TIP #178: SONS OF CONFEDERATE VETERANS AND THE GALVANIZED YANKEES I recently had the great privilege of attending a ceremony held at the Glasgow Municipal Cemetery honoring thirteen Confederate soldiers, many members of the famous Orphan Brigade, conducted by the Sons of Confederate Veterans. I knew very little of the organization prior to this time, other than working with one of the officers of the Captain Ben Helm Hardin Camp at Elizabethtown, KY in locating the burial places of the Confederates in this county and adjoining counties. What they did with that information was very impressive! At the ceremony, both the Sons of the Confederate Veterans and the Order of Rose (the lady's organization, part of the Emily Todd Hardin group) arrived in worked clothes and, in the hot sun beating down at 91 degrees, spent several hours laying stones honoring the fallen warriors. They dug, placed the stones, cemeted and cleaned. When the ceremony began, 7 of the men, in full woolen uniforms and holding their muskets stood at attention which another member read a brief history of the individual they were honoring. A Confederate flag and a carnation were placed at each grave and photos taken. There was period singing, prayer and a 21-gun salute for each soldier. I began asking questions and here is a little sketch of what this organization is and what services it provides and why they stress, "it's not us to be honored, it's the soldier!" This is an exact quote. "The citizen-soldiers who fought for the Confederacy personified the best qualities of America. The preservation of liberty and freedom was the motivating factor in the South's decision to fight the Second American Revolution. The tenacity with which Confederate soldiers fought underscored their belief in the rights guaranteed by the Constitution. These attributes are the underpinning of our democratic society and represent the foundation on which this nation was built." Why the Organization? It is to preserve the history and legacy of these soldiers, heroes, many time mere boys. It is their desire that future generations won't forget the sacrifice they made and why the war was fought. The SCV is made up of direct male heirs of the ConfederateVeterans It is patriotic, non-political and determined to present a correct history of the Civil War in the Confederate effort. Membership can be obtained through either direct or collateral family lines and kinship to a veteran must be documented genealogically. The minimum age for membership is 12. What does the organization do? The SCV conducts sessions at the local, state, and national levels. Part of their efforts include marking Confederate soldier's graves, giving historical reenactments, scholarly publications, and regular meetings to discuss the military and political history of the War Between the States. This is done by local units called camps. They have annual conventions, publish newsletters and a multitude of other activities. Working with other historical groups it is not affiliated with any other group other than the Military Order of the Stars and Bars, composed of male descendants of the Southern Officers Corps. How Can I Contact them? If you would like more information about the Sons of Confederate Veterans, call 1-800-MY-SOUTH, or 1-800-MY-DIXIE. Or write to: International Headquarters, Sons of Confederate Veterans, P O Box 59, Columbia, TN 38402-0059. The SCV maintains a wonderful web site found at: http://www.scv.org/ which explains more of the services and goals of the organization which includes, among other things, genealogical research services. For $5.00 they will go through their files and help the descendant find information on the soldier. A full explanation will be found on their page. In closing, I would like to include the Charge to the Sons of Confederate Veterans: "To you, Sons of Confederate Veterans, we submit the vindication of the Cause for which we fought; to your strength will be given the defense of the Confederate soldier's good name, the guardianship of his history, the emulation of his virtues, the perpetuation of those principles he loved and which made him glorious and which you also cherish. Remember, it is your duty to see that the true history of the South is presented to future generations." - Lt. General Stephen Dill Lee, Commander General United Confederate Veterans, New Orleans, Louisiana, 1906 THE GALVANIZED YANKEES I first heard this term a few years ago and filed it away in the back of my mind as an interesting topic to pursue. Having been born and raised a Yankee, it has been a slow process for me to learn the "other side of the story." A few days ago, I found a most wondrous book at our bookstore entitled the "Galvanized Yankees", by Dee Brown, University of Nebraska Press, © Copyright 1963, (originally published by the University of Illinois Press, Urbana, IL). After reading much in this book, I went on a search to see if Kentucky troops were involved and if their names were to be found. This led me to web searches and contact with several organizations and yes, Kentucky was definitely involved, and no, no rolls exist. Let's take a look at those Galvanized Yankees and see who they were and what they did. Who Were They? The Galvanized Yankees were "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 prisons where many of them had endured much