Private Lewis Lans Brophy was born in (or around) 1863 in Québec City, Québec, to parents John P. and Mary Anne Brophy. The family later moved to Ottawa, Ontario.

Brophy was serving as a member of Ottawa’s 1st Battalion Governor General’s Foot Guards when the North-West Resistance broke out in 1885. He volunteered in late March to join the newly organized Ottawa Sharpshooters, which soon set out for Battleford (in present day Saskatchewan) where Brophy participated in the Battle of Cut Knife. Brophy returned with his unit to Ottawa in July of 1885.

Content notes:
The collection’s correspondence, written by Brophy between March 31 and June 19 of 1885, chronicles his time with the Ottawa Sharpshooters including the often arduous journey west by rail and on foot, and the Battle of Cut Knife.
Regarding biographical details, Brophy’s exact date of birth is uncertain. The 1871 census lists him as eight years old, which is corroborated by the collection’s obituary clipping of 1918 which references his birth as “about 55 years ago.”
Collection content is posted without editing, as originally created; visitors are strongly encouraged to review and be mindful of the project’s Historical Language Advisory.

External links:
No service record information is accessible online for Pte. Lewis Lans Brophy through Library and Archives Canada at this time, except for the record of his North West Canada Medal, which was issued to most participating military personnel.

William Haslam Dickson was born in Duluth, Minnesota in 1873 to Canadian parents. When the Spanish-American war broke out in 1898 he volunteered with the 14th Minnesota Volunteers. The Dickson family moved back to Canada sometime after 1900. William died in Victoria, British Columbia in 1922. The collection consists of eighteen letters written during 1898.

Donald Forbes was born sometime in the 1840s, son of Dr. John Forbes and Ann Forbes of Chippawa, Canada West. He first worked in Fergus, Canada West, and later moved to Newark, New Jersey in the United States. He joined the Union Army in February, 1864 and died on June 22, 1864. The collection consists of more than two dozen letters.

William J. Macdonald, a medical student, enlisted in Toronto on December 29, 1899, with the 9th Toronto Field Battery. He was 24 years of age. Macdonald served overseas with "C" Field Battery, Royal Canadian Field Artillery until he was discharged in January, 1901.

Walter Hill Moodie was born in Quebec, PQ.  In October, 1899 at age 28 Moodie enlisted in Kaslo, British Columbia with the 2nd Bn. RCR.  He served overseas in South Africa until his discharge in October, 1900.  The collection currently consists of a series of letters that he wrote during that time back to the Kaslo newspaper, The Kootenaian.

Robert, Charles, and George Rooke were born in England and moved with their parents William and Hannah Rooke to Saskatchewan to homestead. Robert Percy Rooke, age twenty-two, enlisted in Winnipeg, Manitoba on February 9, 1900 with the Lord Strathcona's Horse. His brother Charles Winn, age twenty-four, also enlisted on January 9, 1900 with the Lord Stathcona's Horse. Both served in South Africa and returned to Canada early in 1901. They both re-enlisted with the Canadian Mounted Rifles, along with their brother George Cyril, age twenty, who enlisted in December, 1901, and served in South Africa until the end of the war. The original letters have been donated by the family to the National Archives in Ottawa. The collection consists of more than 40 letters written by the brothers to their family back in Canada.

Walter Stewart was a part of the military force that participated in the Riel Rebellion of 1885. The collection consists of his diary from his enlistment to his return. This diary account was first published in the Weyburn Review, Weyburn Saskatchewan, beginning in April of 1966. It was published by the Review with the kind permission of Bob Hamilton, a great-grandson of Stewart. This online version has been made possible with the assistance of Ernest Neufeld of the Weyburn Review. The original introduction to the Review is available here. A copy of this journal is also available at the Toronto Public Library.