German Irish African and Native are all American essays

German Irish African and Native are all American essays Paula Chrystine Poling Poling 1 Myths, Memories and Realities of the War Between the States Dr. Mary Ellen Rowe and Dr. Larry Olpin German, Irish, African and Native are all American For minorities, as for other Americans, the Civil War was an opportunity to prove their valor and loyalty. Among the first mustered into the Union army were a De Kalb regiment of German American Clerks, the Garibaldi Guards made up of Italian Americans, a Polish Legion, and hundreds of Irish American youths from Boston and New York. Many people firmly believed, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that immigrants instinctively supported the union, and given the chance, deserted the South and sought their compatriots in Northern regiments (Burton 201). More than 400,000 European immigrants fought for the Union, including more than 170,000 Germans and more than 150,000 Irish. Many saw their services as a proud sacrifice. William Burton writes in his book Melting Pot Soldiers about John Cochrane, the colonel of a regiment who was of Irish decent. Cochrane recalled the native soldiers in the Union forces as typically a conscript rather than a volunteer, lacking in zeal and fire. Immigrant soldiers, in Cochranes recollection, held flaming partisan views, had dash and spirit, volunteered eagerly, and had real martial ardor (201). If we follow Cochranes description to the letter then all the other Americans were forced to serve their country and not because of their true loyalty and desire. Cochranes view is one of prejudice for his own ethnic group and against other American soldiers. Cynthia H. Enloe, in her pioneering work Ethnic soldiers: State Security in Divided Societies, went astray when she examined the history of immigrants in the North. State Security Planners she argued, treated recent immigrants as though they were outside the nation-state political system in the ...