The unofficial ambassador of Signal Hill National Historic Site is basking in the late summer sun and being fawned over by strangers. He's getting pats galore, and even some hugs and kisses, while while posing for too many photos to count.
The year is 1862 and I’ve enlisted in the Royal Artillery to help protect Newfoundland. I nervously report to the Queen’s Battery Barracks in St. John’s, don a shell jacket and forage cap and prepare to handle a rifled musket for the first time.