Trivia 8-4-16 Meaning

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A captured Confederate soldier who took the Oath of Alligeance to get out of a Union prison camp with the condition that he serve in the Union Army. These soldiers were sent West to fight the Indians and they had some of the lowest desertion rates in the Union Army.
 
Despite prevailing official policies, Butler continued to make exchanges and to release hundreds of oath-takers to return to their homes within Union lines until after the First U.S. Volunteers were mustered into service. Their peers began calling them "Galvanized Yankees," an insulting term Confederates applied to individuals who took the oath of allegiance to cover themselves with Union blue, as they were released from the pen to live in their new camp.
http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2005/winter/galvanized.html

There were occasions when Union soldiers who made the choice to join Confederate service to get out of prison camps were also referred to as "galvanized" Yankees.

Galvanizing is to cover an iron or steel container with a layer of zinc. So in either case, the interior soldier (be he rebel or Union man) has taken on a false or disguising exterior
 
Galvanized Yankees was a term from the American Civil War denoting Confederate prisoners of war who swore allegiance to the United States and joined the Union Army. The term "galvanized" has also been applied to former Union soldiers who enlisted in the Confederate Army, including the use of "Galvanized Yankees" to designate them.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Galvanized Yankees
 
Confederate prisoners-of-war who swore an oath of loyalty to the Union government and joined the Union Army. Some of these folks were sent out west to the garrisons and forts in the territories, where they would serve their time in the army.

Every time I see this use of the word "galvanized" I remember that scene from the Wizard of Oz when the Tin Man says "I'm galvanized" and strikes himself on his metal-plated chest. /random
 
"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."

Also in "modern" terms, as far as reenacting, it is someone who typically is outfitted on one side but 'portrays' the other side due to lack of numbers/interest in that particular us/cs portrayal.
 
The term is usually used to describe "turncoat" Confederate prisoners who agreed to serve in the Union army in exchange for release from captivity; usually they were offered to be assigned to units in the western territories campaigning against Indian tribes so they wouldn't either have the onus of serving against their kinsmen or suffer the consequences if caught!
 
The National Park Service describes the origin of the expression "Galvanized Yankee" in a bulletin published in 1992 for visitors to the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial:

The term "galvanized" is most commonly associated with metal when it is coated with zinc to protect it from corrosion. In the process the surface color of the metal is altered, but underneath the coating the steel is unchanged. During the Civil War, in both Northern and Southern prison camps, soldiers sometimes decided to "galvanize," or change sides, to save themselves from the horrors of prison life. Like the metal, these galvanized soldiers in many cases were still "Good old Rebels," or "Billy Yanks," underneath their adopted uniforms.

 
"Galvanized Yankees" was a term used to identify Confederate soldiers who switched sides and served in Union regiments.....mostly, those who had been captured and imprisoned, who decided to denounce their allegiance to the Confederate cause and swear allegiance to the Union, and who then enlisted to serve the Union. The term may have also been used by Confederate soldiers to describe Union prisoners of war who switched sides and served in Confederate regiments.

Here's an example from 3d Battalion GA Sharpshooters: Robert F Wimpee Son of David & Emily Wimpee, Age 18 in 1860 Polk County GA census. According to the roster - "Enlisted 3/1/1862 in Co D Phillip's Legion, WIA at Fredericksburg 12/13/1862 (wounded in the head), Transferred to 3rd Ga. Sharpshooter Battalion May 1863, Captured at Gettysburg 7/3/1863, Sent to Fort Delaware, Deserted and joined Federal artillery unit in August 1863."

Robt. F Wimpey, buried in Winchester Indiana http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=82221608 listed as a member of "Ahl's Del. H.A." Ahl's Independent Company, Heavy Artillery (officially known as the 1st Delaware Heavy Artillery.) The company was mainly composed of former Confederate prisoners of war who had sworn allegiance to the Union (over 200 galvanized Yankees) and was Delaware's only heavy artillery company during the war. It was organized at Fort Delaware July 27, 1863 soon after the Battle of Gettysburg. The company was assigned to garrison and guard duty at Fort Delaware for their entire period of service. Its commander was Capt. George W. Ahl, and nearly all the officers had come to the fort with Independent Battery G, Pittsburgh Heavy Artillery. The company mustered out on July 25, 1865.
Robert Wimpee 3rd Ga SS Galvanized.JPG
 
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