Extra Credit Questions

[Wild Bill]

Sorry to be so late, but I read the blog only off and on. As you all know by now from above answers, Galvanized Yankees were 6 regiments of infantry (never mounted) known officially as as US Volunteer, recruited from various Union prison camps for Confederate POWs. They enlisted in 1865 for service for from one to three years, depending on the regiment, and were sent West so as not to have to fight existing Confederate troops. No unit actually served over 20 months. They manned various frontier posts, guarded the Oregon, Smokey Hill, and Santa Fe trails and fought several pitched battles in the West, particularly against the Sioux in Minn., in replacing a couple of Ohio volunteer cavalry regiments who never fought Confederates either, much to their disgust. Their desertion rate was not much higher than ordinary Union volunteers. If I remember correctly James Garner's gambler role Brett Maverick in the 1960 television series was a galvanized Yankee as, of course, was Henry Morton Stanley, as mentioned above. The book, Galvanized Yankees, is by Dee Brown, originally published in 1963 by U Ills Press and reprinted in paperback by U Neb Press in 1986. The latter is probably still in print.

[L Verge]

(05-16-2019 05:15 PM)Wild Bill Wrote:  Sorry to be so late, but I read the blog only off and on. As you all know by now from above answers, Galvanized Yankees were 6 regiments of infantry (never mounted) known officially as as US Volunteer, recruited from various Union prison camps for Confederate POWs. They enlisted in 1865 for service for from one to three years, depending on the regiment, and were sent West so as not to have to fight existing Confederate troops. No unit actually served over 20 months. They manned various frontier posts, guarded the Oregon, Smokey Hill, and Santa Fe trails and fought several pitched battles in the West, particularly against the Sioux in Minn., in replacing a couple of Ohio volunteer cavalry regiments who never fought Confederates either, much to their disgust. Their desertion rate was not much higher than ordinary Union volunteers. If I remember correctly James Garner's gambler role Brett Maverick in the 1960 television series was a galvanized Yankee as, of course, was Henry Morton Stanley, as mentioned above. The book, Galvanized Yankees, is by Dee Brown, originally published in 1963 by U Ills Press and reprinted in paperback by U Neb Press in 1986. The latter is probably still in print.

I'm glad you did chime in, Bill, because one of your sentences is making me doubt one of my sources. I saw the term mentioned in something I was reading and it made me remember only snippets of what galvanized Confederates meant. To get a full picture, I googled a variety of sites (but can't remember which ones). One did make the claim, however, that many of the men were cavalrymen on the Great Plains. It made good sense to me since the Confederates had one good advantage going into the Civil War -- their riding skills.

P.S. I'm a Southern Marylander where fine horses and fine horsemanship was still treasured in the mid-20th century when I was growing up. There were plenty of race tracks for both regular and harness racing, lots of horse pastures and boarding stables, and annual jousting tournaments around the area that were quite festive events. Even girls were trained to ride for the golden ring. I'm not sure if it is still designated as the official sport of our state, but jousting had that title for many a year.

Also, twenty miles or so from Surratt House is a ca. 1750 mansion known as Belair, first a governor's home and then home to the Woodward family and its famed Belair Stables. They produced many winners who in turn sired other winners. Those stables are known as the home of American Thoroughbreds. The mansion and stables are now historic sites and open for tours. However, the nationally known Levitt Company came down from New York in the 1960s and built thousands of homes and accompanying commercial ventures all around the two buildings.

[Wild Bill]

Sorry, but the Galvanized Yankees walked. A couple of Union volunteer cavalry regiments were sent West during the Civil War.

[RJNorton]

With the PGA Tournament going on now, this question came to mind. Robert Lincoln loved to play golf. In 1901 he entered the Ekwanok President's Cup golf tournament.

Where did Robert finish?

Robert Lincoln Swinging a Golf Club

[Steve]

Last?

[RJNorton]

Good job, Steve. Close enough. Robert beat only one golfer and finished second to last.

Here is another photo of Robert on the golf course:

Source: Lincoln Collection, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library

President William Howard Taft putting with Robert and caddie in the foreground.

[L Verge]

(05-17-2019 05:06 AM)Wild Bill Wrote:  Sorry, but the Galvanized Yankees walked. A couple of Union volunteer cavalry regiments were sent West during the Civil War.

Thanks, Bill - I can see the logic in not giving ex-Confederates Union horses...

On June 8, Surratt House is presenting a talk on Point Lookout Prison Camp, a hell-hole about 60 miles south of D.C. in Southern Maryland. In the process of looking for tidbits for advertisement of the program, I found a connection between Point Lookout and this discussion:

" The practice of recruiting from prisoners of war began in 1862 at Camp Douglas at Chicago, Illinois, with attempts to enlist Confederate prisoners who expressed reluctance to exchange following their capture at Fort Donelson. Some 228 prisoners of mostly Irish extraction were enlisted by Col. James A. Mulligan before the War Department banned further recruitment March 15. The ban continued until 1863, except for a few enlistments of foreign-born Confederates into largely ethnic regiments.

"Three factors led to a resurrection of the concept: an outbreak of the American Indian Wars by tribes in Minnesota and on the Great Plains; the disinclination of paroled but not exchanged Federal troops to be used to fight them; and protests of the Confederate government that any use of paroled troops in Indian warfare was a violation of the Dix–Hill prisoner of war cartel. Gen. Gilman Marston, commandant of the huge prisoner of war camp at Point Lookout, Maryland, recommended that Confederate prisoners be enlisted in the U.S. Navy, which Secretary of War Edwin Stanton approved December 21. General Benjamin Butler's jurisdiction included Point Lookout, and he advised Stanton that more prisoners could be recruited for the Army than the Navy. 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."

[RJNorton]

What country was the very first outside the United States to have a city named after Abraham Lincoln?

[Steve]

Liberia?

[L Verge]

Liberia was my first guess, but I also thought of Mexico because that country greatly admired Lincoln (even when they didn't admire the U.S.).

[RJNorton]

Both Liberia and Mexico are good guesses, but neither one is the correct answer.

[L Verge]

I know there was Lincolnshire in England long before, but was there possibly a city within Lincolnshire created after the assassination?

[Eva Elisabeth]

Just know the one in UK that is the original Lincoln (2000+ yrs old), deriving from Celtic "lindon" = "pond", "pool".

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Wild guesses - France? Denmark?

[RJNorton]

Nope.

Hint #1: The correct country is not in Europe or Africa.

[Steve]

Argentina