Some Special Soldiers

It was horrific. The American Civil War cost more than 600,000 lives. Extrapolating to today’s population of the United States, the figure equates to a staggering 6.1 million dead. Beyond that, the war marked the death of the Confederate States of America and rebirth of the United States, finally determined to fulfil its creed. Current debates regarding race and region being played out in staid courtrooms and smashed city streets are clear evidence of the Civil War’s long shadow.

Beginning before the war’s musket smoke cleared, the battles, politicians and soldiers from generals to privates began to be examined in books that are now too numerous to count. In the 1920s, historian Fred Landon sparked a new tangent by noting the war’s Canadian connection. He began by looking at slave migration to the British North American colonies of Canada (West and East—now Ontario and Quebec), Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Robin Winks later made important contributions to...