Northerners who travelled South to enlist in the Confederacy?

UncleBourbon

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Massachusetts
I've been wondering if there are any examples of this for a while.
I learned of two individuals from my State who at the very least opposed the Union's role in the war verbally; Lysander Spooner, an abolitionist who compared the Union's effort to stop Southern secession to a master's effort to stop the freeing of his slaves, and Ambrose L. Kimball, an Essex County journalist who openly voiced that he felt the Lincoln administration's policies and efforts were contradictory to the ideals of the Founding Fathers, which resulting in him getting tarred, feathered and essentially chased to Iowa.
These two made me wonder if any Northerners, particularly from New England, opposed the Union with arms rather than rhetoric and attempted to or succeeding in enlisting in the Confederacy.

I'm aware of at least John Clifford Pemberton from Pennsylvania doing as such, however he was a General and I'm more interested in lower ranks, particularly those who would enlist as Privates.
Northerners who were caught attempting to join or aid the Confederacy would also be of interest.
 
I've been wondering if there are any examples of this for a while.
I learned of two individuals from my State who at the very least opposed the Union's role in the war verbally; Lysander Spooner, an abolitionist who compared the Union's effort to stop Southern secession to a master's effort to stop the freeing of his slaves, and Ambrose L. Kimball, an Essex County journalist who openly voiced that he felt the Lincoln administration's policies and efforts were contradictory to the ideals of the Founding Fathers, which resulting in him getting tarred, feathered and essentially chased to Iowa.
These two made me wonder if any Northerners, particularly from New England, opposed the Union with arms rather than rhetoric and attempted to or succeeding in enlisting in the Confederacy.

I'm aware of at least John Clifford Pemberton from Pennsylvania doing as such, however he was a General and I'm more interested in lower ranks, particularly those who would enlist as Privates.
Northerners who were caught attempting to join or aid the Confederacy would also be of interest.
There were definitely Northeners in the enlisted ranks of the Confederate Army. There is a biography of one called"Yankee Rebel" who was from Ohio.
How many we don't know. We don't have a comprehensive study such has "Lincoln's Loyalists Union soldiers from the Confederacy" Richard Current North East University Press. Per Current 104k Southern white men from the eleven Confederate States joined the Union Army plus well over 150k black men.
@CSA Today cited a book that stated that 2k men from Pennsylvania joined the Confederate Army . @CMWinkler cited a source that stated that 4k men from Indiana joined the Confederate Army. There was at least one company from Southern Illinois that joined the Confederate Army.
Still nothing close to the 104k white men from the Confederacy that more then offset what ever amount of Northern men that joined the Confederate Army.
Leftyhunter
 
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I've been wondering if there are any examples of this for a while.
I learned of two individuals from my State who at the very least opposed the Union's role in the war verbally; Lysander Spooner, an abolitionist who compared the Union's effort to stop Southern secession to a master's effort to stop the freeing of his slaves, and Ambrose L. Kimball, an Essex County journalist who openly voiced that he felt the Lincoln administration's policies and efforts were contradictory to the ideals of the Founding Fathers, which resulting in him getting tarred, feathered and essentially chased to Iowa.
These two made me wonder if any Northerners, particularly from New England, opposed the Union with arms rather than rhetoric and attempted to or succeeding in enlisting in the Confederacy.

I'm aware of at least John Clifford Pemberton from Pennsylvania doing as such, however he was a General and I'm more interested in lower ranks, particularly those who would enlist as Privates.
Northerners who were caught attempting to join or aid the Confederacy would also be of interest.
Many Northeners opposed the ACW. Some Northern men fled to Canada just as their great grand sons would do a hundred years later. There were Confederate impressment gangs in Missouri. If a young man was cought his fate depended on the luck of the draw.
Leftyhunter
 
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There is a biography of one called"Yankee Rebel" who was from Ohio.

[...]

@CSA Today cited a book that stated that 2k men from Pennsylvania joined the Confederate Army . @CMWinkler cited a source that stated that 4k men from Indiana joined the Confederate Army. There was at least one company from Southern Illinois that joined the Confederate Army.

Just what I was looking for! Thank you kindly for the information.
 
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Just what I was looking for! Thank you kindly for the information.
My pleasure. "Yankee Rebel Civil War Journal De Witt Patterson" University of North Carolina Press.
Warning Mr.Patterson's view of race relations would
be rather problematic today.
I haven't seen any academic estimates of Northern state ( excluding Confederate and border States) volunteers to the Confederate Army.
There were approximately 150 men from Los Angeles County , California "The Los Angeles Mounted Rangers who escorted Albert Sidney Johnson to Texas which by horse back is no small feat danger wise. The Mounted Rangers joined various Confederate regiments. Far more Californians joined the Union Army.
Leftyhunter
 
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I've been wondering if there are any examples of this for a while.
I learned of two individuals from my State who at the very least opposed the Union's role in the war verbally; Lysander Spooner, an abolitionist who compared the Union's effort to stop Southern secession to a master's effort to stop the freeing of his slaves, and Ambrose L. Kimball, an Essex County journalist who openly voiced that he felt the Lincoln administration's policies and efforts were contradictory to the ideals of the Founding Fathers, which resulting in him getting tarred, feathered and essentially chased to Iowa.
These two made me wonder if any Northerners, particularly from New England, opposed the Union with arms rather than rhetoric and attempted to or succeeding in enlisting in the Confederacy.

