HF TV shows that had a Confederate soldier or ex-Confederate soldier.

Historical-Fiction
And who could forget the irascible and grumpy but lovable Doc Adams. His interactions with Festus were always good for a laugh.

And a trivia tidbit - Doc mentions in one Gunsmoke episode that he was a US Army surgeon during the Civil War. I think it was the Mannon episode with Steve Forrest as a former member of Quantrill's raiders.

Yep! I think Chester Goode was a Union vet, and his limp came from a war injury.

Though never actually mentioned in the show as far as I know, Festus Haggen was a Confederate veteran. The actor who played Festus was Ken Curtis, a singer as well as an actor. In the late 1960s he released two albums singing & telling stories in character as Festus.

In one of the spoken word tracks, called "Ode to a Mule," Festus tells of being a mule skinner in the Confederate Army starting 1861 and having a favorite mule named Ruth. He goes on to tell of the Battle of Franklin in Tennessee and how he came under heavy fire while trying to recover Confederate dead late into the night after the battle. Festus says he survived only because his faithful mule Ruth carried him through a hail of bullets; after reaching safety, he struck a match to light his pipe and noticed Ruth had been shot many times and eventually she died. In Ruth's honor, he swore to name every mule he owned thereafter "Ruth," no matter the animal's gender.
 
I do recall Chester Goode saying he was a cook in the Army or learned to cook in the Army. Something like that. Something about cooking and the Army but I thought he also said "down in Texas". But that could have also been as a Union soldier, there was a fair amount of union troops "down in Texas".Dennis Weaver was from Missouri , I think.
 
Yep! I think Chester Goode was a Union vet, and his limp came from a war injury.

Though never actually mentioned in the show as far as I know, Festus Haggen was a Confederate veteran. The actor who played Festus was Ken Curtis, a singer as well as an actor. In the late 1960s he released two albums singing & telling stories in character as Festus.

In one of the spoken word tracks, called "Ode to a Mule," Festus tells of being a mule skinner in the Confederate Army starting 1861 and having a favorite mule named Ruth. He goes on to tell of the Battle of Franklin in Tennessee and how he came under heavy fire while trying to recover Confederate dead late into the night after the battle. Festus says he survived only because his faithful mule Ruth carried him through a hail of bullets; after reaching safety, he struck a match to light his pipe and noticed Ruth had been shot many times and eventually she died. In Ruth's honor, he swore to name every mule he owned thereafter "Ruth," no matter the animal's gender.
Ken Curtis was also director John Ford's son-in-law. I know he appeared in "The Searchers". He was at one time a member of the western singing group "Sons of the Pioneers."
 
A bit off topic and they probably wouldn't film such a thing nowadays but in an episode of Dennis the Menace, Dennis finds some Confederate Money in the hem of an old coat that his mother let's him play in. I think he's even wearing his great grandpas old kepi.
Is it this episode? He finds a Confederate $50 bill and tries to buy a new fishing rod with it.

 
Weaver was born and raised in Joplin, Missouri. He was a US Navy pilot during WWII. It was never explained on Gunsmoke. How he got his limp. There was never a written backstory to his character.
 
James Drury played the Virginian. With a title like that the character had to be an ex-confederate. In the original novel that the series was based on the main character was called "Jeff" as in Jefferson Davis. And he said he came from "back East". Plus some of the cowboys work on the Shiloh ranch.
 
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Ken Curtis was also director John Ford's son-in-law. I know he appeared in "The Searchers". He was at one time a member of the western singing group "Sons of the Pioneers."
Ken also sang with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra often replacing Frank Sinatra. He then sang with the Shep Fields orchestra before joining Sons of the Pioneers (after Roy Rogers left as lead vocalist). He also was an infantryman in the US Army in WWII.
 
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Ken also sang with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra often replacing Frank Sinatra. He then sang with the Shep Fields orchestra before joining Sons of the Pioneers (after Roy Rogers left as lead vocalist). He also was an infantryman in the US Army in WWII.
Besides "The Searchers" , he was also in Rio Grande , The Horse Soldiers and Cheyenne Autumn. On the downside he was also in The Killer Shrews . He did a great job as Festus .
 
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