Canadians Who Fought in the Shenandoah Valley During the Civil War
Bio – Peter Dalton
Peter Dalton has a Major in education in the Social Sciences from the University of Southern Maine. He has written and edited several books on the Civil War and currently maintains and publishes a blog on the Shenandoah Valley’s Civil War History. He teaches classes for JMU’s Lifelong Learning Institute on the Valley’s Civil War legacy and is currently an approved battlefield guide with the Shenandoah Valley Battlefield Foundation.
Canadian Medal of Honor Recipients
of the American Civil War
During the Civil War the idea for the Medal of Honor came to fruition and by the end of the conflict over 1500 had been awarded for unsung bravery. There were apparently twenty-nine awarded to men of Canadian origin; I have been able to find twenty-six of them. You will notice that the majority of the Medal of Honors were earned near the end of the war in 1864 and 1865.
| Name | Rank | Unit | Co. | Nativity | Date | Engagement |
| Asten, Charles | Q-G | USS Signal | — | Halifax, NS | May 5, 1864 | Red River |
| Brown, Charles H. | Capt. | 12th Kentucky Inf. | D | Canada | November 30, 1864 | Franklin, Tn. |
| Buckley, Denis | Pvt. | 136th NY Inf. | G | Canada | July 20, 1864 | Peach Tree Creek, Ga. |
| Cayer, Ovila | Sgt. | 14th US Vols | A | Canada | August 19, 1864 | Welden Railroad, Va. |
| Chapman, John | Pvt. | 1st Me. Heavy Art. | B | Saint John, NB | April 6, 1865 | Sailor’s Creek, Va. |
| Chaput, Louis G. | Land. | USS Lackawanna | — | Canada | August 5, 1864 | Mobile Bay |
| Coffey, Robert J. | Sgt. | 4th Vermont Inf. | K | Nova Scotia | May 4, 1863 | Banks Ford, Va. |
| Dodd, Robert F. | Pvt. | 27th Michigan Inf. | E | Canada | July 30, 1864 | Petersburg, Va. |
| Dodds, Edward E. | Sgt. | 21st NY Cav. | C | Port Hope, CW | July 19, 1864 | Ashby’s Gap, Va. |
| Fitzpatrick, Thomas | Cox. | USS Hartford | — | Canada | August 5, 1864 | Mobile Bay |
| Gilmore, John C. | Maj. | 16th NY Inf. | ? | Canada | May 3, 1863 | Salem Heights, Va. |
| Hagerty, Asel | Pvt. | 61st NY Inf. | A | Canada | April 6, 1865 | Sailor’s Creek, Va. |
| Higgins, Thomas J. | Sgt. | 99th Illinois Inf. | D | Canada | May 22, 1863 | Vicksburg |
| Houghton, Geo. L. | Pvt. | 104th Illinois Inf. | D | Canada | July 2, 1863 | Elk Tavern, Tn |
| McIntosh, James | CT | USS Richmond | — | Canada | August 5, 1864 | Mobile Bay |
| McMahon, Martin T. | AdC | US Volunteers? | Sta. | Canada | June 30, 1862 | White Oak Swamp, Va. |
| McVeane, John P. | Corp. | 49th NY Inf. | D | Canada | May 4, 1863 | Fredericksburg Heights, Va. |
| Murphy, James T. | Pvt. | 1st Conn. Art. | L | Canada | March 25, 1865 | Petersburg, Va. |
| O’Connor, Albert | Sgt. | 7th Wisc. Inf. | A | Canada | March 31, 1865 | Gravelly Run, Va. |
| O’Neill, Stephan | Corp. | 7th US Inf. | E | Saint John, NB | May 1, 1863 | Chancellorsville |
| Pelham, William | Land. | USS Hartford | — | Halifax, NS | August 5, 1864 | Mobile Bay |
| Pickle, Alonzo H. | Sgt. | 1st Btn. Minn. Inf. | B | Canada | August 14, 1864 | Deep Bottom, Va. |
| Powers, Wesley J. | Corp. | 147th Illinois Inf. | F | Canada | April 3, 1865 | Oostannala, Ga. |
| Rich, Carlos H. | 1Sgt. | 4th Vermont Inf.? | K? | Canada | May 5, 1864 | The Wilderness |
| Scott, Alexander | Corp. | 10th Vermont Inf. | D | Canada | July 9, 1864 | Monocacy, Md. |
| Young, Benjamin | Corp. | 1st Mich. Sharp. | I | Canada | June 17, 1864 | Petersburg, Va. |
Abbreviations
Q-M Quarter Master
Land. Landsman
Cox. Coxwain
CT Capt. of Top
AdC Aide-de-Camp
Shenandoah Valley Civil War Round Table SVCWRT 