Extra Credit Questions

[L Verge]

(05-16-2019 06:15 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.