Did you know that men from New Brunswick fought in the American Civil War? I certainly didn’t! That is until I saw that the New Brunswick Historical Society is raising money to purchase a sword that a medical officer from St. Andrews had used when he served with the Union army. I did an interview with the president of the historical society to get the rest of the story.
(Mark) I'm here today with Greg Marquis, who's the president of New Brunswick Historical Society. And one of the things I'm really interested in, Greg is the fact that something between 35, 000 and 50, 000 individuals from what is now known as Canada fought in the American civil war, mostly on the side of the union. So why is the story of Dr. John Stevenson’s sword important?
(Greg) Well, I think it's important for the very issue you've raised that so many men were involved in this supposedly foreign war, but it wasn't really that foreign to many people living in the British colonies. Now, Stevenson. was a bit more of an exception because he crossed the border after the war started, to enlist; whereas many of the Canadian men who joined union regiments for the most part were already living down in the States, working and that type of thing. And he represents the medical history, which is also interesting. We certainly know that there's hundreds of men from New Brunswick who served, but obviously a smaller number of doctors. I think the other interesting thing about Stevenson is that he was a surgeon for one of the all black infantry regiments, except for the officers and the Connecticut 29th Regiment. About 1, 000 or 1, 200 men mainly from Connecticut and New England who were African American volunteered to preserve the union. He served with that unit and they served in Virginia and later they went to Texas and that's where he became ill and died.
(Greg) So why is a sword important? I don't think we have any personal dress swords because this is not a combat sword on display in Atlantic Canada. This was the ceremonial or dress sword that even medical officers had to have as part of their kit. So this would be a first and I think it would be a very. Important symbol of that participation because we don't have a lot of uniforms and artifacts and weapons and things like that - the physical aspect of the service of these men. And so I think it would be important to have this. To help remember that time of history and also to help remember Dr. Stevenson, who was from St. Andrews, New Brunswick, and after he passed away, he was buried there.
(Mark) So trying to get the sword, what's the process and how can people assist with that?
(Greg) Well, from what I understand, the collector in Ontario is sort of holding it for us. Which is nice because I think he believes that it should stay in Canada and we agree. The total cost of purchasing and displaying the sword will be about $7,000. Donations can be made directly to the museum, or Canada Helps for individuals to receive a tax deduction receipt.
New Brunswick Historical Society Website
January 28 talk at the library
Picture that I am using is from the New Brunswick Historical Society
Mark J Brewer, Host