Red Strings The Red Strings ( also Heroes of America ) were a group in the Southern United States during the American Civil War . They favored peace , an end to the Confederacy , and a return to the Union . They began early in the war as a group of Unionists and Quakers in the Piedmont regions of North Carolina and Virginia where slavery was largely nonexistent and the causes favoring secession were weakest . Origin . Their name comes from their insignia of red strings worn on their lapels or hung outside of their windows to distinguish themselves from the rebels , a symbol derived from the Biblical story of Rahab . The use of the red string in the coat lapel comes from the Biblical story of the harlot Rahab , who had helped two spies of Israel escape from Jericho with a red cord , and was advised by them to hang a red thread on her window as a recognition symbol and to show her faith . Joshua , Chapter 2 , Verses 18 , 21 , and Chapter 6 , verse 23 : “ . . thou shalt bind this line of scarlet in the window which thou didst let us down by . . . . . . and she bound the scarlet line in the window . . . . . . And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive , and her father ’ s household , and all that she had . And she dwellest in Israel even unto this day ; because she hid the messengers that Joshua sent to spy out Jericho . ” The organization was completely decentralized , and most knew only one other member for certain ; most of their anti - Confederate activities were carried out in secret . Some estimate that by the war ' s end , as many as 10 , 000 people belonged to the Red Strings . They were comparably as disruptive to the Southern war effort as the Copperheads were to the Union . Activities . " The best developed of the peace societies , the Order of the Heroes of America , may have been organized as early as Dec . 1861 , though by whom and where is uncertain . Active in North Carolina , southwestern Virginia , and eastern Tennessee , the Heroes protected deserters , aided spies and escaped prisoners , and supplied Federal authorities with information about Confederate troop movements and strength to bring about a Confederate defeat . Brig . Gen . John Echols , who investigated the order in Virginia when it was discovered there in 1864 , believed it had been formed at the suggestion of Federal authorities . Union civilian and military officials cooperated with the order by assuring its members safe passage through the lines and by offering them exemption from military service if they deserted , protection for their property , and a share or confiscated Confederate estates after the war . In addition to their signs and passwords , the Heroes identified themselves by wearing a red string on their lapels and thus were nicknamed the Red Strings ” and the ‘ Red - String Band . ' " In addition to the organized opposition groups such as the Red Strings and Heroes of America , there were other groups that were closer to bandits . Known as “ Buffaloes , ” these men and some women were a mixture of Confederate deserters , draft - dodgers , pro - Union men , escaped slaves and other men escaping the noose such as barn burners , rapists and murderers . Living in small groups in the swamps of Eastern North Carolina or the woods of central and western NC , they attacked isolated homes , often with impunity , since many of the men were away at war , and there was no protection from their lawlessness . " The correspondents in the war records seem unaware that North Carolina , like all Gaul , was divided into three parts - the Confederate , the Yankee and the Buffalo . It was easier to let the Yankee garrison the strip of coast and keep him there than have the expense of it ourselves , but it is amusing to read of “ The Rebels Invading North Carolina . ” The “ Red Strings ” were also interested in forming blacks into soldiers and having them fight for the Union as well . There are miscellaneous accounts of these black companies being formed during the war , as are mentioned in Elizabeth Lee Battle ’ s autobiography , “ Forget - Me - Nots of the Civil War . ” After the war , they actively opposed the Ku Klux Klan . “ One of the main causes for the organization of the Ku Klux Klan in North Carolina was to combat the influence of the Union League . Governor William Woods Holden was the first president of the League in North Carolina , and James H . Harris , a Negro , was Vice - president . “ Prof . Lefler later recounts : “ If there had been no Loyal League in North Carolina , there would have been no Ku Klux Klan , or clubbing together of the white people there … Still the negroes [ sic ] operate upon each other , so that one dare not depart from the ranks ; they are arrayed yet in a solid phalanx … ” He later quotes from a Congressional investigation into the origins of the KKK in North Carolina : “ It was at a time when the republican party had three secret organizations in operation in the state , the Union League , the Heroes of America , and the Red Strings . They had a paper called the Red String , printed at Greensorough [ sic ] , edited by Mr . Tourgee ( Albion W . Tourgée ) . Our friends thought it proper to organize a secret society for the purpose of counteracting that influence . - Ku Klux reports , North Carolina Testimony , pp . 8 , 309 - 310 , 318 , 363 . ” Red Strings Baseball Team . The term “ Red Strings ” became popular among different groups after the war . Indeed , during the next generation , there was an exceptional baseball team formed in Yadkin County with the name , “ Red Strings . ” They only lost three games out of some sixty games that they played in their brief career . Many of the players were trained in Quaker schools , although they denied any relation to the “ Red Strings ” of the Civil War . “ How the name Red Strings originated is not known definitely . Members think Captain Gus Long , organizer and manager , gave the name … Elkin - ites didn ’ t like the name Red Strings - too much like night riding political group about this time , the Red Shirts , reminiscent of the earlier Ku Klux Klan . They preferred to call them the Longtown boys . ” Red String Conspiracy . It is unknown if an earlier Southern conspiracy with a similar name , also organized by slaves and indentured servants , that took place in Georgia in the 18th century had any influence or association with the later Red Strings . In 1735 and 1736 , a conspiracy among indentured servants was quashed in Savannah , Georgia and in South Carolina . The servants would be known " by a red string tied around their right wrist " and they would kill the white masters and escape to join Native Americans , escaped slaves and other runaway indentured servants .