On October 19, 1864, St. Albans, Vermont, became the scene of what is widely described as the northernmost land action of the American Civil War. A small group of Confederate raiders led by Lieutenant Bennett H. Young launched an attack from neighboring Canada, robbing three banks of more than $200,000. Their objectives included raising money for the Confederacy and drawing Union troops away from the southern battlefields to defend the northern border.
The robbery turned violent as residents resisted. The raiders killed one civilian and wounded two others, stole horses, and attempted unsuccessfully to burn the town. With armed Vermonters in pursuit, they fled across the Canadian border, where Canadian authorities subsequently arrested several of them.
The raid sparked a diplomatic dispute between the United States and Britain, whose North American colonies included the Province of Canada. American anger intensified when a Montreal judge released the prisoners on jurisdictional grounds and the confiscated money was returned to the raiders’ side. Further proceedings failed to secure their extradition, although Canadian authorities later reimbursed the St. Albans banks for the portion of the stolen funds that had been recovered. The episode exposed the vulnerability of the northern frontier and tested relations between the United States and its neutral British neighbor during the war’s final months.
