A succession of units served at Fort Ellsworth, including Company C of the Second U.S. If you like history of the West and Indian Wars along with Civil War history, you might like this. The experiment of enlisting prisoners became a concern for the U.S. War Department, and policies surrounding this practice continually changed. Dorris Alexander Dee Brown (19082002) was a celebrated author of both fiction and nonfiction, whose classic study. In October 1866 all companies except Company B at Fort Wallace were relieved by regulars and assembled at Fort Kearny, where they mustered out between October 10 and 15. Galvanized Yankees on the Upper Missouri : the face of loyalty / by: Butts, Michele Tucker Published: (2003) The military conquest of the southern plains. (Galvanized, because the process of galvanization coats the gray surface of steel with a thin layer of bluish zinc though the underlying metal is the same.) Galvanized Yankees was a term from the American Civil War denoting former Confederate prisoners of war who swore allegiance to the United States and joined the Union Army.Approximately 5,600 former Confederate soldiers enlisted in the "United States Volunteers", organized into six regiments of infantry between January 1864 and November 1866. Events in the Eastern Theater of the Civil War continually overshadowed events in the American West. The book primarily draws from primary sources and has many appropriate citations. Your donations help keep MHN afloat. It is an interesting story, with a wide variety of quality and problems that faced them. The battalion mustered out at Vicksburg on September 7, 1865. Among these pioneering "Galvanized Yankees" were brothers Samuel Kael Groah and Andrew Jackson Groah. Kathy Weiser-Alexander/Legends of America, updated November 2021. Giving these men an opportunity to exchange the horrors of the wars POW camps for the danger of fighting native Americans attracted many prisoners. Both events highlighted a problem for the settlers; Native Americans were beginning to fight for their lands, yet only a handful of U.S. soldiers and frightened civilians, many armed only with pitchforks, were available to protect themselves from the Indian Uprisings. As a result, General Ulysses S. Grant ordered a contingent of Galvanized soldiers, by then called U.S. In most cases, the volunteers had accepted Southern recruitment offers mostly to escape the squalid living conditions in rebel-run POW camps. Volunteers. The acclaimed historian of the American West turns From there it moved to Fort Riley between May 18 and May 28 to relieve units of the 2nd U.S.V.I. Michele Tucker Butts is an associate professor of history at Austin Peay State University, where she teaches the history of the American West and Native American history. Yet by the beginning of 1864, with the war dragging on, manpower reserves dwindling and native uprisings breaking out all along the frontier, the War Department in Washington found itself compelled to offer bluecoats and muskets to rebel detainees. From Fort Leavenworth the unit marched to Fort Riley, and stationed companies there and at Salem, Fort Ellsworth, Fort Larned, Fort Zarah and Fort Scott, Kansas. They arrived at Fort Rice on October 17. Tight Bindings. From the bestselling author of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, The Galvanized Yankees is "an accurate, interesting, and sometimes thrilling account of an unusual group of men [and] a fresh and informative study of the Old West in transition from frontier to stable society" (The New York Times Book Review). (Brown 1963 pp. It is your entirely own mature to play a part reviewing habit. 2nd, 3rd, 4th, & 5th United States Volunteer Regiments made up mostly of men from non-slaveholding areas of Tennessee & North Carolina. Pennsylvania was the home state of Lincoln's opponent General. Companies I and K were sent to Fort Laramie, and on May 15, 1865, were parceled out in small detachments along 300 miles of the Pacific Telegraph Company line from Laramie to South Pass, Territory of Idaho (now Wyoming). Still, many Confederates considered these men to be traitors. Assigned to Co. F, 3rd Regiment US Volunteers and sent to Julesburg, CO. 1870 living in Paris, Tx. Life at Fort Rice proved to be a challenge, as the post had not been fully completed and its buildings being made of cottonwood, a very inferior material. he was with this unit until the fall of atlanta in sep 1864. he was sent to camp douglas where he swallowed the dog and joined the 6th us volunteers and was sent to the colorado territory. Major General Dodge recommended on March 5, 