Locate Toronto Ontario on a map and draw a circle of about 150 miles around the capital city and therein you can find almost a dozen hometowns of Canadian recipients of the US Medal of Honor.  Just about  60 miles east of the city you can find the small village of Orono. Back in the 1840's this was called Canada West and it would be here that Wesley James Powers was born in 1845.

Wesley was probably destined to be a soldier. His grandfather fought in the War of 1812, and his great grandfather was none other than the Revolutionary War hero Abner Powers. American Abner lived about 150 miles east of Montreal at a place called Eaton for about a dozen years pre the War of 1812. Abner, wife and child apparently arrived on snowshoes!  When the War of 1812 started he moved his family back south to the US. But he left family behind that would later move west into what is now Ontario... and to Orono.

But when Wesley was only 4 years old the family took up stakes and moved south also. They moved into a farming community in Illinois that was just started up about five years earlier by other Canadian farmers. They called it Canada Corners.

Wesley would grow up on the farm but by the time the Civil War broke out he was only 16 1/2 years of age. He was very patriotic and wanted an adventure and so he tried to sign up... several times. But each time he was frustrated because his parents found out and put a stop to it. So he did what many of the day did... they just ran away from home and faked their ages to sign up... some even using fake names to boot.

Wesley probably did not run. More than likely he just walked... and walked... and walked... and walked  till he had enough and ended up at a place called Virgil Illinois.  His very long obit many years later said this walk was 80 miles long. 

No longer having his parents looking over his shoulders, Wesley faked his 16 1/2 year age as being 19 and also claimed he was an orphan and was signed up to go off to war. His new home would be with Company D of the 13th Wisconsin Infantry. Soon he would arrive at Camp Kane in Illinois for training on the personal land that was donated and run by Montreal born General Farnsworth. This man was a lawyer and politician, was the founder of the Republican party, personal friend of Abe Lincoln's and actually nominated him to run for President. He would be summoned to be at the President's side when he lay dying in a bed once occupied by his very assassin John Wilkes Booth.

Another soldier to be trained here was a fellow called Marcus Jones of the 8th Illinois. He would later claim being the soldier to fire the first round at a place called Gettysburg. Yet another student of this camp was a soldier named James Allen, from Canada also, and a later Medal of Honor recipient as well.

This is an artists rendition of Camp Kane in the 1860's.

Within two months of joining the army Wesley J Powers found himself in one of the fiercest battles in the entire war. This would be at Chickamauga Tennessee on September 19 and 20th where some 120,000 soldiers from the South and North battled it out. It would be a massive defeat for the Northern troops and when over they would have just over 16,000 casualties...in just 2 days. The South, while winning the battle, actually had almost 18,500 casualties.  Wesley would be one of the Northern men wounded. While the nature of his wounds are unknown, they were sufficient enough to have him being evacuated to Nashville for a several month stay and recuperation. When finally released from there he would return to his unit but they found him too disabled released him from further service.

Seven months later Wesley was accepted for service with the 141st Illinois Infantry. This was just a 100 day regiment and he would be released from that  in October of 1864.

In January of 1865 a one year regiment was raised and again Wesley would sign up. This time he claimed being 19, again untrue, and living at Blueberry Illinois. This Northern regiment was the 147th Illinois Infantry and it would find the enemy in Georgia while attempting to cross the Oostanaula River in the north west corner of the state of Georgia.

Wesley's Union troops were on one side of the river and the Confederates were on the other and between the two was a deep river and no way to cross it. When the Union troops discovered that there was a ferry hidden from most folks view, but moored on the enemy side Wesley volunteered to swim across and float it over so his regiment could board and make the crossing. Approval was given and into the water he went. The Confederates soon saw this and gave him quite a heavy load of lead by missed their mark. Successfully getting to the ferry he only then came to realize it was far to big a job for one man, so he took a smaller skiff  also found and while still under heavy fire managed to cross with it. He then got some of his fellow soldiers onboard, and made a third crossing, even though still under heavy fire and boarded the ferry and bought her back to their regiment. Now able to cross, the unit's portion of the overall battle was turned in favour of the Union. And the credit belonged to Wesley.

