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12 economist suntribune saturday nov 30 2002 advertising feature passport to fort york builds young character by bart card contributing travel editor its been many years but i went back to the army yes its true i reenlisted unlike before this time it wasnt with a top british regiment but as a colonel circa 1812 stationed alongside major paul kelly and drill instructor david juliusson we are bar racked at fort york in toronto on the shores of lake ontario while my previous service record with the british army lasted six years this particu lar tour will last a mere 32 hours but what an experience we will have joining our fort york troop are sergeant mary baker and sergeant emily monaco in addition we have a group of topnotch recruits taking time away from their grade 7 and 8 studies at good shepherd catholic elementary school in holland landing to enlist in our regiment for two days of boot camp training in reality paul kelly is a teacher at good shepherd and every year he takes his class to fort york so his students can learn first hand how things were in the army during canadas early days fort york is a 1930s reconstruction of the original british canadian military outpost designed to pro tect the city of york after the american raids during the war of 1 81 2 as soon as my son michael arrived home from school with the information sheet regarding fort york i jumped at the opportu nity to join pauls infantry pauls insight as a teacher is extraordinary moreover in his spare time the history buff can often be found conducting famous battle reenact ments as a world traveller i just knew this would be an experience of a lifetime less than an hours drive from home for me and my son the fort york settlement began in 1 793 when john graves simcoe built a garrison on the present site of fort york fearful of war with the united states simcoe planned to establish a naval base at toronto so he could control lake ontario in 1812 the united states declared war and invaded canada jon april 27 1 81 3 the us army and navy attacked york to become toronto in 1 834 with 2700 men on 14 ships and schooners armed with 85 cannons the defending force of 700 british canadians mississaugas and ojibways had 12 cannons those memories were vivid during our recent arrival at fort york it was as if we were actually in the army with our kit placed in the bunkhouse as the troops got familiar with one another and our new surroundings david our drill instructor took us on a tour of the fort explaining in detail every area from the weapons sleeping quarters the officers kitchen and even a few dance steps in the mess hall david is quite the expert who has worked at fort york since 1989 a job that combines his interest in history and education with a fascination with the military left to right david juliusson drill instructor major paul kelly and col card our young troops were involved in a number of workshops including the preparation of supper battle tactics learning ofthe lifestyle ofthe officers soldiers women and children of the time they also had time for period games and story telling major kelly even arranged an introduction to drumming by two mem bers of a reenactment corps of drums military drill procedures were also the order of the day thanks to drill instructor juliusson who really put the troops through their paces teaching the soldiers to stay in step left and right turns shoulder arms present arms stand at attention and stand at ease that night it was quite a sight to see the children dressed in uniform eating their meal served with the regimental silver from major kellys collection what a wonderful atmosphere we enjoyed with the white table clothes lit candles and sterling silver sparkling throughout the officers mess as we ate our beef stew it was to my amazement quite good stationed in england i can tell you our meals never tasted like this dessert topped our meal cookies our troops had prepared themselves and cooked on an open fire following dinner i laid in my bunk in the east blockhouse and as our young troops nodded off for the night i thought of the american soldiers from 1813 who stormed ashore the waters of lake ontario west of the fort and under the cover of their naval guns the brave defenders put up a strong fight but fell back to fort york from the beachhead in the face of overwhelming odds the british com mander majorgeneral sir roger sheaffe then retreated eastward and blew up the forts gunpowder magazine the explosion caused heavy casualties among the americans including the mortal wound ing of their field commander brigadiergeneral zebulon pike total losses in the sixhour battle were 157 british and 320 americans the americans occupied york for six days loot ing homes destroying supplies and burned the parliament buildings and government house in 1814 the british retaliated when they captured washington and burned the capitol white house and other public buildings the americans returned to a defenseless york in july 1813 to cause more damage and burn more buildings shortly afterwards the british rebuilt fort york and by august 1814 fort york was strong enough to repel the us squadron when the americans tried to enter toronto bay by february 1815 word reached york that the war had ended the previous december it was good news peace had returned and the defense of canada against american invasion had been successful before sunrise and the awakening of our soldiers major kelly walked by my bunk and said colonel card i have something to show you together we walked along the compound to the kitchen and enjoyed a fresh cup of brewed coffee considering my surroundings it was perhaps the most delightful cup of java i had sipped in quite some time at sunrise the troops packed their bunks and made their beds i chuckled as i watched my son make his bunk and roll up his sleeping bag like other kids his age im sure its a battle for him to perform that task back home yet here at fort york the army bug had definitely caught him following a hearty breakfast our regi ment left the fort and made our way along fleet street to the st lawrence market and st james cathedral where the aisles are so wide four soldiers could march in step our outing included the metropolitan cathedral and st michaels cathedral as the soldiers of the time would have done on sunday to earn a halfday off after lunch we ventured to the william lyon mckenzie house on bond street and participated in two work shops one on the life of mckenzie and the other on early printing press methods along the way i learned a thing or two as well by 1 870 the canadian government assumed responsibility for most ofthe coun trys defenses including fort york canadian troops maintained the harbour defenses at fort york until its cannon and earthworks became obsolete in the 1 880s the army however did not abandon the fort at that time but used it for training barracks offices and storage until the 1930s in an effort to preserve history the city of toronto purchased fort york in 1909 and restored the fort between 193234 on victoria day 1934 fort york opened as a historic site museum today the fortified wallssurrpund canadas largest collection of original war of 181 2 buildings following our adventure i thought how lucky the children of good shepherd are to have a teacher such as paul kelly who takes the time and energy for such an excursion what an eyeopener for the chil dren to experience fort york listening to paul and david talk with passion and enthusiasm about a topic they love learning handson learning can be fun fort york is well worth the visit especially if you reenlist for a day or two fort york is located in downtown toronto on garrison road off fleet street for more information on fort york telephone 416 3926907 contact bart card at bcardpassporttodiscoverycom and visit the web site at wwwpassporttodiscoverycom treated with teflon so even winter wont stick the great canadian winter hat 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