1865, that all the former Union soldiers as well as a number of Confederate troops be enlisted in the U.S. arrived at Fort Kearny on the date that, Lt. Col. Charles C.G. Released October 17, 1864 after taking the Oath of allegiance and joining US Army. [return][return]An interesting and well-documented book about a little known group. Born in, Col. Christopher H. McNally, born in England, was commissioned in the, The 3rd U.S.V.I. Weird times and weirder people. [2] The general use of "galvanized Yankees" originated in a story in the Springfield Republican (Springfield, Massachusetts) on May 25, 1865, by Samuel Bowles, who wrote: Among the present limited number of troops on the Plain are two regiments of infantry, all from the rebel army. The Galvanized Yankees by Brown, Dee and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at AbeBooks.com. Afterward, Galvanized soldiers were shunned in the South and neglected by the Grand Army of the Republic. Butts places the number at 500, Brown 1,000. While some galvanized units served with distinction, the program was only moderately successful. In 1862, Colonel James Mulligan discovered that many Confederate prisoners did not wish to be exchanged and were willing to join the Union army; he illegally enlisted former Confederates to be used on the front lines. Volunteers were mustered out on November 27, 1865, only a year and a month after they first reached Fort Rice. Much appreciated. She has authored several articles and has contributed to both Brown mentioned them several times in Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee and this book, written in 1963, was the first book length examination of the Galvanized Yankees. Volunteers reached Fort Rice on October 17, 1864. Heavily outnumbered, the defenders withdrew to the relative safety of the bridge and continued the fight from there. The trip was extremely arduous, as the regiment lacked tents to protect themselves from pelting rain and hail and initially had no wagons to carry what meager supplies they had been issued. When the native warriors struck the remote outpost, the men of 3rd, along with troopers from the 11th Ohio Cavalry (another unit made up of Confederate POWs), sallied forth to engage the attackers. These were the Galvanized Yankees, former soldiers of the Confederate States of America, who had worn gray or butternut before they accepted the blue uniform of the United States Army in exchange for freedom from prison pens where many of them had endured much of the war. Companies F and G were involved in the establishment of Fort Dodge in the summer of 1865. Dee Browns history of Confederate POWs who volunteered to join the Union Army and head West to protect the Santa Fe trail and the mail routes to California , man the western forts such as Fort Bridger and Fort Laramie, fight the Sioux and Cheyenne and the Mormons and protect against a nascent invasion from Mexico by the Emperor Napoleon . Volunteers for service in the West. [38][n 31]. Galvanized Yankees were Confederate prisoners of war who joined the Union Army and went west to fight Indians. In the case of the 4th USVI, more than a tenth of its recruits slipped away from the regiment before it even arrived at its first frontier outpost. They surrendered to Union forces in December 1864 and were held by the United States as deserters, but were saved from prosecution by being enlisted in the 5th and 6th U.S. Butts, Michele Tucker Fall 2003. The Digital and eTextbook ISBNs for The Galvanized Yankees are 9781453274170, 1453274170 and the print ISBNs are 9780803260757, 080326075X. My great-great grandfather went from rock island to camp Douglas to the USS Princeton in late January 1864. by: Leckie, William H. Published: (1963) Crimsoned prairie; the wars between the United States and the Plains Indians during the winning . XLI, p. 997) Straut had enlisted as a sergeant in Company D in October 1861, became first sergeant of Company I in November 1863, reenlisted in December, became 2nd lieutenant of Company I in January 1864, then 1st Lt of Company G in March. From New Mexico to Montana, they endured Indian attacks, cold winters, disease, and grueling marches. They are known in the army as "white-washed rebs," or as they call themselves, "galvanized Yankees. [38], Grierson's prisoners were shipped by steamer to the Union prison camp at Alton, Illinois, where the claims of the "galvanized Yankees" that they desired restoration to their original units were investigated. 