Galvanized Yankees Galvanized Yankees was a term from the American Civil War denoting former Confederate prisoners of war who swore allegiance to the United States and joined the Union Army . Approximately 5 , 600 former Confederate soldiers enlisted in the " United States Volunteers " , organized into six regiments between January 1864 and November 1866 . Of those , more than 250 began their service as Union soldiers , were captured in battle , then enlisted in prison to join a regiment of the Confederate States Army . They surrendered to Union forces in December 1864 and were held by the United States as deserters , but were saved from prosecution by being enlisted in the 5th and 6th U . S . Volunteers . An additional 800 former Confederates served in volunteer regiments raised by the states , forming ten companies . Four of those companies saw combat in the Western Theater against the Confederate Army , two served on the western frontier , and one became an independent company of U . S . Volunteers , serving in Minnesota . The term " galvanized " has also been applied to former Union soldiers enlisting in the Confederate Army , including the use of " galvanized Yankees " to designate them . At least 1 , 600 former Union prisoners of war enlisted in Confederate service in late 1864 and early 1865 , most of them recent German or Irish immigrants who had been drafted into Union regiments . The practice of recruiting from prisoners of war began in 1862 at Camp Douglas at Chicago , Illinois , with attempts to enlist Confederate prisoners who expressed reluctance to exchange following their capture at Fort Donelson . Some 228 prisoners of mostly Irish extraction were enlisted by Col . James A . Mulligan before the War Department banned further recruitment March 15 . The ban , except for a few enlistments of foreign - born Confederates into largely ethnic regiments , continued until the fall of 1863 . Three factors led to a resurrection of the concept : an outbreak of the American Indian Wars by tribes in Minnesota and on the Great Plains , the disinclination of paroled but not exchanged Federal troops to be used to fight them , and protests of the Confederate government that any use of paroled troops in Indian warfare was a violation of the Dix - Hill prisoner of war cartel . Gen . Gilman Marston , commandant of the huge prisoner of war camp at Point Lookout , Maryland , recommended that Confederate prisoners be enlisted in the U . S . Navy , which Secretary of War Edwin Stanton approved December 21 . After General Benjamin Butler ( whose jurisdiction included Point Lookout ) advised Stanton that more prisoners could be recruited for the Army than the Navy , the matter was referred to President Lincoln , who gave verbal authorization on January 2 , 1864 , and formal authorization on March 5 to raise the 1st United States Volunteer Infantry for three years ' service without restrictions as to use . On September 1 , to bolster his election chances in Pennsylvania , Lincoln approved 1 , 750 more Confederate recruits , enough to form two more regiments , to be sent to the frontier to fight American Indians . Due to doubts about their ultimate loyalty , galvanized Yankees in federal service were generally assigned to garrison forts far from the Civil War battlefields or in action against Indians in the west . However desertion rates among the units of galvanized Yankees were little different from those of state volunteer units in Federal service . The final two regiments of U . S . Volunteers were recruited in the spring of 1865 to replace the 2nd and 3rd U . S . V . I . , which had been enlisted as one - year regiments . Galvanized troops of the U . S . Volunteers on the frontier served as far west as Camp Douglas , Utah ; as far south as Fort Union , New Mexico ; and as far north as Fort Benton , Montana . Origin of term . The National Park Service , in a bulletin published in 1992 for visitors to the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial , gives as the origin of the expression " Galvanized Yankee " as : The term " galvanized " is most commonly associated with metal when it is coated with zinc to protect it from corrosion . In the process the surface color of the metal is altered , but underneath the coating the steel is unchanged . During the Civil War , in both Northern and Southern prison camps , soldiers sometimes decided to " galvanize , " or change sides , to save themselves from the horrors of prison life . Like the metal , these galvanized soldiers in many cases were still " Good old Rebels , " or " Billy Yanks , " underneath their adopted uniforms . The expression " galvanized Yankees " sprang up as a term of deprecation among Confederate prisoners for those who chose to enlist . At the same time , the use of " white - washed Rebels " as a reference came into being among Federal state regiments stationed on the frontier at the time the 1st U . S . V . I . arrived . Dee Brown cited documentation from March and April 1865 indicating that the term was first used to characterize captured Federals who turned Confederate . The general use of " galvanized Yankees " originated in a story in the " Springfield Republican " ( Springfield , Massachusetts ) on May 25 , 1865 , by Samuel Bowles , who wrote : Among the present limited number of troops on the Plain are two regiments of infantry , all from the rebel army . They have cheerfully re - enlisted into the federal service . They are known in the army as " white - washed rebs , " or as they call themselves , " galvanized Yankees . " Federal regiments composed of " galvanized Yankees " . United States Volunteers . The 1st U . S . V . I . was recruited at Point Lookout prison camp between January 21 and April 22 , 1864 , as a three - year regiment . Assigned to the District of Eastern Virginia , Department of Virginia and North Carolina , it moved to Norfolk , Virginia , where on orders of General Ulysses S . Grant it was relegated to provost duty there , Portsmouth , Virginia , and Elizabeth City , North Carolina . In August 1864 Grant ordered it to the Department of the Northwest in Milwaukee , Wisconsin . The 1st U . S . V . I . traveled by ship to New York City , and by train to Chicago , where it received further orders splitting the regiment . Four companies continued to Milwaukee , while six companies ( B , C , D , E , H , and K ) were sent to St . Louis , Missouri , arriving there August 22 . They moved by the steamboat " Effie Deans " and by forced march to Fort Rice , Dakota Territory , arriving there October 17 for garrison duty . Conditions were hard over the winter , and fully 11 % of the command died of illness , primarily scurvy . Between May 10 and August 31 , 1865 , Company K garrisoned Fort Berthold and Company B the trading post known as Fort Union at the mouth of the Yellowstone , obliged to travel by steamboat through hostile territory . Four companies were present at Fort Rice , along with two companies of the 4th U . S . V . I . , when a large force of Lakota and Cheyenne led by Sitting Bull attacked for three hours on July 28 , 1865 , making away with the entire horse herd and killing two soldiers . In October 1865 the battalion returned to St . Louis to muster out November 27 . The four companies continuing on to Wisconsin in August 1864 were ordered to the District of Minnesota . Their muster out in July 1865 was canceled , and in October they were ordered to build and garrison Fort Fletcher , Kansas , and man two outposts at Monument Station and Ponds Creek Station , also in Kansas , to protect the new Butterfield Overland Despatch stagecoach route . Companies A , F , G , and I of the 1st U . S . V . I . mustered out at Fort Leavenworth on May 22 , 1866 , after 25 months of active service , the longest service of any of the " galvanized Yankees . " Authorized in October 1864 at the Rock Island prisoner camp in Illinois as a one - year regiment , the 2nd U . S . V . I . was not organized until February 1865 . It was ordered to the Department of the Missouri and sent by rail to Fort Leavenworth , Kansas , where it was assigned to duty in the District of Upper Arkansas along the Santa Fe Trail from the Little Arkansas River to Fort Dodge , Kansas , and along the Cimarron Crossing to Fort Lyon , Colorado . From Fort Leavenworth the unit marched to Fort Riley , and stationed companies there and at Salem , Fort Ellsworth , Fort Larned , Fort Zarah and Fort Scott , Kansas . Companies F and G were involved in the establishment of Fort Dodge in the summer of 1865 . Their duties involved scouting , wagon train escort and operating against Indians . Members of the regiment were present as guards at the signing of the Little Arkansas Treaty . The regiment mustered out at Fort Leavenworth November 7 , 1865 . The 3rd U . S . V . I . was authorized at the Rock Island prisoner camp in October 1864 as a one - year regiment but not organized until February 1865 . It was ordered to the Department of the Missouri , arriving at Fort Kearny , Nebraska , April 9 , 1865 , where it was assigned to duty in the Districts of Nebraska and Colorado . Companies A and B were stationed at Fort Kearney ; C and D at Cottonwood , Colorado ; E and F at Fort Rankin ; and G and H at Julesburg , Colorado , protecting overland mail routes from Indian attacks . Companies I and K were sent to Fort Laramie , and on May 15 , 1865 , were parceled out in small detachments along 300 miles of the Pacific Telegraph Company line from Laramie to South Pass , Territory of Idaho ( now Wyoming ) . Company I was involved in numerous skirmishes , including combat at the Battle of the Platte Bridge Station , and suffered higher casualties than any other company of the 3rd U . S . V . I . The regiment mustered out November 29 , 1865 , having served with distinction , including a low desertion rate . The 4th U . S . V . I . was organized as a three - year regiment at Point Lookout on October 31 , 1864 , although only six companies could be induced to enlist . The quality of recruit was not as high as that of the earlier 1st U . S . V . I . The regiment waited at Portsmouth , Virginia , in hopes that more troops could be raised , but calls for men from the west led to its transfer to the frontier at the end of April 1865 . 10 % deserted before the regiment reached Sioux City , Iowa , in Department of the Northwest , on May 28 . Many were arrested and held in confinement before returning to the ranks . Two companies were stationed at Fort Rice , then at Fort Sully ; one at Fort Berthold ; and three at Fort Randall until June 1866 , when the six companies were recalled to Leavenworth , mustering out as they arrived between June 18 and July 2 . The 5th U . S . V . I . was enlisted at the Alton and Camp Douglas prisoner camps in Illinois in March and April 1865 as a three - year regiment , then ordered to Fort Leavenworth on April 28 , 1865 at the urging of Maj . Gen . Grenville Dodge , commanding general of the Department of the Missouri . From there it moved to Fort Riley between May 18 and May 28 to relieve units of the 2nd U . S . V . I . in guarding the Santa Fe Trail . In August three companies were sent to Fort Halleck , Idaho Territory ( now Wyoming ) ; two companies to Camp Wardwell , Colorado ; two companies to Fort Lyon , and Company B to Denver for quartermaster duty . Companies saw periodic duty at Fort McPherson , Nebraska ; Fort Collins , Colorado ; and Fort John Buford , Wyoming . Companies C and D , consisting mostly of former Union soldiers who had been captured after enlisting in the Confederate 10th Tennessee , escorted the Sawyers expedition to build a road to Montana and garrisoned Fort Reno for nearly a year . Companies A through G reassembled at Fort Kearny in August 1866 and mustered out on October 11 . Companies H , I , and K garrisoned Fort Lyon until October 1866 , when Gen . William T . Sherman closed the post for deplorable living conditions . They marched to Fort Leavenworth , where they mustered out on November 13 , the last of the " galvanized Yankees " . The 6th U . S . V . I . was recruited from prisoner camps at Camp Chase , Ohio ( two companies ) ; Camp Morton , Indiana ( two companies ) ; and Camp Douglas , Illinois ( six companies ) , as a three - year regiment , and assembled on April 2 , 1865 at Camp Fry near Chicago for outfitting and drill . It traveled by rail to Fort Leavenworth , Kansas , on May 10 – 11 , 1865 , the only regiment of " galvanized Yankees " to arrive on the frontier intact and at full strength , 976 officers and men . Between May 14 and May 31 it marched to Fort Kearny , Nebraska , where it dispersed to replace the various companies of the 3rd U . S . V . I . guarding the telegraph line and the Oregon Trail . In August Gen . Patrick E . Connor ordered regimental headquarters and three companies to garrison Camp Douglas , Utah ; and two companies west from Fort Rankin , Colorado , to replace the cavalry along the telegraph line west of Fort Laramie . 35 of the 275 men ordered to Utah deserted before their arrival October 9 . The companies in Utah were relieved by regulars in April 1866 and marched to Fort Bridger . The other seven companies frequently changed stations , posted at some point to Camp Wardwell , Julesburg , and Fort Sedgwick , Colorado ; Post Alkali , Fort Cottonwood , Mud Springs , Plum Creek , and Columbus , Nebraska ; Fort Wallace , Kansas ; and Fort Laramie , Fort Halleck , Fort Caspar , and Sweetwater Station , Territory of Idaho . In October 1866 all companies except Company B at Fort Wallace were relieved by regulars and assembled at Fort Kearny , where they mustered out between October 10 and 15 . Company B