of the war. Sent to the Western frontier so they would not meet their former comrades in battle, they soon found a new foe, the Plain Indians." So begins the introduction to the above named book. These soldiers, whose name we will explain later, marched as soldiers across the west between September 1864 and November 1866. Their lives were never the same as before, but to these honorable men, it was a far better choice than dying in a Yankee prison. However, many of them just prolonged their lives some, for many were killed by the Indians, by epidemics, disease or froze to death. It is said that a small percentage of the men deserted, but a much lower percentage than those who had deserted the Union ranks during the war. (Ella Lonn, During the Civil War, 1928, p. 226.). Those who survived many times remained in the west, sometimes changing their names. Some went home. The Name: The name "Galvanized Yankees" appeared slowly. Along the border states during the Civil War, allegiances were divided between the North and South. Confederates in this area called their neighbors to the north "Home-made Yankees." In northern prisons where many of the Confederates were held, the Rebel prisoners were known as "Condemned Yankees." Supposedly, according to the author of this work, the name "Galvanized Yankees" was first used for a Union soldier who turned Confederate and in 1865, a General Dodge used this term when speaking of some prisoners in Alton, IL. The Beginnings: There was a need found for men who could go to the western frontier to restore law and order and to wear many hats in the ever-expanding development of the United States. General Benjamin Butler had written President Abraham Lincoln who approved of the idea and tours were made of the northern prisons where Confederate soldiers were held. Called then "United States Volunteers", six regiments were recruited from prisons at Point Lookout, Rock Island, Alton, Camp Douglas, Chase and Morton. It was noted that some of the men recruited were Irish and German, but most were native Americans from the hill country of Tennessee, North Carolina, and Kentucky with a smattering from Virginia to Louisiana. By the time this program was in full swing, there were 6,000 Galvanized Yankees. These were divided into six regiments. Their assignments: As varied as the individuals who volunteered was their assignments. The 2nd and 3rd Regiments restored stage and mail service between the Missouri River and California; escorted supply trains on the Oregon and Santa Fe Trail; rebuilt telegraph lines destroyed by the Indians between Fort Kearney and Salt Lake City. The 5th & 6th Regiments carried mail, escorted Colonel James Sawyer's Wagon Road Expedition to Montana; served at outposts. The 1st Regiment held off the Sioux at various settlements along the Mississippi River. The 1st & 4th Regiments manned five separate forts, fought the Indiana, opened up new stage coach routes across the Kansas plains. Some fought on the Little Blue, the Sweetwater, Midway, Fort Dodge, Platte Bridge. They guarded the Union Pacific Railroad. They rescued white women who had been kidnapped by the Indians. Forts or Stations Occupied or Guarded by the Galvanized Yankees: Fort: Abraham Lincoln, Benton, Berthold, Bridger, Caspar, Collins, Connor, Dodge, Donelson, Ellsworth, Fletcher, Halleck, Hays, Jefferson, John Buford, Kearney, Laramie, Larmed, Leavenworth, Lyon, McPherson, Phil Keany, Randall, Reno, Rice, Ridgely, Riley, Ripley, Sanders, Sedgwick, Snelling, Sully, Union, Wadsworth, Wallace, Wicked, Zarah. Kentucky men: As noted earlier, no rosters were kept. The only printed source I have that includes any Kentuckians by name is the book cited at the beginning of this tip. It is noted that many had served with Morgan's men. I will list those shown: Private John Blackburn, 21 years old, of Pike County, KY died from chronic diarrhea. He appears to have been serving with the 6th Iowa Cavalry, but it is unclear. His company commander wrote: "A good and faithful soldier." Companies C and D, 5th U. S. Volunteers: had eight Kentuckians, not named except Private John McKinney of Kentucky who was shown as age 43, one of the oldest volunteers. Captain Henry Palmer took charge of a detachment at Fort Leavenworth in 1861, to command the 11th Ohio Cavalry, sixty men, "every one of them lately Confederate soldiers with John Morgan on his raid into Ohio" It was later noted that there were 60 Kentuckians with him who he found as experienced raiders. This ground fought the Indians near Big Sandy Station. Author Brown cites from possibly 100 other books that contain information on the Galvanized Yankees. Also, the URL for the Company I, 3rd Ohio is shown below - it will link you to many other web sites: http://www.coffey.com/~tmbrwolf/co-i.html © Copyright 1 September 1998, Sandra K. Gorin, All Rights Reserved, sgorin@glasgow-ky.com Sandi Gorin - A Kentucky Colonel PUBLISHING: http://members.tripod.com/~GorinS/index.html BARREN CO WEBSITE: http://ww4.choice.net/~jimphp/barrenco/ ARCHIVES for ROOTSWEB: http://searches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl KYBIOGRAPHIES: http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/USA/Ky/Bios KYRESEARCH: http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/USA/Ky/Tips PRAYER&PRAISE: http://www.listbot.com/subscribe/prayerandpraise