A “Galvanized Yankee” was a Confederate prisoner who actually served as a Yankee. A prisoner in a Federal prison who decided to subscribe to the Oath of Allegiance to the US, but not join them, would be paroled and had agreed “to remain North of the Ohio river” until war’s end as a civilian. I have no knowledge of those who agreed to these terms and their subsequent travels.

Had they wished to re-join the fight, they would have accepted offer of parole for exchange and eventually been turned over to Confederate authorities and returned to their units.

James refused the parole offered his unit following their surrender at Vicksburg. This occured with a few days after their surrender July 4. Subsequently, as paroled prisoners, they were able to march away from Vicksburg as military units to return to their home areas where they went into parole/exchange camps, where they remained until it was agreed that their exchange had been arranged. Then, back to the fight. James instead, remained a prisoner at Vicksburg and was subsequently transferred to Camp Douglas prison.

For further information, see Dee Brown’s book, “The Galvanized Yankees,” U of Nebraska Press, 1963