From Gray to Blue - Galvanized Yankees in the American Civil War

Jul 30, 2026

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A historical study of Confederate soldiers who joined the Union army during the American Civil War, expanding the scope of earlier work on “galvanized Yankees.” Building on author Patrick H. Garrow’s prior research and named investigations tied to prisoner-of-war camps, the book examines why former Confederates entered federal ranks, whether as POWs or otherwise. It traces organized units and campaigns, connects individual cases to prison systems, and offers a fuller account of allegiance change and its meaning within the war’s final years.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryStory & Novel

FormatPDF

Pages291

Reading Time7 h 28 min

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction

ONE Changing Sides

TWO Civil War Prisons

THREE The Twenty-Third Illinois Infantry and the Sixty-Fifth Illinois Infantry

FOUR Captain Ahl’s Battery

FIVE The First Connecticut Cavalry

SIX The Third Maryland Cavalry

SEVEN Units Raised Within the Confederacy

EIGHT The Western Frontier and the Civil War

NINE The First United States Volunteer Infantry

TEN The Second United States Volunteer Infantry

ELEVEN The Third United States Volunteer Infantry

TWELVE The Fourth United States Volunteer Infantry

THIRTEEN The Fifth United States Volunteer Infantry

FOURTEEN The Sixth United States Volunteer Infantry

FIFTEEN After the War

Notes

Bibliography

Index

FROM GRAY TO BLUE [OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com) PATRICK H. GARROW From Gray to Blue Galvanized Yankees in the American Civil War The University of Tennessee Press Knoxville [OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com) Copyright © 2025 by The University of Tennessee Press / Knoxville. All Rights Reserved. Manufactured in the United States of America. First Edition. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA Names: Garrow, [Patrick H. author](Patrick H. author) Title: From gray to blue : galvanized Yankees and the last years of the American Civil War / Patrick H. Garrow. Description: First edition. | Knoxville : The University of Tennessee Press, 2025. | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Summary: “Patrick H. Garrow follows up his 2020 publication with the press, Changing Sides: Union Prisoners of War Who Joined the Confederate Army, with a study of Confederate soldiers who joined the Union army. This project vastly expands Dee Brown’s Galvanized Yankees, which looked at only six volunteer regiments. On the other hand, Garrow comprehensively explores former Confederate soldiers who would later join the Federal ranks, whether they were former POWs or not, to present an inclusive study of galvanized soldiers and a fuller picture of those who fought in the American Civil War and why”—Provided by publisher. Identifiers: LCCN 2025023509 (print) | LCCN 2025023510 (ebook) | ISBN 9781621909637 hardcover | ISBN 9781621909651 adobe pdf | ISBN 9781621909644 epub Subjects: LCSH: United States. Army—History—Civil War, 1861–1865 | Defectors—Confederate States of America | United States—History—Civil War, 1861–1865—Prisoners and prisons | United States—History—Civil War, 1861–1865—Regimental histories Classification: LCC E615 .G38 2025 (print) | LCC E615 (ebook) LC record available at [https://lccn.loc.gov/2025023509](https://lccn.loc.gov/2025023509)[ ](https://lccn.loc.gov/2025023509)LC ebook record available at [https://lccn.loc.gov/2025023510](https://lccn.loc.gov/2025023510) [OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com) Contents Preface Acknowledgments Introduction ONE Changing Sides TWO Civil War Prisons THREE The Twenty-Third Illinois Infantry and the Sixty-Fifth Illinois Infantry FOUR Captain Ahl’s Battery FIVE The First Connecticut Cavalry SIX The Third Maryland Cavalry SEVEN Units Raised Within the Confederacy EIGHT The Western Frontier and the Civil War NINE The First United States Volunteer Infantry TEN The Second United States Volunteer Infantry ELEVEN The Third United States Volunteer Infantry TWELVE The Fourth United States Volunteer Infantry THIRTEEN The Fifth United States Volunteer Infantry FOURTEEN The Sixth United States Volunteer Infantry FIFTEEN After the War Notes Bibliography Index [OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com) Illustations Following page 113 Lewis Webb with his family John Colby Griggs Wright Batchelor“Galvanized Yankee”Col. James A. Mulligan Maj. Gen. Benjamin Butler Military Prison on Pea Patch Island, June 1864 [OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com) Preface The inspiration for this book came largely from Dee Brown’s book Galvanized Yankees.1 In 1971, when I was a young anthropology instructor at a small college in Georgia, I first encountered Dee Brown through his best-selling book Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.2 This work had a profound effect on me as a person and anthropologist. It continued to influence my thoughts on the treatment of Native Americans after I left academia and pursued my career as an archaeologist. My exposure to Galvanized Yankees came later; I do not remember when I first read the book, but it has been part of my library in one edition or another for decades. As a young boy growing up in southeastern Virginia when the imagined Confederate legacy was so very different from how it is more correctly understood today, I found the concept of men changing sides during the war and joining their former enem

FAQs

What does From Gray to Blue focus on?

It focuses on Confederate soldiers who joined the Union army—often referred to as “galvanized Yankees”—and explains why they changed allegiance during the Civil War.

How is this book positioned relative to earlier work by Dee Brown?

The book expands on Dee Brown’s Galvanized Yankees, which examined only six volunteer regiments, by comprehensively exploring former Confederate soldiers who later served in federal ranks.

What kinds of Civil War contexts does the book examine?

It examines wartime prison systems and the organizational formation of units, including specific volunteer infantry and cavalry organizations, as well as developments after the war.

Jul 30, 2026

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