I'm aware of at least John Clifford Pemberton from Pennsylvania doing as such, however he was a General and I'm more interested in lower ranks, particularly those who would enlist as Privates.
Northerners who were caught attempting to join or aid the Confederacy would also be of interest.

 
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Edward "Ned" Drummond, Georgia 1st Infantry, came from Winslow, Maine. He married a southern woman and was in Georgia when the War broke out; he opted to enlist in the Confederate forces. There is a record in the Maine State Archives that he was in touch with soldiers from the 7th Maine--but that unit consisted of men who came from the Winslow area (all they were doing was exchanging tidings). He never returned to Maine to live although he may have come back on a visit. I have his biography "Confederate Yankee" on order.
 
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I thinl there was about 45 men in the 15th TN Infantry ftom the Little Egypt part of Illinois. Southern Ohio, Indiana and Illinois had strong ties to the South. Called the Butternut region of the Midwest.
I'm more interested in lower ranks, particularly those who would enlist as Privates.
Company G of the 15th Tennessee, originally called the "Illinois Company," was composed of men from Illinois, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania.

Some members of Company A, 16th Alabama Infantry came from Illinois, Ohio, and Indiana. I don't know exactly how many but maybe @16thAL knows? One of them was Jonathon Eames, a druggist from Cleveland, Ohio, who became the regiment's first hospital steward. Just before or after Chickamauga, he was transferred to Post Hospital duty and served the rest of the war in that capacity. After the war, he returned to Warren County, Ohio and, on July 2, 1867, married an Ohio girl there.
 
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I've been wondering if there are any examples of this for a while.
I learned of two individuals from my State who at the very least opposed the Union's role in the war verbally; Lysander Spooner, an abolitionist who compared the Union's effort to stop Southern secession to a master's effort to stop the freeing of his slaves, and Ambrose L. Kimball, an Essex County journalist who openly voiced that he felt the Lincoln administration's policies and efforts were contradictory to the ideals of the Founding Fathers, which resulting in him getting tarred, feathered and essentially chased to Iowa.
These two made me wonder if any Northerners, particularly from New England, opposed the Union with arms rather than rhetoric and attempted to or succeeding in enlisting in the Confederacy.

I'm aware of at least John Clifford Pemberton from Pennsylvania doing as such, however he was a General and I'm more interested in lower ranks, particularly those who would enlist as Privates.
Northerners who were caught attempting to join or aid the Confederacy would also be of interest.

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Brigadier-General Danville Leadbetter was a native of Maine,
born in 1811; was graduated at the United States military
academy in 1836 as second lieutenant, and was assigned at
first to the artillery and then transferred to the engineer
corps.

He served on garrison duty at Oswego Harbor, NY., 1839-45; was
in charge of the engineer agency in New York for the purchase
and shipment of supplies for the construction of
fortifications, 1845-48; as member of joint commission of
naval and engineer officers for examination of the Pacific
coast of the United States, also as superintending engineer of
the repairs of Fort Morgan, and the building of Fort Gaines, at Mobile, Ala.

The custom house at Mobile was built under his supervision.
Like many other officers of Northern birth his residence as an
army officer among the Southern people had caused him to
become identified with the South in sentiment. He regarded
Alabama as his State, and, upon her secession, determined to
espouse her cause.

Accordingly he resigned his commission as captain in the army
of the United States and, accepting from his adopted State the
commission of lieutenant-colonel, was placed in command of
Fort Morgan. Later he was made a brigadier-general in the
army of the Confederate States (February 27, 1862) and sent
into east Tennessee.

When the Union army was moving upon Chattanooga in 1862,
General Leadbetter was engaged in quite a spirited affair at
Bridgeport, in which, although the Confederates were worsted,
considerable delay was caused to the movements of the enemy.
His skill as an engineer caused him to be sent soon afterward
to superintend the construction of the defenses of Mobile.

In 1863 he was for a short time chief of the engineer
department of the army of Tennessee, and he served in this
capacity during the construction of the lines along Missionary
Ridge, while the army of General Bragg was investing
Chattanooga. A short while before the battle of Missionary
Ridge General Leadbetter accompanied the brigades of Bushrod
Johnson and Gracie on their march to reinforce Longstreet near
Knoxville.

They reached Longstreet on the 24th of November. As
Leadbetter had once been stationed at Knoxville he was
familiar with its fortifications, and for that reason had been
sent to give General Longstreet such help as might be expected
from an experienced engineer.

After three days spent in reconnoitering the position of the
enemy, an attack upon Fort Sanders was decided upon. The
result, however, was disastrous to the Confederates.

General Leadbetter continued to serve the Confederacy
faithfully until the close of the war, when he went to Mexico
and afterward to Canada. He died at Clifton, Canada,
September 26, 1866, at the age of fifty-five.

