Historic March from New Brunswick 1813

Historic March from New Brunswick 1813: Historic March from New Brunswick 1813: new stock photography content by Ernie Hunter
On Saturday, Feb. 16th, 1813, in Officers’ Square in downtown Fredericton the 104th (New Brunswick) Regiment of Foot left on their historical march to Kingston, Ontario. Marching through one of the worst winters on record, they traveled the 1100 kms in deep snow and extreme cold. These poorly clad soldiers suffered from hunger and frost bite but marched on in their valiant effort to reinforce British troops in Kingston and thwart the expected American invasion.
As the American invasion was thought to happen when the campaign season opened in the spring, the British needed more men by early April and as the St. Lawrence was still frozen, water navigation was out of the question. Things were relatively quiet in the East so troops were sent from the Maritimes, on foot. 554 men, split into companies of 100, began the long march to Kingston.
Marching North along the St. John River until they reached the St. Lawrence, they then turned west and followed the St. Lawrence through the Eastern Townships of Quebec. Crossing the river at Levis, they continued on, enduring the bitter cold, lack of food and proper clothing, arriving in Kingston 57 days later on April 12th, 1813.
This march by the 104th is one of the great marches in military history and yet goes much unrecognized. We can only hope that this re-enactment will bring it the recognition it deserves.

Ice Storm

Ice Storm: Ice Storm: new stock photography content by Ernie Hunter
Do the words "Freezing Rain" in your weather forecast send shivers up your spine? They probably do if you remember the ice storm of 1998 that put up to 5 inches of freezing rain across eastern Ontario, southern Quebec, the Maritimes and parts of the northern United States. Power outages lasting weeks, not hours or days, trees down everywhere, roads closed. This is enough to make those who remembered leave town. However; last Fridays ice storm wasn't that bad. In fact, while it coated cars, trees, wires and the like, it was not that bad on the roads. More slushy than icy.
Ice coated trees, shrubs and grass combined with the dull overcast sky gave things a fairy tale look. Some scenes looked as though they were photographed in infrared as the trees and grass appeared white, much like the effect of black and white infrared film. Long needled pine bows drooped and looked as though they were coated in glass. Newly swelled buds on lilac bushes were encapsulated in a quarter of an inch of ice. Bushes, usually a safe distance from the highway, were touching the edges of the pavement. In several places long tubes of ice coming off one hydro line touched the other line, sending a ball of flame and sparks skyward, and put the power out.
By mid afternoon the rain had stopped and the sun was coming out. Within an hour most of the ice was gone from the trees, wires etc and Ontario Hydro had power restored. Anyone who slept in late missed most of it. Guess that's not a bad thing though.