For Love and Loyalty, The Soldier’s Journey (Softcover) #2 Uncivil War Series

Description

Galvanized Yankees in the Civil War: For Love and Loyalty, the Soldier’s Journey

The Civil War is in its third year, and the prison camps were overflowing with men. To remedy this, Confederate prisoners were sometimes offered another choice. “Take an oath of allegiance to the United States government and fight for your freedom–fight for the Norths in this Civil War.” Not all prisoners accepted that offer though because it was considered traitorous. Those who took “The Oath” were called “galvanized” by their peers. Their new, blue uniforms covered the Confederates wearing them and labeled them as traitors. Once prisoners made decision to accept parole and fight for the North, there was no going back. Galvanized Yankees were never again welcomed in the South. In addition, Northern soldiers didn’t trust the paroled prisoners” loyalties.

Confederate Captain Rafe Merrick and his men were captured during the Battle of Chickamauga. The Union lost that battle in September of 1863, and now they had Reb prisoners—over six hundred of them. While some of the wounded were exchanged, the rest of the prisoners were sent north to a new prison camp. Prison camps on both sides of the Civil War were terrible. In fact, soldiers often feared the prisons more than they did the war. The new Yankee prison where they were sent confirmed those fears.

Point Lookout on the Maryland coast was among the worst of the Union-run prison camps. Escape was nearly impossible, and death was common. The camp was set on a sand bar and was designed to hold a maximum of ten thousand men. When Captain Merrick and his men arrived, more than fifteen thousand prisoners filled the camp. They were packed onto a forty-acre patch of rock and sand barely above sea level. Combine crowding with constant flooding, poor water, no shelter, and starvation rations, and the prison became a death camp.

Since the camp was surrounded by water on three sides, escape was nearly impossible.  Inside the camp, disease and death were common.

Follow these Confederate prisoners to see how one decision will forever change their lives. Will they become part of the six thousand Galvanized Yankees who fought in the Civil War, or will they refuse to take “The Oath”?