Edward E. Dodds

Submitted by: Darryl Russell, June 2025

Hike Reference: 12.6 km Sylvan Glen/Loyalist Rd.

Born near Port Hope in 1845, at the age of 18 Dodds travelled to Rochester N.Y. and enlisted in the Union Army for a three-year term. Within 8 months he was a sergeant in the 21st N.Y. Cavalry. 

During fighting in Virginia, Dodds’ captain was wounded and pinned under his dead horse. Under heavy fire, Dodds dismounted, freed the captain and put him onto his horse which he remounted and rode off. Because that took several minutes, the only ford across the river was now blocked by Confederate soldiers, forcing Dodds to ride along the bank until he leaped his horse into the river and swam across under fire. Though seriously wounded, Dodds survived and his captain recovered. Unfortunately, the sergeant had to have his right arm amputated at the shoulder. He received the Congressional Medal of Honour for that action.

Dodds is one of 29 Canadians who was awarded the Medal of Honour for valour in the U.S Civil War.

After being discharged, Dodds opted to remain in the U.S., settling in Rochester where he worked as a reporter for that city’s main newspaper. During the 1870s he returned to Port Hope where he became the Town Clerk for Hope Township. He also served as the U.S. Consular Agent at the Peterborough office and became involved in the newspaper business.  

It is estimated that 30,000 to 50,000 Canadians enlisted to fight in the American Civil War, though technically Canada didn’t become a country until two years after the war ended. Of the 29 Canadians who received the Medal of Honour during the American Civil War, Dodds is the only one buried in Canada. 

Each year on America’s Memorial Day someone attached to the U.S consulate travels to the cemetery to place a small flag in front of his tombstone.