Source: Confederate Military History, vol. VIII, p. 424
 
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I'm aware of at least John Clifford Pemberton from Pennsylvania doing as such, however he was a General and I'm more interested in lower ranks, particularly those who would enlist as Privates.
Northerners who were caught attempting to join or aid the Confederacy would also be of interest.

I wasn't sure exactly what your Question was.

One of the oddest individuals that I found while researching my ancestor's regiment was the story of one soldier who turned out to be from the North and he returned back to the North after the war. Someone send me a recent newspaper clipping that explained his story.

Charles Vosburg was originally from Gowanda, NY, and is buried there under a headstone provided by V.A. Just before the War, he moved to Mississippi and married a Southern Belle. He then enlisted in the 30th Mississippi Regiment. My search for Service Records found a record for Charles C. Vosburg who enlisted in “Black Hawk Rifles” on May 22, 1861. The company was recruited in Black Hawk but the Army could not find a regiment for it. This took several months so many of the recruits left the company so they could join into a unit going into combat. Charles Vosburg apparently was one who left the Black Hawk Rifles and re-enlisted with Neill’s Guards, Company A, of the 30 Mississippi Regiment. (BTW, I had ancestors who served in both companies.)
The newspaper articles said a historian found Vosburg's name on the roster of 30th Regiment of Mississippi Volunteers. Vosburg had gone to either Atlanta or Louisville, and had married a Southern woman named Helen Blair. She had died soon afterwards. "But he remained down there and enlisted in the Confederate Army," he explained. When the war ended, Charles Vosburg returned to his home of Gowanda, NY., where he was buried.
 
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, ?
Company G of the 15th Tennessee, originally called the "Illinois Company," was composed of men from Illinois, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania.

Some members of Company A, 16th Alabama Infantry came from Illinois, Ohio, and Indiana. I don't know exactly how many but maybe @16thAL knows? One of them was Jonathon Eames, a druggist from Cleveland, Ohio, who became the regiment's first hospital steward. Just before or after Chickamauga, he was transferred to Post Hospital duty and served the rest of the war in that capacity. After the war, he returned to Warren County, Ohio and, on July 2, 1867, married an Ohio girl there.
Interesting. I live in Butler County. Warren County is our neighbor to the east. My brother and his family are there.

I will have to research this. Maybe some folks from my civil war roundtable would know more about it.
 
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There were definitely Northeners in the enlisted ranks of the Confederate Army. There is a biography of one called"Yankee Rebel" who was from Ohio.
How many we don't know. We don't have a comprehensive study such has "Lincoln's Loyalists Union soldiers from the Confederacy" Richard Current North East University Press. Per Current 104k Southern white men from the eleven Confederate States joined the Union Army plus well over 150k black men.
@CSA Today cited a book that stated that 2k men from Pennsylvania joined the Confederate Army . @CMWinkler cited a source that stated that 4k men from Indiana joined the Confederate Army. There was at least one company from Southern Illinois that joined the Confederate Army.
Still nothing close to the 104k white men from the Confederacy that more then offset what ever amount of Northern men that joined the Confederate Army.
Leftyhunter
I agree...
Now there might have been quite a few folks in the southern parts of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois who didn't support the northern war effort, but not enough to take up arms against the US.
 
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I agree...
Now there might have been quite a few folks in the southern parts of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois who didn't support the northern war effort, but not enough to take up arms against the US.
No doubt. Both the Confederate and Union Army had constant problems filling the ranks. I have two different threads comparing and contrasting Union vs Confederate desertion.
Overall it doesn't appear that that many Northeners joined the Confederate Army. Certainly nothing in the neighborhood of 104k Southern whites who joined the Union Army.
Leftyhunter
 
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Now, I didn't know that. Looking him up, he came from Leeds which is only a short distance away. Do you know why he enlisted in the Confederacy?

From his bio:

"superintending engineer of
the repairs of Fort Morgan, and the building of Fort Gaines, at Mobile, Ala.

The custom-house at Mobile was built under his supervision.
Like many other officers of Northern birth his residence as an
army officer among the Southern people had caused him to
become identified with the South in sentiment. He regarded
Alabama as his State, and, upon her secession, determined to
espouse her cause".
 
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From his bio:

"superintending engineer of
the repairs of Fort Morgan, and the building of Fort Gaines, at Mobile, Ala.

The custom-house at Mobile was built under his supervision.
Like many other officers of Northern birth his residence as an
army officer among the Southern people had caused him to
become identified with the South in sentiment. He regarded
Alabama as his State, and, upon her secession, determined to
espouse her cause".
It makes sense. There are accidental residents (people who were born in a place and who stayed) and residents-by-choice (those who opted to stay in a particular place). I hope that life in Alabama was as good as he could wish.
 
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It makes sense. There are accidental residents (people who were born in a place and who stayed) and residents-by-choice (those who opted to stay in a particular place). I hope that life in Alabama was as good as he could wish.

After the war he went to Mexico. He actually died in Canada. He was instrumental in the capture and execution of the East Tennessee "Bridge-Burners" early in the war.
 
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