1900, living in the National Soldiers Home, Washington County, TN. Brown (1963), pp. Of those, more than 250 had begun their service as . Word of what became known as the Sand Creek Massacre spread throughout the plains, causing deep resentment among the Cheyenne and Sioux, who retaliated by terrorizing the Oregon Trail and U.S. mail routes. Volunteers, 1,000 men strong, boarded the ship Continental in August of 1864, sailed to New York, then traveled by train to Chicago. In the early days of the war, prison camps were merely holding areas where men waited to be exchanged for equal numbers of prisoners held by the other side. [37], In October 1864, John G. O'Neill, colonel of the 10th Tennessee Regiment (Irish Volunteers),[n 28] was authorized to recruit Union prisoners at Andersonville and Millen, Georgia, to replenish the depleted ranks of the regiment. Disease seriously depleted the ranks of the regiment, and in December 1864, the 3rd Maryland Cavalry consolidated into a six-company battalion. Company I of the 6th U.S.V.I. Dyer, Frederick H. (1908, reprinted 1979), This page was last edited on 26 February 2023, at 15:13. The Union had raised five others between 1864 and 1865 enlisting at total of 5,600 Southerners. [4][n 1] The ban continued until 1863, except for a few enlistments of foreign-born Confederates into largely ethnic regiments. [6], In January 1863, following issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation, the United States began to actively recruit black soldiers. Company G, 1st Connecticut Cavalry was commanded by Capt. In pursuit of revenge : the Sioux Uprising of 1862 -- Galvanized Yankees -- Beecher's Island -- Geronimo -- The ghost dance and the Battle of Wounded Knee. We're expanding the protective netting at both Tropicana Field and Charlotte Sports Park this season . About 200 agreed before top Union commanders ordered a halt to the practice. After marching 150 miles, they were recalled and marched to Fort Laramie between September 2 and October 10. Still, they were saved from individual trials by General Grenville Dodge, who recruited them into the 5th and 6th U.S. Publication date 1963 Collection inlibrary; printdisabled; internetarchivebooks Digitizing sponsor Kahle/Austin Foundation Contributor Internet Archive Language English. Considered traitors by their Southern comrades, these reluctant Union-men became known as white-washed rebels or even galvanized Yankees a reference to the process in which steel is surface-treated to prevent corrosion. Vol. A fascinating book! I had never heard of the Galvanized Yankees before, so most of it was interesting reading. Like the metal, these galvanized soldiers in many cases were still "Good old Rebels," or "Billy Yanks," underneath their adopted uniforms.[1]. Protective netting . A fantastic account for those interested in the Western Frontier during and immediately after the American Civil War. The matter was then referred to President Lincoln, who gave verbal authorization on January 2, 1864, and formal authorization on March 5 to raise the 1st United States Volunteer Infantry for three years' service without restrictions as to use. They marched to Fort Leavenworth, where they mustered out on November 13, the last of the "galvanized Yankees". Many saw enlistment in the enemy forces as an escape and took advantage of the personnel shortage in either army by joining it. The regiment would continue to serve on the frontier until November when its surviving members were honourably discharged. Many if not most of the original 228 Confederate prisoners recruited at Camp Douglas in early 1862 to the Union side were likely from the 10th Tennessee, and this may have been the origin of O'Neill's request to recruit from Union prisoners. The following May, the Confederate Congress passed a joint resolution suspending exchange of black Union soldiers and their white officers, and ordering that they instead be put on trial and punished. Some 228 prisoners of mostly Irish extraction were enlisted by Col. James A. Mulligan before the War Department banned further recruitment March 15. escorted a wagon train to Fort Union; and a detachment of 10 men of Company H, 1st U.S.V.I. . Together, they formed 1st United States Volunteer Infantry. All that stood between the raiders and the vital 1,000-foot long river crossing that connected the territories of Oregon and Montana was a detachment of 120 lightly armed troops. James R. Straut. Settled in Moscow, ID, where he married and raised as family. At the very least, it seemed to offer a better alternative to life in a POW camp. Among them was a contingent from the . Copyright 2023 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. 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