Company B, 4th Maine Regiment Volunteers, first began its existence in the summer of 1993, when its present commander, Capt George Robinson, Jr. was preparing to retire from the US Army and stay in Europe. He is one of the founding members of the Rhein-Neckar Military Historical Society, founded in January 1990. The RNMHS is an officially approved private organization located in Mannheim and Babenhausen, Germany and can boast of havings its own building at Coleman Barracks and Artillery Kaserne. The RNMHS has been involved in World War Two related activities, especially those of the 50th anniversary of the end of the war in Europe. A need was seen to expand the activities of the RNMHS so thoughts of doing a Civl War impression began to develop. Knowing that he was going to grow his hair and beard for awhile, Capt Robinson decided to portray a soldier of the 4th Maine Regiment.

At first the endeavor was only going to be attempted by Capt Robinson and his wife but he soon found that a long time friend, Guy Meysmans of Antwerp, Belgium, was also interested in the American Civil War. The two then began planning to attend an event in Germany. While this was developing a new friend came to Germany to work in Darmstadt, where Capt Robinson was now living. This was Cherri Kimerer, of Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas and an avid reenactor, as a laundress, in the States. Cherri soon became the Company expert and mentor.

By September 1993, the 4th Maine, as Company A at this time, had a couple of wall tents and their kits. They were now ready to attend their first event. This turned out to be a battle reenactment at Kuehlsheim, Germany. At the time the Company had not been officially formed and only consisted of Rob, Guy, their families and Cherri and her son. Sergt Robinson and Pvt Meysmans did not even have weapons yet but went as spectators, to see if they wanted to pursue the hobby further. This they decided to do. Since this time others within the RNMHS heard about what was being done and decided to join in. Company A was officially organized and Rob and Guy were appointed to their present positions as Company commander and 1st Sergeant.

This is very simple. Capt Robinson is from Rockland, Maine, the original home of the Regiment and had an ancestor who was an officer in the Regiment. Capt Robinson decided to portray this unit when he thought that he would be the only one doing a Civil War impression with the RNMHS. It was decided to stay with the unit when the Company was originally formed. Company B has come a long ways since its modest beginnings. The Company has adopted the name "Camp Knox" for wherever they pitch their tents and the first Camp Knox only had 2 wall tents and 1 A-frame. Now Camp Knox consist of 3 wall tents, 8-12 A-frames and 4 flies. The women of the 4th Maine can set up their own separate camp now and perform most of the cooking chores for the camp. Most of the soldiers tents have been paid for from a unit fund that was established for just such purposes. At first there was a very serious lack of reference material to help Capt Robinson and 1st Sergt Meysmans in their quest to be as authentic as possible. This is why the Company was first formed as Company A. It was only found later that the first Rockland Company was Company B. The present Company then changed its designation. It was decided to portray Company B as it may have been in September 1863. The Company, who had lost its commander to capture at Gettysburg, portrays itself as Capt Robinson being his replacement. The 4th Maine in Europe does not portray actual people in the original Company B. Instead, the members of the 4th Maine bases its living history impressions on their present day lives. Through the efforts of Capt Robinson and 1st Sergt Meysmans, reference material has slowly been obtained and the accurate portrayal of the Regiment becomes better with each event. This material was added to greatly in August 1997 when Capt Robinson took his family home to Rockland for a long overdue vacation.

The 4th Maine has become a great success within the various reenactment groups in Germany, larglely due to 1st Sergt Meysmans. Like a true 1st Sergt in the Army, he ensures that the Company is well drilled, performs their duties correctly and corrects the mistakes made by Capt Robinson (after 20 years in the military he still reverts to giving modern commands when he leads the Company).

Today Company B can field up to 18 soldiers, making it one of the larger Federal units in Germany. It also has 5 women and several children. The Matron of the Regiment is Mrs. Robinson and the Daughter of the Regiment is Mrs. Meysmans. The 4th Maine has its own National Colors and hopes to fly its Regimental Colors for the first time in the near future. All soldiers wear the basic uniform of the period, with the exception of unit differences that have been found through research. One such change is that members of the 4th Maine, with the exception of Company C, did not wear the cartridge box strap. Rather, they wore the cartridge box directly on their belts.

Company B is made up of American, Belgians and Germans. With a few exceptions, all speak English and the commands, and all living history camp talk, is in English. Cherri has returned to the Regiment, after another stint of duty at Ft. Leavenworth and has even married one of the 4th Maine members, Cpl Roger Verschraegen. Several 4th Maine experts were met in Maine or contacted through the internet. The Company attends up to 12 events a year and has been highlighted on AFN TV in Europe and in the Stars and Stripes newspaper. The Company holds its own seminars at Artillery Kaserne, Babenhausen and has a program of giving small exhibits for the American school system in Germany.

Anyone interested in Civil War reenacting, or reenactors that may be moving to Europe, whether military connected or not, can contact Capt Robinson for further information about the Company and reenacting in Europe.