Canadians in the U.S. Civil War

The Story of the Men and Women who fought South of the Border

Mar 30, 2009

For a variety of reasons, thousands of Canadians headed south of the border during the U.S. Civil War, and took up arms with the North or the South.

The American Civil War erupted in 1861, when eleven southern states formed their own confederacy, and demanded secession from the Union. The causes of the war were numerous, but the conflict began on April 12, 1861, when Confederate artillery shelled Fort Sumter, off the coast of Charleston, South Carolina.

The war between the states would rage for four long years, with casualties exceeding 600,000. A number of those who participated in the war were Canadians. Although historians differ on the exact numbers, it is a known fact that several thousand Canadians wore the uniform of either the Union or the Confederacy, and served in both the armies and the navies.

Why Canadians Enlisted

The reasons Canadians served in the Civil War were as varied as the people themselves. In some cases, the incentive was personal beliefs, such as an opposition to slavery. Boredom, or the seeking of adventure, lead to many young men joining. Sometimes, money was the factor.

A more sinister enterprise was a practice known as "crimping". Young men would be plied with drugs or alcohol, pass out, and find themselves spirited across the border where they were handed over to recruiting officers. Although accepting recruits in this fashion was technically illegal, many recruiters had quotas to fill, and would accept a 'warm body" any way they could get it.

Backgrounds of the Canadians who enlisted

Although many of the Canadians who joined the Civil War were young, and in need of money, others were older and established. Frederick Howe, who served in Phillip Sheridan's Union cavalry, was the son of well known Nova Scotia politician and newspaperman Joseph Howe. Major David Bridgford, a wealthy merchant before the war, joined the Confederacy where he served as a Virginia cavalry officer. Mark Downie was a banker, before joining the Minnesota Infantry, as an officer.

Four Canadian born men even attained the rank of General, all with the Union, and twenty nine others were awarded the Medal of Honor. A Canadian born Confederate soldier is even buried in Arlington National Cemetery, with the distinction of being the only foreign born member of the Confederacy buried there.

Canadian Doctors in the Civil War

Two Canadian men, doctors before the war, enlisted as surgeons. Dr. Solomon Secord, of Kincardine, Ontario, was a nephew of Laura Secord, and well respected in his community. Although the circumstances of how it happened are lost to time, Dr. Secord found himself enrolled as a Surgeon in the Georgia infantry. As a pacifist who was opposed to slavery, the Confederate Army was the last place one would have expected to find Secord.

He saw action at several major conflicts, as a non-combatant, spent time as a prisoner of war, and returned to Ontario at the end of the conflict.

Dr. Secord was so well loved in Kincardine, that after his death, a memorial was erected in the community honouring his wartime service. It is the only monument in Canada dedicated to a Civil War veteran.

Another doctor, Anderson Abbott, of Toronto, enlisted as a physician with the Union Army. As one of only a handful of black surgeons, Dr. Abbott refused to be placed in a segregated unit, believing he was fit to operate on any man. As a result, the army listed him as a "contract surgeon", which denied his wife an army pension. He also returned to Canada after the war, and continued a long career in medicine.

Sara Edmonds, a Woman Who Enlisted

It wasn't only men who enlisted. Sara Edmonds, of New Brunswick, left her home to escape an arranged marriage. Disguising herself as a man, she joined a Michigan infantry regiment., seeing action at several battles, including the First Bull Run. After the war, and with her gender revealed, Edmonds served as a nurse at veteran's hospitals.

Although exact numbers may never be known, some estimates say 5,000 Canadians died during the war. Many returned home, with physical and emotional scars.

The copyright of the article Canadians in the U.S. Civil War in Military History is owned by Jason Gray. Permission to republish Canadians in the U.S. Civil War in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.