marched across Kansas to Fort Leavenworth and mustered out on November 3 . The " 1st Regiment Cavalry , Connecticut Volunteers " was originally raised in November 1861 as the " 1st Battalion Connecticut Cavalry " , and campaigned in West Virginia , the Shenandoah Valley , and the Second Battle of Bull Run . In September 1863 , authorized to expand to a regiment , the 1st Connecticut Cavalry while on Provost Guard at Camp Chesebrough in Baltimore , recruited 82 replacements from among Confederate prisoners kept at Fort Delaware , placing most in Company G ( organized October 5 , 1863 ) and spreading the rest throughout the regiment . In the spring of 1864 Gen . Grant directed that all units containing former Confederates would be employed on the western frontier . All of the former Confederates in the 1st Connecticut Cavalry were placed into Company G and on April 26 , 1864 , sent to Fort Snelling , Minnesota , also serving at Forts Ridgely and Ripley . On April 6 , 1865 , the remaining 40 former Confederates of the company transferred to the U . S . Volunteers and were designated the 1st Independent Company , U . S . V . . The 1st Independent Company remained on duty in the District of Minnesota until mustered out on November 16 , 1865 . The service of the " 3rd Regiment Cavalry , Maryland Volunteers " began on August 8 , 1864 , with the raising of three companies at Baltimore . In September and October , Companies D , E , F , and G were recruited from Confederate prisoners at Fort Delaware , most of whom had been captured at the Battle of Gettysburg , numbering approximately 450 in all . The regiment remained in garrison at Camp Schenck in Baltimore , seeking to raise more troops , assigned to the Cavalry Reserve of the Eighth Corps until officially organized on January 9 , 1864 . Sent by steamship to New Orleans and Madisonville , Louisiana , the 3rd Maryland Cavalry took part in the Red River Campaign , in the Atchafalaya Expedition in the first week of June 1864 , was dismounted and participated in the siege of Fort Morgan in August . Disease seriously depleted the ranks of the regiment , and in December 1864 the 3rd Maryland Cavalry consolidated into a six - company battalion . Company D became part of Company E , and Company G part of Company F , participating in the campaign to capture Mobile , Alabama in March and April 1865 . The 3rd Maryland Cavalry was the only unit of " galvanized Yankees " in Federal service to actively campaign against Confederate forces . At the end of hostilities it was assigned to the Department of Mississippi and garrisoned Natchez , Mississippi through the summer of 1865 . The battalion mustered out at Vicksburg on September 7 , 1865 . Battery M , " 3rd Regiment Heavy Artillery , Pennsylvania Volunteers " was raised in Philadelphia , then recruited prisoners at Fort Delaware in July and August 1863 to fill out its ranks . It was apparently over - recruited in numbers . The battery moved to Fortress Monroe to train , where some members were induced to join the newly created 188th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry . Company C of the " 4th Regiment Infantry , Delaware Volunteers " is claimed to have been recruited in 1862 or 1863 from prisoners at Fort Delaware , but claims have not been substantiated through checks of muster rolls . The " 11th Regiment Cavalry , Ohio Volunteers " was originally raised as four companies of the 7th Ohio Cavalry in October 1861 . It was sent west for duty on the Indian frontier in February 1862 to resolve a political dispute after its commander refused to consolidate with the 6th Ohio Cavalry . Permanently detached and given the designation " 1st Independent Battalion Ohio Cavalry " , it arrived at Fort Laramie on May 30 , 1862 . Four additional companies were recruited between June 26 and July 31 , 1863 , including approximately 40 Confederate prisoners from Camp Chase who became members of Company E . Originally called to service to repel John Hunt Morgan ' s raid through Ohio , the companies were also sent west to combine with the 1st Independent Battalion into the new 11th Ohio Volunteer Cavalry . They left Camp Dennison August 1 for Fort Leavenworth , reporting for duty August 13 . While awaiting supplies , the battalion joined in pursuit of Quantrill ' s Raiders following the Lawrence Massacre . After marching 150 miles , they were recalled and marched to Fort Laramie between September 2 and October 10 . En route , four of Company E ' s recruits plotted to involve all Confederates in the company in a mutiny when it