A List of Virginia's Galvanized Yankees: Confederate Prisoners who joined the Union Forces

As the war progressed and the Union prisoner of war camps continued to expand in numbers, the conditions steadily decreased within these facilities. Many of the Confederate prisoners held in these camps could no longer tolerate the close confinement and filthy conditions, and decided to grab the proverbial dangling carrot and take the Oath of Allegiance. Some of these men were recruited into the service of the Union. Galvanized Yankees was the term used to denote former Confederate prisoners of war who enlisted in the Union Army. These former Confederate soldiers served in the 1st thru the 6th regiments of the US Volunteer Infantry. The six regiments they formed were not associated with any specific state in the Union. It was believed that the ex-Confederate troops should not be used in combat areas where they might fight their former comrades. As a result, they served in the West where they they were used to quell the uprisings of the Plains Indians. They protected settlers form the Indians, restored stage and mail service, guarded survey parties for the Union Pacific Railroad, escorted supply trains and rebuilt telegraph lines.

Galvanized Tars is the term used for those Confederate prisoners who took the Oath and joined the Union Navy and Marine Corps.

The author has used the Compiled Service Records of all the Virginia regiments and miscellaneous units that served in the Confederate armed forces to apply these terms, not only to those former Confederate prisoners who took the Oath, but also to those Confederates who deserted the Confederacy and took the oath and joined the Union armed forces. However, their Union Compiled Service Records are not included in this work.