Downtown Wbitby will ho the scono of a staged battlb on Juno 27 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m., as part cf the celebration à Canada's l25th birthday. The Volunteer Battalion of Incorporatod Militia of Upper Canada was raised by decree of the, Upper Canada Legisaturein March 1813 as a fuil-time volunteer unit to figt alongsido the. regular Britishi troops in the war against the. United States. Company.strongth detachmenet were recruited from the towns an4 villaps along the, St. Lawrence River and shores of Lake Ontario. Durinq 1813 and eaýrly 1814, thoso detacbments were involved ni several rnilitary actions including the. defence of York (Ari 26, 1913), tii. seege of Fort George (Agto Dec. 1813), the. retaliatary rai on Gooso Creek(Aug. 1813), the. storming of Fort Niagara (Dec. 19, 1813), the. batti, of Black Rock and burnin of Bfao (Dec. 09, 1813), and the. raid on Columi, N.Y. (Feb. 6, 1814). In Marcii 1814, the. separato detacunenta were unifiod at York (Toronto) to undergo field ftraîning and musket intruc tio as a single ba ttalion. Following the, invasion of the. Niagara frontier b.y the. Amoricans in Juno 1814, the. Incorporated Militia was put into front-lino service patrolling the. areas around Qu.enston and St. Davîd's. On July 25, 1814 the. battalion fougt in itafirst xnqjor onagmont at Lundy-s Lane. In a niht.battlo tiat lasted from il .m1.pa, the, Incorporatod Militia distinguisiied itself by ita defonce against repeated Amorican attacks.. owever, ins gallantry was not witiiout its priceo f 98 dead, wounded and missing:from a total strengtii ofjust over 300. Furtiier casualties wero suffired during the next thre montiis wiien thie battalion wasp art of the, Britishi forces investing Fort Erie into wiiciitiie U.S. Army iiad rotreated after tiieir-,defeat at Lundy's Lan,. Once again duing variaus sorties and skirrnisiies, thei. Incorporated Miitia made servicoable contributions ta tiie Britishi war effort. Inx fact, it was acknowledgod that in tii, skills of fieldcraft, the. Incorporated Mlitia was supenior to the, regular Britishi troops. On Sept. 21, 1814, the. Britishi Army abandoned its siege of Fort Eri n tebtalo ctda eagadduring tiie Britishi witiidrawal. During October, the, unit was ençagod Ini strengtiien'tgtie- fortifications along the, Cluppawa River againsman xpected'American attack. This effort was, so successful tiat it intixidatod tiie Americans againat any direct assault on tbaP works, deit tiieir overwiielming supetiority in numbers, com pared tu tiie Britisii defenders. On Nov. 5, the. U.S. Army retreated across theo Niagara River neyer again returning to Canada as an enomny. For the, remainder of tiie winter, tiie battalion was ated firet at Fort George2and later at York. In eanly lan.1815, Gen. Drummond was g0oimpressod with tii. quality and past services oftheo unit that h. announoced bis intention of doubling tiie sizo cof the, Incorporated Militia and converting it from a red-coated, musket-equipped infantry force ta a groen-coated, rile battalion. A peace treaty was, iiowover, ratified siiortly tiioroafter, -tiius ending tiie war and the. Incurporated Mlitia was disbanded in Marcii 1815. Prior ta its demobilization, the following recommendation from Gen. Drummond was reoeived: RIs iionour ... cannot dismisa that truly desorving corps, the. Battalion of Incorporated militia witiiout ezpresming bis 12 Whitby Free Press ~ Canada 125 warmest approbation of their braver1, steadiness and uniformi goodi conduet on ail occasions-0 Tiie original colours (flags) of tii. battalion are now on display at the, Canadian War Museum in Ottawa and bear tii battle honour Niagara. while two uniforms ofofficers from the unit are in thé, collections of thie Niagara istorial Society and the, Hamilton Militaxy Museum. Society promotes interest hQaadaS ilitaiyhistory The Military Re-enactment Society,.of Canada isaa non-profit organization established ta foster an -interost in tiie zilitary heritage of Canada tiirougii ro-enactmient units, whicii represent spécifie military bodies from Canadian history, Dressed ad euipd as accurately as possible ta represent the, soldiersof tho e d ii o givo displays of thie xilitary parade nills and field évolutions as woll as battîs démonstrations througiiout Ontario and the, nortiiern United States. Tii. women and children of tiie society are not left out as thy too, droas in period-style costume ta, represent campfolowers. And, like their original countorparta, follow tiieir-mn-totba.bat of the, drum.' Fées ciiarged for displays are used ta, improve -the, accuracy of tho uniforms and equipmont, and ta caver the coes of matenials used in demonstrations. Interested individuels are welcome ta join as recruits and shar, in this unique mothod of making histary come alivo. For information on tho society, contact tiio Military Re-enactment Society of Canda, suite 030-'36, 65 Front St, W., Toronto, Ont. Mgi.1E6. Battie to be otaged ,.downtown by miitryre-wenactment scety