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John William Boucher, The Man Who Fought In Both The Civil War And World War I
A Canadian native jumped into service during two wars more than 50 years apart
The American Civil War and World War I are two of the most well-known military conflicts of all time. Taking part 50 years apart, there were few people who recalled living through both. However, one man, John William Boucher, incredibly actually served as a soldier in both.
Boucher was born in Ontario in 1844, but came to the United States to enlist in the Union Army during the Civil War. It’s unclear what motivated him to leave home in 1864 and fight for a cause that was not his own (although an estimated 35,000–50,000 Canadians served during the war), and he even had to push to make it happen. His attempts to join up were rejected in both Buffalo and Cleveland before he was finally mustered into the 24th Michigan Infantry in Detroit.
It was clear that military life was in the blood of the adventurous young man. The fathers of both of his parents had served, and he himself attempted to join the Canadian Army on several occasions without success because of his young age prior to coming to the United States.
Boucher ended up fighting in the Union Army for seven months. Because of his Canadian citizenship…
