This is an I-Heart podcast.

Guaranteed Human.

And we continue with our American stories.

Our next story comes from our regular contributor, Christopher Klein. Clines the author of

four books and is a frequent contributor to the History Channel. Here's Klein with the story

of when the American Irish invaded Canada. Let's take a listen. On the night of May 31st, 1866, residents of Buffalo, New York saw a most unusual sight

as they looked outside their windows.

Nearly 800 battle-hardened soldiers dressed in Union Blues and Confederate Rays marched

through the city streets while hauling wagons full of ammunition and rifles.

No, these former foes had not come to Buffalo to reignite the Civil War.

Instead, they were improbable brothers in arms united against a common enemy, Great Britain.

This rag-tag army of Irish-American Civil War veterans was undertaking one of the most

fantastical missions in military history, to hold Canada hostage and ransom it from the British

government for Ireland's independence.

So why would any Americans want to attack sweet, peaceable, friendly Canada?

Well, it may be hard to believe today when the United States and Canada

shared the longest peaceable international boundary in the world,

but things between the United States and Canada weren't always so polite.

In fact, during the first century of the history of the United States, the idea of

Canada was about as American as fireworks on the 4th of July. Just a few months after the first

shots were fired at Lexington and Concord in the American Revolution, the Continent

Army went due north to Quebec. There were numerous encounters on both sides of the border

...