Company and membership officer, or
David Fulton. We'll see that you get the information and application forms you need
to start. If you're serious about joining "the musket to showlder",
and if you don't have a valid Firearms
License from the Canadian Government, you need to get one. You can't
start too early on this.
All members of D Company, 49th New York, are required to be dues-paying
members of the American Civil War
Historical Re-enactment Society. For the year 2001, dues are $45 Canadian per person. Your dues go to supporting the ACWHRS and
its many educational activities.
As a new member of the ACWHRS, you are expected to attend the School of the
Soldier, which runs from January through April, in the Greater Toronto area.
See our drill schedule for dates and locations. This is your chance to learn
the same infantry and arms drill that recruits in the Union and Confederate
armies learned on the parade square. There are also lectures on weapons
safety, reenacting principles such as first person portrayal, and on period
history. This is also your chance to meet us and to decide which of the
units within the ACWHRS you want to join. Naturally, we'll try to persuade
you to join the 49th and our secesh pards from the 10th Louisiana will try
to beguile you with their dubious charms.
Please note that we do not allow new recruits to carry a musket in our ranks
unless they have successfully completed the School of the Soldier.
During the winter you'll be planning the first purchases of your uniform and
equipment. The School of the Soldier gives you an excellent chance to learn
from the veterans as to what to buy and what not to buy. An Equipment and
Uniform Guide for New Recruits is posted here online as well. By the spring
you'll be expected to have a basic uniform, be it borrowed, bought second
hand, made by order or by the ACWHRS' Nancy MacLeod, our angel of
accoutrements.
In April we hold a weekend-long event with a Passing Out ceremony where
graduates of the School of the Soldier are mustered into their
chosen units. The April event gives you a taste of reenacting life -
skirmishing, camp life, and field drill - and opens the "season"
(most events are in the months of June through October).
Click here for a printable membership application
form
Home Page
Government
of Canada Firearms Centre
Drills
and Event Schedule
Equipment and Uniform Guide
for New Recruits