Get to know us
Co. I is a non profit organization based in Atlantic Canada. Our reenactment group has been active since the early 90’s. We also conduct research into those who served in this pivotal time in North American History, and have documented over 5000 such individuals.
Our mission
20th Maine Co. I actively strives to preserve the memory of the soldiers who participated in the American Civil war. Dedicated to historical accuracy, we aim to bring a living, breathing representation of the lives of those who served in the war.
Our vision
To bring history to life, by allowing members of the public to see, hear, and experience what live was like to those who volunteered with the 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment.
Our link to the past
New Brunswickers in the Civil War
When the American Civil War broke out in 1861, Canada was still not yet a country. The British colony of New Brunswick had a history intimately tied to both Great Britain and the United States of America. While many in the colony were descended from those who came here from the American colonies during the War of Independence, they still had family, friends, and ties to the United States almost a century later. And for some, those ties and loyalties were enough to encourage them to enlist. For others, their beliefs in the views and aims of their American neighbors, both north and south, drove them to enlist. And for a few, the lure of money and adventure was too much to ignore.
Tens of thousands of men from British North America (BNA) enlisted, mostly in the Union, but some in the Confederate army as well. Many were British subjects already living in the northern states, but thousands made the trip south from their homes in BNA to recruitment offices to sign up. When the 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment was mustered into service in August of 1862, a great number of British North Americans living in the colony of New Brunswick, as well as Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland, signed up and joined the regiment. 20th Maine Co. I reenactment has documented over five thousand such individuals who served in virtually every state of the Union, as well as those of the southern states in rebellion. 20th Maine Co. I reenactment has managed to locate the grave sites of many who returned to be buried here in Atlantic Canada.