The College Square of Fox Lake Wisconsin where the Citizens Guard Militia commonly drilled

Courtesy of the Harriet O’Connell Historical Room

 

Citizens Guard

 

Statement of Goals and Missions

 

The Citizens Guard is a preservation & accuracy driven living history group that was re-vamped in December 2009 by current Hard Head Mess members and associates whom have a deep interest in the original company that was founded in Fox Lake, Wisconsin on February 22nd, 1860.   The Citizens Guard is our preservation and local living history home for those whom desire only the most accurate experience of portraying the common soldier from 1860-1865 and to foster further research and increased interpretation of the men we attempt to portray.   We are a 501c3 federal tax exempt entity in part by the gracious support of the Fox Lake Historical Society.

 

We are very proud of our preservation accomplishments over the years in the community of Fox Lake, Wisconsin and with the Wisconsin Veterans Museum.  Since 1999, we have helped to preserve the George H. Stevens GAR Post 100 Banner, several Civil War artifacts in the holdings of the Harriet O’Connor Historical Room & the Wisconsin Veterans Museum, raising funds towards the sustainability the First United Congregational Church of Christ where the Citizens Guard militia was founded in, and our current project of caring for the monument and site of Company “G”, 1st United States Sharpshooters – (Wisconsin) at Gettysburg National Military Park.  Over 20 of the Wisconsin Sharpshooters in Company “G” came from Fox Lake and surrounding communities.

 

 Requirements of the Citizens Guard:

 

  1. Membership in the Citizens Guard is open to individuals with a positive attitude towards an accurate portrayal and the desire to improve their overall impression on a continual basis. 
  2. All potential invitees will need to be sponsored into the Citizens Guard by an existing member.  Invitees also must be an U.S. Citizen without a criminal record and should be relatively physically fit and able to handle occasionally difficult conditions at events to include marches and temperature extremes.
  3. All uniform and equipage must be correct in pattern, construction, and materials compared to the original documented articles at all times, as detailed in the Authenticity Guide of the Citizens Guard.  In addition, uniform & equipage should be correct based on event-specific information for a particular portrayal.  
  4. We will work closely with the Fox Lake Historical Society, the Fox Lake First United Congregational Church of Christ (original building that the Citizens Guard was formed in), the Harriet O’Connell Historical Room, the Hard Head Mess, the Old Northwest Volunteers, and other associates to support further education about the men from Fox Lake whom upheld the honor of the West.

 

The Citizens Guard militia was the first of three militia groups to serve in Fox Lake and later to enter active military service in the federal army.   On May 19th, 1860, the editor of the Fox Lake Gazette wrote about Captain George H. Stevens Citizens Guard militia on their growing reputation in Fox Lake, Wisconsin:

 

Most of the members of the Company were out in their uniforms last Monday evening on the College Square for a drill.  They made a very fine appearance, and attracted a large crowd, among whom were a number of Ladies.