Canucks in the U.S. Civil War

The following is a link to the Canadian pensioner's database ... Table of Canadian Pensioners

The following article appeared in the Anglo-Celtic Roots Vol 1 No. 3 (Summer 1995)

Forebears who went missing from the family tree in the first half of the 1860s may well be found in the records of the National Archives in Washington. It houses all of the original service records of Civil War soldiers. Canadians generally know it as the American Civil War. Only some know it played a significant role in Canadian history, by advancing Canada's 1867 Confederation.

Canadian Volunteers

Fewer people know that the great human tragedy directly involved Canadians in the tens of thousands. Hundreds of Canadians paid the supreme sacrifice.
Some Canadians, undoubtedly fought for the love of adventure, some fought as a private crusade against slavery, some fought because they originally had enlisted for the bounty and found they liked the life!
Many male Canadians in rural areas had outgrown, or did not stand to inherit, viable farms, and in urban centres, were in low paying jobs or none at all. The $25 to $60 a month for Civil War service was much more attractive than wages of 25 to 50 cents a day at home.
Those who left Canada for voluntary service in the Northern and Southern Forces ignored or defied the law imposed by the British Foreign Service Enlistment Act.

The Issues

The United States Civil War was a tragic conflict between bitterly divided people: the South, dependent upon large plantations and Negro slave labour; and, the North that drew economic and political power from industry and commerce.
Key dividing issues were slavery and states' rights. In the Northern states (Union) strident calls for abolition of slavery aroused anger in the south. Southern states opposed federal control over states' rights. The issues aroused, focused, intensified and widened attitudes between the regions.

Secession and War

Southern states had begun seceding from the Union in December 1860. Federal troops soon occupied Fort Sumter in South Carolina. On 12 April 1861, the fort came under fire from Southern guns. Four more southern states seceded and an 11-state confederacy was formed. By the time that Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox to Union General Ulysses S. Grant on 9 April 1865, the four-year death toll stood at some 359,000 Union soldiers and 258,000 Confederate soldiers.

Family History Research

An easy to read and follow guide to sources of information was published in Winston-Salem NC in 1973. The book, by Bertram H. GROENE is titled Tracing Your Civil War Ancestor.
Descendants of Civil War veterans may use Groene's book to trace the military careers of their kin, to follow the battles and camp experiences, and study in depth the histories of their military and naval events.
Groene writes: By far, the most important set of books in print, is the large 128- volume Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies in the War of Rebellion. The volumes total 138,000 pages.
A companion set is Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of Rebellion in 13 volumes. There is a 1,242-page index to the Armies set and a smaller 475-page index to the Navies set. The volumes have been reprinted several times and microfilmed.
Researchers seeking infonnation on Civil War soldiers may also visit or write the National Archives to get Fonn NA TF 80. It is used to order copies of relevant documents. The address: General Reference Branch (NNRG) , National Archives and Record Service, Washington DC 20408.
Two handouts on sources of biographical information are available on request to the NARS's Military Reference Branch. They are: Elements of a Good Confederate Name Search; and, Elements of a Good Union Name Search.

New Computer Database

A new source of infonnation is a computer database still under development. Known as the Civil War Soldiers System (CWSS)3, it will contain 3.5 million names of soldiers who fought with the Union and Confederate forces.
The system will be available at most of the Civil War sites operated by the National Parks Service. These parks are being equipped with one or more microcomputers to provide information to visitors.
Visitors will be able to enter names and get basic facts about soldiers who served. If only the surname is known, the system will provide information about all soldiers with that last name.
The database will also contain a list of the 7,000 Union and Confederate regiments and units formed during the war, identification and description of major battles and skirmishes, the location of some of the soldiers buried in cemeteries managed by the Parks Service, references that identify the sources of information, and suggestions for further research and access to National Archives records, and additional information sources.

CWSS: A Joint Project

The Park Service is managing development of CWSS in a joint project in cooperation with the Federation of Genealogical Societies (BIFHSGO is an FGS member), the Genealogical Society of Utah, the National Archives, the Civil War Trust. and other interested organizations. FGS is the coordinator of volunteers for data entry for the Civil War Soldiers Index, the starting point for ancestry researchers.
It is planned to have the CWSS database available at the National Archives, NA Regional Branches, and LDS Family History Centres in the United States.

Ready in 1996

The first of two phases is scheduled for completion this summer. It entails the entry of African-American names. The second phase is entry of General Military Index Cards, 3.5 million Union and Confederate names.
NPS Project Manager John Peterson, and Project Coordinator Ida Jones, report that FGS is doing a bang-up job in bringing people together for indexing the records. If all goes according to plan, the system should be up and running by the 1996 tourist season.

