Were Confederate soldiers eventually allowed to serve in the military?

Cranchris31

Private
Joined
Jan 24, 2019
Location
New Mexico
I know many of the officers were forbidden, but does anyone have any proof former Confederates served? Particularly during the westward expansion? How many men eventually served in the US Military after the Civil War?
 
Last edited:
Yep but Fightin Joe was the only Gen allowed back in and was made a Gen.
Actually there were at least five ex-confederate officers who later served as US generals, but only one - Joe Wheeler - is buried at Arlington.

Joseph Wheeler http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid= 6518
Matthew Cal Butler http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid= 9501
Fitz Lee http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=4660
Thomas L Rosser http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=11068
William C Oates http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=5901994

Joseph Wheeler: In 1898, Wheeler, aged 61, volunteered for the Spanish-American war, receiving an appointment to major general of volunteers by U.S. President William McKinley

Matthew Cal Butler: During the Spanish-American War, Butler was appointed major general of the United States Volunteers and was one of the commissioners appointed to supervise the evacuation of Cuba by the Spanish forces in 1898.

Fitzhugh Lee: Upon the declaration of war between Spain and the United States, he re-entered the army.
and was one of the ex-Confederate general officers who were made major generals of United States Volunteers. Fitzhugh Lee commanded the VII Army Corps, but took no part in the actual operations in Cuba. He was military governor of Havana and Pinar del Río in 1899, subsequently commanded the Department of the Missouri, and retired in 1901 as a brigadier general, U.S. Army

Thomas L Rosser: On June 10, 1898, President William McKinley appointed Rosser a brigadier general of United States volunteers during the Spanish-American War. His first task was training young cavalry recruits in a camp near the old Civil War battlefield of Chickamauga in northern Georgia. He was honorably discharged on October 31, 1898, and returned home.

William C Oates: Was only a Col in the CS service, but was made brigadier general US during his service in the Spanish American War.
 
Vote Here:
Yes but how many were CS Generals and then US Generals
Four - all of the ones I listed except Oates - he, as Im sure you already know, was Col of the 15th AL

Lieutenant John J. "Black Jack" Pershing would later write (after the Battle of San Juan Hill):
"Each officer or soldier next in rank took charge of the line or group immediately in his front or rear and halting to fire at each good opportunity, taking reasonable advantage of cover, the entire command moved forward as coolly as though the buzzing of bullets was the humming of bees. White regiments, black regiments, regulars and Rough Riders, representing the young manhood of the North and the South, fought shoulder to shoulder, unmindful of race or color, unmindful of whether commanded by ex-Confederate or not, and mindful of only their common duty as Americans."
http://www.homeofheroes.com/wallofhonor/spanish_am/11_crowdedhour.html
 
Last edited:
Vote Here:
I know many of the officers were forbidden, but does anyone have any proof former Confederates served? Particularly during the westward expansion? How many men eventually served in the US Military after the Civil War?
Keep in mind the post ACW army up to the Spanish American War was very small and didn't pay much. Promotion would be very slow at best.
Leftyhunter
 
Vote Here:
Yes, some in fact agreed to go west to protect against Indian raids and got the name Galvanized Yankees.
These were prisoners who took the oath of allegiance, were sent West to fight the Native Americans and had some of the lowest desertion rates of any units in the US Army. Also, there were instances after WWII that former soldiers of the German Army enlisted in the US Army.
 
Vote Here:
There didn't appear to be a problem with the US Army, it was an iffy issue for many Southerners especially if later in life you wanted to get into a Confederate veteran home.

An example would be the unfortunate case of W.T. Vick who had served faithfully throughout the war in the 40th Mississippi Infantry. But then, the day after Lee's surrender at Appomattox, he took the oath and enlisted in the Fifth US Infantry. Later, when he applied for admittance to the Arkansas Confederate Veterans Home. His application was denied; the reason given, he had enlisted in the US Army before the war was officially over.
 
Vote Here:
I do not believe he ever made it in, but Captain Dick Collins of Joe Shelby's command and leader of Collins Battery attempted to offer his services to the US at the outset of the Spanish-American War. He was said to have traveled to St. Louis to pursue that desire.
 
Vote Here:
Back
Top