The Galvanized Yankees [Paperback]

Dee Brown (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1986

Here is the fascinating and little-known story of the Galvanized Yankees, who stood watch over a nation that they had once sought to destroy. They were Confederate soldiers who were recruited from Union prison camps in the North to serve in the West. On the condition they would not be sent south to fight their former comrades, they exchanged gray for blue uniforms.

From 1864 to 1866 six regiments of Galvanized Yankees fought Indians, escorted supply trains along the Oregon and Sante Fe trails, accompanied expeditions, guarded surveying parties for the Union Pacific Railroad, and manned lonely outposts on the frontier. Dee Brown, the author of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, tells what happened to a lost legion, unhonored and unsung.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The Galvanized Yankees is an accurate, interesting, and sometimes thrilling account of an unusual group of men who rendered a valuable service to the nation in a time of great need. It is also a fresh and informative study of the Old West in transition from frontier to stable society."—Bell I. Wiley, New York Times Book Review

(Bell I. Wiley New York Times Book Review )

Product Details

• Paperback: 255 pages
• Publisher: University of Nebraska Press (June 1, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 080326075X
• ISBN-13: 978-0803260757
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #845,047 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Little Known Part of American History, February 2, 2009

By 

G. Patton "garules" (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Galvanized Yankees (Paperback)

This book is the definitive work about a little known part of our history -- the Indian Wars of 1865 on the Western Plains. Abraham Lincoln supported a move to draft Confederate prisoners of war languishing (and often starving) in Northern prisons, with the stipulation that they would not have to go South and fight fellow Confederates. The "Galvanized Yankees" (so named because it was thought that their loyalty to the North was only a thin "ganvanized" layer) -- 6,000 of them, took the oath of loyalty to the Union and headed West to guard stagecoaches and mail routes. Numerous fights with Plains Indians, bitter cold, at lonely outposts were but a few of the hazards the Galvanized Yankees faced. My gg grandfather survived all this and returned home in 1866. I recommend this book to anyone that is interested in learning more about these brave men who chose service to the Union rather than almost certain death in Northern prisons.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An aspect of western americana little known, March 7, 2001

By 

Lisa A. Proch "westernhistorybuff" (Parker, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Galvanized Yankees (Paperback)

This is the first book to touch on the subject of southern prisoners taking an oath to the US Government to fight indians in the west. During the civil war, most military men returned east to seek their glory in the many battles. This left our western borders unprotected. Yet the tide of western migration was not stalled. Civil war prisons in the north became overcrowded. The idea of releasing POWs for service in the west was born; hence the name galvanized. This book is the story of those soldiers, who out of desperation for better living conditions agreed to a term of service to fight indians and protect the western frontier. My only complaint on this book was that it was to thin. I craved for more knowledge.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting and unusual subject, February 9, 2011

By 

mastermindquiet - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Galvanized Yankees (Paperback)

The Galvanized Yankees is an interesting book about US Civil War Confederate soldiers who were offered a chance to take an oath of loyalty to the Union if they would enlist in the army and serve on the western frontier. About six thousand eventually did so, serving between 1864 and 1866. Brown's narrative history mostly follows them by recalling the history of a unit or units grouped together, with a couple of chapters about individuals. Recommended for those most interested in military or American history, although the book does tend to get repetitious at times.