June 2018
Across Canada, there are hundreds of monuments and statues dedicated to the men and women who have served and died in Canada’s Armed Forces in wartime and on peacekeeping missions. Every major city and numerous small towns have a cenotaph dedicated to the memory of our war dead. Even some businesses and institutions like Westinghouse in Hamilton, the T. Eaton Company and the University of Toronto have monuments dedicated to the members of that organization who died in the service of their country.
A unique monument can be found in Long Sault, Ontario, dedicated to the 40, 000 Canadians who fought in the American Civil War from 1861 – 1865, over 7, 000 of whom died in the war. It’s the only monument in Canada dedicated to Canadian service in the American Civil War.
Beside the black granite obelisk is a black granite monument that lists the names of 29 Canadians who won the Medal of Honour, the highest award for bravery in the United States, during the Civil War and to other notable Canadians who served in the Armed Forces of the United States.
Notable Canadians named on the monument include:
Anderson Ruffin Abbott, a civilian doctor and Canada’s first black surgeon, who attended to President Abraham Lincoln on his death bed
Sarah Emma Edmonds, a nurse who disguised herself as a man to in order to serve
Lieutenant Colonel William Cooke, who survived the Civil War, only to die on Cavalry on 25 June 1876 at Little Big Horn while serving with the U.S. 7th along with Brigadier-General George Custer.
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