Nile Voyageurs
The Nile Voyageurs were a force of Canadian volunteers who served in the Sudan with British forces as part of the Nile Expedition from 1884 to 1885. Though they were civilian volunteers, serving as boatmen for the British Army, they can be considered Canada’s first overseas contingent of war volunteers.
16 voyageurs died on active service during the campaign, and as Canada’s first overseas casualties they are commemorated in the Book of Remembrance in Ottawa.
| Soldier | Casualty | Date of casualty |
| Richard Burgess | Died of disease | September 26, 1884 |
| Louis Capitaine | Drowned near Semneh | October 30, 1884 |
| John Morris | Drowned | November 16, 1884 |
| Michael Brennan | Died of dysentery | November 21, 1884 |
| George Fletcher | Drowned near Ambigoll | November 23, 1884 |
| John Edward Faulkner | Died from drowning | November 29, 1884 |
| William Doyle | Drowned near Ambigoll | December 13, 1884 |
| Solomon Bigneault | Died of small-pox | December 17, 1884 |
| Leon Chatelain | Drowned near Semneh | December 18, 1884 |
| Alexander Michael Armstrong | Died of fever | January 3, 1885 |
| William James O’Rourke | Died of disease | February 4, 1885 |
| Leon Pilon | Died of disease | February 4, 1885 |
| John Andrew Sherlock | Died of disease | March 26, 1885 |
| Patrick Leonard | Died from enteric fever | April 10, 1885 |
| Daniel McLean | Died of disease | April 16, 1885 |
| Col. William Nassau Kennedy | Died from small-pox | May 3, 1885 |