His own Commanding Officer read a letter of thanks to him, in front of the whole regiment, acknowledging his volunteering, bravery and persistence in securing the ferry and turning the battle around. At the time he had been in the unit less than two months.  In January of 1865 the year term for the unit was up, all the soldiers were released, including Wesley who was a Corporal, but for some reason was listed as a musician. (Maybe it was because he could sing such fine tunes about his age. hehe)

After the Civil War Wesley returned to the St Charles area of Illinois and in 1867 he got married and later had two daughters.

He worked as a moulder up until about 1894 and then took up the business of ice making and continued with that until taking ill in 1904, and within 2 months of the illness Wesley J Powers passed away and lies at rest today in St Charles.

On his birthday in 1895 Wesley received a very nice gift in the mail. It was a Medal of Honor, for his actions in capturing the ferry some 30 years earlier.

He is proudly wearing his MOH in this picture just a few years before his passing. in 1904.

Bart

The history books have yet to produce any information about the earlier years for Saint John New Brunswick born Stephen O'Neil other than a birth  date of 12 December 1837. The next I can find on Stephen is that he is living in Jacksonville NY, about 50 miles south of Syracuse, and has enlisted for three years with the 7th United States Volunteer Infantry in September 1862. It is possible he had already served in another unit, possibly 4th US Infantry as he signed up in September as a Corporal.

Stephen would do his three years in the infantry and be released as his time was up. But then he immediately signed up again with the same regiment, but this time for five years. And he did this again and again... 4 more times until finally retiring in October of 1891. A pension file shows that at some point, though when was not indicated, he used the alias Robert Neely.

Serving with his unit throughout the rest of the Civil War, he probably participated in many of the famous battles including at Gettysburg, the Wilderness., Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania, and Richmond and it would be at Chancellorsville that he would be awarded the Medal Honor for his bravery.

The 7th were part of General Sykes' Brigade as indicated at bottom centre of the above map and in blue. Late at night on April 30th, the unit arrived here, about a few miles east of Chancellorsville and dug in. The men were sent forward to chop down many tress and build an obstruction in their front to prevent any attack in the earlier hours and then most went off to sleep while the sentries did their patrols. The next morning, it still being quiet, Stephen decided than was as good a time as any to get a hair cut so he sat down on a stump and a fellow soldier went to work on his hair.
 
Then the call to arms came as the sentries spotted activity that was the beginning of a Southern attack. The Union men went out and over several hours drove the enemy away. They were then ordered to re occupy the land they just abandoned and thus gaining no ground whatsoever. But it was during the battle that Stephen was close by a Union colour bearer who was shot and down he went. Stephen then picked up the colours and carrying them till the battle was over. On return to their old position, Stephen took up his old position as well. On the stump and more hair got chopped away.

But then the Southerners attacked a second time and gained more ground on the Union side. Ultimately they were again repulsed and the battle came to a final end when the southerners left to regroup and fight another day.

Stephen took a third try and finally got his haircut done.

Stephen O'Neill received his medal of Honor order on  28 September 1891 and would have received it in the mails probably about two weeks later.

This is a poor quality picture of him but it appears he is wearing his MOH on the left of a group of three medals. The middle one looks like a membership badge for the Grand Army of the Republic and the third may be a corps badge.

An 1870 census has Stephen living in the Montana area and in 1909 He was living in the Sault Saint Marie area of Michigan.

When Stephen retired from the military in 1891 he held the rank  of Quarter Master Sergeant.

Stephen died in October of 1909 and is buried in his then home town of Sault Saint Marie Michigan.

His Medal of Honor deed was performed exactly 150 years ago today.

Bart