In the winter of 1865, Canterbury was briefly the focus of much military activity when some 9000 British troops passed through the village on their way to "The Canadas" (Ontario and Quebec). The British government had become alarmed about the possibility of an American invasion following the end of the American Civil War and sent this military contingent to reinforce the garrisons in The Canadas. As it was winter, the shipping season in the St. Lawrence River was closed leaving overland travel from British colonies in the Maritimes as the only option. The closest rail connection to Quebec from the Atlantic coast in the 1860s was the New Brunswick and Canada Railway line extending from the port of St. Andrews through Canterbury to the end of rails in nearby Richmond Corner. The large contingent of British troops debarked passenger trains at the station and were then driven by horse-drawn sleigh up the Saint John River and then across to St Lawrence to Levis (opposite Quebec City) where they re-boarded passenger trains operated by the Grand Trunk Railway.