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Canadians in the U.S. Civil War

© Carl Johnson

Canadian's In America's Civil War
(British North Americans)

The deeper I look into Canada's contributions to others wars the more I find. Now, I never realized that Canada or rather British North Americans, had anything to do with the Civil War, but the more I find and the more I think about it, I can see many reason's for the participation of Canadians in the war.

Over 60,000 Canadians fought, many dying in the U.S. Civil War between 1861 and 1865 and reasons of economic gain were, I believe, the deciding factor. The recruiting bonus for Canadians was believed to be $402 USD, which at the time was an enormous amount of money. A soldiers monthly wage at the time was $20.00 a month, if they got paid at all.

Another factor was that many believed in either the North's view of anti-slavery or the South's economic reasons for slavery. Canada was one of the favorite stops on the anti-slavery movements underground railroad.

Many men/boys tired of living alone on the prairies, farming, unemployed, bored and going nowhere, yearned for adventure and glory. The War between the States provided these adventurers an outlet for their wanderlust. 

In those times as now, many Canadians had relatives living in the US and these people as well as their relatives became caught up in the conflict, either as Federal troops fighting for the North, or as Confederate troops fighting for the South.

And of course there were those whom must have thought that a war, any war, that was that close to their own border must become involved to help keep the war south of the border and away from the British Colony that was Canada. It must have been a menacing thought to think that possibly, if the South had won, they may have been emboldened to keep going north and punish the facilitators of the underground railroad in Canada.

There is a site on the WWW (53RD PENNSYLVANIA VOLUNTEERS AND VETERANS OF THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR 1861 - 1865 BURIED IN CANADA) that is looking for Veterans of the Civil War that are buried in Canada. The site, run by a David Doyle of Michigan in the US is researching history of Canadians that served and requesting help from Canadians. If you Canadians that are reading this, would, the next time your walking through a cemetery, look for names on tombstones that state that the deceased had served in the US Civil War and contact David.

As I said at the outset, I become more and more enlightened the more I study Canadians and their military.

Lest We Forget

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