October 19, 1864. It was a Wednesday. If you were walking down Main Street in St. Albans, Vermont, you probably weren’t thinking about the Confederate States of America. Why would you? You’re about 15 miles from the Canadian border. The war was something happening "down South," in the muddy trenches of Virginia or the scorched path of Sherman’s March. Vermont was safe.
Then the shooting started.
It wasn’t an invasion by a massive army. It was 21 men in civilian clothes. They had been drifting into town for days, staying at local hotels like the American House and the Tremont House, pretending to be vacationers or sportsmen from Canada. Suddenly, they threw back their coats, revealed navy revolvers, and claimed the town for the Confederacy.
The St. Albans Raid remains the northernmost land action of the American Civil War. It wasn't just a random act of chaos; it was a desperate, calculated attempt by the Richmond government to force the Union to divert troops from the front lines to protect the Canadian border. It almost worked. It also nearly sparked a war between the United States and Great Britain.
The Man with the Plan: Bennett H. Young
The mastermind was a 21-year-old Lieutenant named Bennett H. Young. He was a Kentuckian, a member of John Hunt Morgan's legendary raiders, and he had escaped from a Union prison camp before fleeing to Canada. Young didn't just wake up and decide to rob a bank. He had explicit authorization from Confederate agents in Canada—specifically Clement C. Clay and Jacob Thompson—who were operating out of Montreal and Toronto with a literal chest of gold and a mandate to cause havoc.
Young’s mission was "retributive justice." The Union was burning the Shenandoah Valley. The South wanted to show the North that two could play at that game.
He spent weeks scouting St. Albans. He liked it because it was a prosperous rail hub with several banks located within a few yards of each other. It was a soft target. On that rainy Wednesday, Young stood on the steps of the American House and shouted, "I take possession of this town in the name of the Confederate States of America!"
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People laughed. They literally thought it was a joke or a theater troupe practicing a play. Then the raiders started herding townspeople onto the Village Green at gunpoint.
Three Banks, 20 Minutes, and a Whole Lot of Cash
The raiders split up. They hit the First National Bank, the St. Albans Bank, and the Franklin County Bank simultaneously. This wasn't a "heist" in the Ocean's Eleven sense; it was frantic and violent.
At the First National Bank, the teller, Albert Sowles, looked up to see a group of men pointing pistols at him. They bagged over $200,000—an absolute fortune in 1864, equivalent to millions today. They weren't just taking greenbacks; they took gold, silver, and bank notes.
While the banks were being emptied, the rest of the raiders were out in the street stealing horses. This is where the "war" part actually happened. A local resident named Elias Morrison, a building contractor, didn't move fast enough when ordered. A raider shot him. He died a few days later, becoming the only fatality of the St. Albans Raid.
The town finally woke up.
Captain George Conger, a Union officer on leave, saw what was happening and started rallying the locals. They grabbed hunting rifles, old muskets, whatever they had. Lead started flying both ways. The raiders realized their time was up. They tried to set the town on fire using "Greek Fire"—a chemical concoction of phosphorus and bisulfide of carbon—but the bottles failed to ignite the damp wooden buildings properly.
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They galloped out of town toward the border, leaving a trail of dropped money and confused, angry Vermonters in their wake.
The International Incident You Didn't Learn About in School
The aftermath of the St. Albans Raid was actually more dangerous than the raid itself. The raiders crossed into Canada (which was then a collection of British provinces). The locals from St. Albans didn't stop at the border. Led by Captain Conger, a posse chased them into Quebec, eventually catching several of the Confederates.
This was a massive legal nightmare.
The U.S. demanded the men be extradited as common robbers and murderers. The Confederates argued they were "belligerents"—soldiers performing a legal act of war. A Canadian judge named Charles-Joseph Coursol initially released the raiders on a technicality, which sent the U.S. government into a towering rage. Major General John Dix issued an order for U.S. troops to cross the border and hunt them down, basically threatening to invade Canada.
President Lincoln had to step in. The last thing the Union needed while fighting Lee was a second war with the British Empire.
Eventually, a second trial took place. The Canadian government, feeling the heat, put the raiders back in jail and eventually paid the St. Albans banks back about $88,000 in gold as a peace offering. But they refused to extradite the men. Bennett Young and his crew eventually walked free after the war ended.
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Why Does St. Albans Still Matter?
Honestly, the raid changed the course of North American history in a way most people ignore. It was a major catalyst for Canadian Confederation. The British realized they couldn't protect the border effectively, and the Americans were getting increasingly hostile. To avoid being swallowed up by the U.S., the various Canadian provinces realized they needed to unite into a single nation.
In Vermont, the raid left a permanent scar on the local psyche. For decades, people in St. Albans looked over their shoulders. It destroyed the sense of Northern invulnerability.
If you visit St. Albans today, you can still see the buildings. The Franklin County Bank building is still there. The St. Albans Historical Museum has an incredible collection of artifacts from that day, including the "Greek Fire" bottles that failed to burn the town down. You can stand on the same Green where the townspeople were held at gunpoint.
What Most People Get Wrong
People often call this a "bank robbery." It wasn't. At least, not legally.
If you look at the orders Young carried, he was a commissioned officer. He was wearing a makeshift uniform (even if it was hidden). Under the laws of war at the time, his actions were technically legal, even if they were morally abhorrent to the people of Vermont. This is why Canada wouldn't give them up. It’s a messy, grey area of history that proves the Civil War wasn't just a series of neat battles like Gettysburg or Antietam.
It was a dirty, unconventional war that reached all the way to the doorsteps of people who thought they were a thousand miles away from the fight.
Actionable Steps for History Buffs
If you want to dive deeper into the St. Albans Raid, don't just read a Wikipedia page. Do this:
- Visit the St. Albans Museum: They hold the definitive collection of raid artifacts. Seeing the actual currency stolen—and the chemical weapons used—makes the history real.
- Read the Trial Transcripts: Look up The St. Albans Raid: or, Investigation into the Charges Against Lieut. Bennett H. Young and Command. It’s a fascinating look at 19th-century international law and how the raiders defended their actions.
- Explore the "Secret Agency" of the CSA: Research the Confederate Secret Service in Canada. St. Albans was just one of several plots, including a plan to burn New York City and another to release 10,000 Confederate prisoners from Johnson’s Island in Ohio.
- Walk the Main Street Tour: St. Albans has a self-guided walking tour. Start at the American House site and follow the path the raiders took to the banks. It’s about a 15-minute walk that covers the entire "battlefield."
The St. Albans Raid is a reminder that history is often stranger—and closer to home—than we think. It’s a story of a bold gamble, an international crisis, and a small town that found itself on the front lines of a war it thought was happening somewhere else.