reached Julesburg , but were disarmed and arrested before the attempt could be made . In July and August 1864 , Capt . Henry E . Palmer was assigned to deliver a detachment of 60 recruits , all former members of Morgan ' s cavalry force , from Camp Chase to Fort Kearny , where they became Company K of the 11th Ohio Volunteer Cavalry . In August and September 1865 " galvanized " Companies E and K accompanied Connor ' s Powder River Expedition . Both companies returned to Fort Laramie , where they continued guard duties along the stage and telegraph lines until mustering out on July 14 , 1866 . " see Ahl ' s Heavy Artillery Company " Confederate forces composed of " galvanized Yankees " . Confederate recruitment of Union prisoners of war was authorized by Confederate Secretary of War James A . Seddon on September 30 , 1864 , after inquires from Gen . Braxton Bragg to recruit foreign - born prisoners . Seddon had as early as March 1863 granted discretionary permission to commanders including Gen . John Pemberton to recruit prisoners , but few if any , were actually enlisted . A concerted recruiting effort began on October 12 and continued to the end of the war . At least four Confederate units were recruited , including three units of Regulars in the Provisional Army of the Confederate States . In October 1864 John G . O ' Neill , colonel of the " 10th Tennessee Regiment ( Irish Volunteers ) " , was authorized to recruit Union prisoners at Andersonville and Millen , Georgia , to replenish the depleted ranks of the regiment . O ' Neill , recovering from wounds received at the Battle of Resaca , appears to have delegated part of the task to a former officer of his company , Michael Burke . In October and November 1864 O ' Neill and Burke enlisted more than 250 soldiers of a number of Union regiments . Efforts were made at first to recruit Irish immigrants in compliance with Seddon ' s original instructions , but when few complied , native - born Union soldiers were enlisted . The recruits were required to take an oath of allegiance to the Confederacy , and were not issued arms or ammunition until the night before their first engagement . State volunteer regiments in Confederate service . Held under strict camp guard , they were sent to Mobile , Alabama while the remainder of the 10th Tennessee advanced to the Battle of Franklin . Organized as Burke ' s Battalion , 10th Tennessee , they were made part of an " ad hoc " defense force assembled by Col . William W . Wier and sent by train towards Tupelo , Mississippi to repel a raid along the Mobile and Ohio Railroad by two brigades of Union cavalry under the command of Brig . Gen . Benjamin Grierson . The Union cavalry force had already captured a substantial number of Brig . Gen . Nathan Bedford Forrest ' s dismounted cavalry encamped at Verona on Christmas Day . Burke ' s Battalion and the 17th Arkansas were sent with a battery of artillery aboard the first train to block the tracks at Egypt Station , a mile west of Aberdeen , Mississippi . On the evening of December 27 , 1864 , six members of Burke ' s Battalion deserted and made their way into the Union lines , where they reported the presence of the former prisoners and the likelihood that they would not resist any Union attack . The next morning Grierson ' s 1st Brigade advanced and came under fire from Confederate skirmishers . The 2nd New Jersey Cavalry responded with a charge in which it lost 74 casualties and 80 horses , but captured more than 500 prisoners , among whom were 253 former Union soldiers from Burke ' s Battalion of the 10th Tennessee . Grierson ' s prisoners were shipped by steamer to the Union prison camp at Alton , Illinois , where the claims of the " galvanized Yankees " that they desired restoration to their original units were investigated . Major General Dodge recommended on March 5 , 1865 that all the former Union soldiers as well as a number of Confederate troops be enlisted in the U . S . Volunteers for service in the West . The recommendation for clemency was resisted by the Judge Advocate General ' s Office in Washington , D . C . , which advocated that the former Union soldiers be tried for desertion , citing disputed testimony over the degree of their participation in the battle at Egypt Station . Dodge ' s recommendation was accepted , however , and the prisoners were permitted to enlist in the 5th and 6th U . S . Volunteers . O ' Neill returned to Andersonville and recruited 150 more prisoners for the 10th Tennessee in January 1865 , and approximately 165 more in March . In cinema :