Seeking Canadian Names and Stories

The writer is compiling research data on Canadians who served in the U.S. Civil War. Their names and stories with the assistance of contributing members will periodically appear in these pages.
An indexed listing of some 700 Canadian pensioners, received from the U.S.. National Archives, will start the series.

Canuck Pensioners of U.S. Civil & 1812 Wars

The following article appeared in the Anglo-Celtic Roots Vol 1 No. 4 (Fall 1995)

Some 700 Canadians were Pensioners on the Roll as of I January 1883. The Roll called for by U.S. Senate resolution, and published in 1883, provides the certificate numbers (key to obtaining additional information), name of each person receiving a pension, the reason for it, the post office address in different countries, the monthly pension rate, and the date of the original allowance. Most pensions were the result of wounds or other effects arising from service in the US. Civil War.

Some of the pension recipients were widows of veterans (40) and surviving veterans (14) of: the War of '1812 -still alive 70 years later when the Roll was compiled. There were 25 widows and eight survivors in Ontario, 12 widows and five survivors in Quebec, and, three widows and one survivor in New Brunswick.

The National Archives in Washington is custodian of the service and pension records. The table lists particulars of the pensioners as published. There are obvious spelling errors of some names and places. The only changes made were to arrange the surnames in alphabetical order and to include provincial abbreviations. They were grouped in the original roll.

Canuck Pensioners of U.S. Civil & 1812 Wars

The following article appeared in the Anglo-Celtic Roots Vol 2 No. 1 (Winter 1996)

The Summer issue contained an article on Canadians in the U.S. Civil War and references of interest to Canadians searching for information about ancestors who may have served in it. More may be learned from the Roll of Honor: Names of Soldiers Who Died in Defense of the American Union, Interred in the National Cemeteries (Washington DC, Government Printing Office, 1866-1868, reprinted by Genealogical Publishing Company, Baltimore, 1994).

The first of a series giving names and other data of some 700 Canadian pensioners of the U.S. Civil War was published in the Fall issue. The series will continue until all names have been published.

At least one Member has questioned why we are publishing material about the U.S. Civil War when BIFHSGO's focus is on the roots of first emigrants of the British Isles and their arrival and early settlement in Canada and related family history?

Here is why. Most of our 1861 population of 3.23 million people were the result of post-Napoleonic Wars emigration from the British Isles. The U.S. Civil War affected all of them to some degree. An estimated 50,000 or more of them, all able-bodied men, and some women, served in that war.

Moreover, it was a war that shaped Canada's destiny. It brought on the great decision to be a country from sea to sea. It determined the future of British America. I submit it most definitely meets our focus.

Some Members have contributed notes and clippings about Canadians who served in the conflict. We thank them and welcome more material for future publication, particularly when Members find an ancestor in this series.

Canuck Pensioners of U.S. Civil & 1812 Wars

The following article appeared in the Anglo-Celtic Roots Vol 2 No. 2 (Spring 1996)

A Queen's Medical School, Kingston, student was among the more than 50,000 Canadians who served in the U.S. Civil War. He was Francis Moses Wafer, who enlisted in the U.S. Medical Corps in the winter of 1863, to gain battlefield experience between semesters. Francis kept a log until May 1864, returned to Queen's in 1865, and graduated as an MD in 1867.
On his return, he produced an eye-witness account, Two Years in the Army of the Potomac, to give his immediate friends a faithful account of his share in those important transactions. Tuberculosis contracted in the Army prevented him from practising medicine for 18 months. He became Demonstrator of Anatomy at Queen's, then set up practice with Dr. Michael Sullivan. In 1875, he was ap-pointed to Queen's medical faculty. TB took its toll the following year when he died at the age of 46, a bachelor, and was buried in the St. Mary's cemetery family plot.

Canuck Pensioners of U.S. Civil & 1812 Wars

The following article appeared in the Anglo-Celtic Roots Vol 2 No. 3 (Summer 1996)

An estimated 50,000 Canadians heard the thunder of guns to the south and headed that way to serve in the Union and Confederate Armies. They reflected the divided opinion in Canada.

The military, Tories and Nova Scotians favoured the South; New Brunswickers and most English-speaking people west of Quebec were for the North; while French-speaking people were generally neutral.

There were 29 Canadians awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for bravery. Only one of them is buried in Canada. Sgt Edward Edwin Dodds. He is in the Canton Cemetery in Hope Township. The Port Hope native was only 19 years old when he rescued his wounded captain from certain death in the face of the enemy at Ashby Gap, Virginia on 14 July 1864. After his service in the 21st New York Cavalry, he returned home and became clerk for Hope Township, dying in 1901.

This is the last of the four part series on Canadian pensioners of the U.S. Civil War. They fought in a vicious struggle.

The following is a link to the Canadian pensioner's database ... Table of Canadian Pensioners