Birdsall's rank of captain in the local militia put him in charge of the Asphodel contingent when the militia was activated in response to the Upper Canada Rebellion in 1837, though it appears his contingent was not involved in any notable incidents. Immediately following the end of the rebellion Birdsall paid to raise and equip a new militia battalion based in Peterborough. The summer before the rebellion, Birdsall married for a second time, to Charlotte Jane Everett of Belleville, and this union produced four children.