Greeks in the Confederate Army

Stiles/Akin

Sergeant Major
Joined
Apr 1, 2016
Location
Atlanta, Georgia
These men listed Greece as their nativity and were not naturalized American citizens.

"Greeks in the Confederate Army
By George P. Perros, Esq., and Professor Theodore P. Perros
On July 22, 1861, at camp Moore, Louisiana, seventy-three men enlisted for the duration of the war. They constituted, together with seven assigned officers, Company I of the 10th Louisiana Infantry Regiment. Among the enlisted were six men who cited Greece as their country of birth. They were:

...
-- Paoli Agius, age 35, a sailor
-- Francisco Liappi, age 48, a sailor
-- John George Metalieno, age 30, a sailor
-- Andre Nicole, age 33, a sailor
-- Christopholo Salonicho, age 40, a sailor
-- Constantino Villisariez, age 22, a sailor
Their names do not show traditional Greek phonetic characteristics. Some changed them because non-Greeks had difficulties in pronouncing or even spelling Greek names correctly. For example, official military records have Paoli Agius also listed as Paoli Aguis, Paoli Ageos, Paoli Agros, Paul Agus, Paul Agos, Paul Agous, Paul Argoz, and Paul Ajios. Nevertheless, in every instance the men cited Greece as the country of their birth.

On July 29, 1861, the 10th Louisiana Infantry Regiment departed New Orleans by train and reached Richmond on August 3, 1861. They established their camp at the fair grounds where they received a warm welcome from municipal authorities and from the citizens. On August 18, 1861, the regiment received orders to reinforce the Confederate troops commanded by General J.B. Magruder at Lee's Mills on the Warwick River."

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The 10th Louisiana Infantry was called "Lee's Foreign Legion" because it had so many immigrants in its ranks. Among them were Irish, French, Cajuns and Creoles, Germans, Italians, Greeks, Spaniards, etc. Many Louisiana units were very ethnically diverse, especially those largely recruited from New Orleans and southern Louisiana, but the 10th Louisiana was definitely up there as one of the most. They served in the 2nd Louisiana Brigade (Stafford's) in the ANV throughout the war.

Edit: Here are the places of birth listed by all members of Company I, 10th Louisiana:
Austria - 5
Corsica - 1
England - 1
France - 7
Germany - 8
Greece - 5
Ireland - 2
Italy - 26
Louisiana - 6
Martinique - 1
Portugal - 4
Scotland - 1
Sicily - 1
Spain - 2
Switzerland - 1

Source: Ella Lonn, Foreigners in the Confederacy, p. 110
 
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The 10th Louisiana Infantry was called "Lee's Foreign Legion" because it had so many immigrants in its ranks. Among them were many Irish, French, Cajuns and Creoles, along with Germans, Italians, Greeks, and Spaniards. Many Louisiana units were very ethnically diverse in nature, especially those largely recruited from New Orleans and southern Louisiana, but the 10th Louisiana was definitely up there as one of the most. They served in the 2nd Louisiana Brigade (Stafford's) in the ANV throughout the war.

. . . And I bet their cooking was the best.! They probably could turn mule meat into filet mignon and hard tack into New Orleans' finest beignets:smile coffee:
 
. . . And I bet their cooking was the best.! They probably could turn mule meat into filet mignon and hard tack into New Orleans' finest beignets:smile coffee:
Don't remember where but I seem to recall reading somewhere about Louisiana troops cooking up some sort of gumbo from a mix of corn meal, salt pork and various other things they could scrounge. No wonder why Louisianans were such good foragers! I bet those New Orleanians found army life especially dull with the lack of variety they had to eat.
 
-- Paoli Agius, age 35, a sailor
-- Francisco Liappi, age 48, a sailor
-- John George Metalieno, age 30, a sailor
-- Andre Nicole, age 33, a sailor
-- Christopholo Salonicho, age 40, a sailor
-- Constantino Villisariez, age 22, a sailor
Their names do not show traditional Greek phonetic characteristics. Some changed them because non-Greeks had difficulties in pronouncing or even spelling Greek names correctly. For example, official military records have Paoli Agius also listed as Paoli Aguis, Paoli Ageos, Paoli Agros, Paul Agus, Paul Agos, Paul Agous, Paul Argoz, and Paul Ajios. Nevertheless, in every instance the men cited Greece as the country of their birth.

It's not really a phonetic issue, it is a transliteration issue. Here is what their last names were likely:

Άγιος
Λιάπης
Μυτιλήναίος
Νικολή(ς)
Σαλονικιός
Βελισσάριος

They do show lots of traditional Greek phonetic characteristics :wink:

Three issues here: a. transliterating the Greek calendar into the Latin, b. trying to write the sound of Greek into English and c. Grammar: In Greek nouns (like proper names) have forms and someone's name might change

Upon immigration lots of Greeks changed/anglicized their names (e.g former VP Spiro Agnew - Anagnostopoulos,) but this was way before that era.
 
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